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1. When Dallas Week, Christmas, New Year's and a shot at the NFC East all come at the same time, six just won't get it done.
2. We Want Dallas!
3. When I look at my newborn baby daughter...so new to the world...so innocent and precious...and so UNDEFEATED, all I can think of is how much more the Cowboys will have to overcome than just the men in helmets and pads. Between my 6-0 baby girl and what has to be the most successful beard in my facial hair career, this game already feels like it is in the bag.
4. We Want Dallas!
5. As the NFL becomes an increasingly pass-happy league, having a trigger man that can play at a high level is more essential than a scotch on the rocks in the fourth quarter of a Redskins game. With the entry into the league of Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Ryan Tannehill and even Brandon Weeden (and Kirk Cousins, too!), we might be seeing the best crop of quarterbacks to enter the league together since the hallowed 1983 class. But it's more than that. Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, Christian Ponder, Colin Kaepernick and Jake Locker are all looking like they will be around for a while as well. Roughly a third of the starting quarterbacks in the league--give or take a Nick Foles or a Blaine Gabbert--are in their first or second year. It seems like there is a real gap widening between the haves and the have-nots...and you all know which side of that we have been on for a very long time. Having Griffin and Cousins on the roster together really strengthens our franchise in an era where you just can't afford a dropoff in quarterback play.
6. We Want Dallas!
7. Not that the Redskins have a defense that would make people think of the 2000 Ravens, but looking at the quarterback crop these days and the way the league operates, it seems incredibly unlikely that a "game manager" like Trent Dilfer could emerge victorious in a Super Bowl any more. You pretty much have to get production out of the quarterback position to have any chance at all. We have a guy that can do things that pretty much no quarterback has ever been able to do. Perhaps...our quarterback is dominant enough to allow our defense to assume game management duties?
8. We Want Dallas!
9. Far be it for me to lavish any praise on our opponents from the lone star state, but Tony Romo has been playing like the quarterback I wish I could love--if only he played for someone besides Dallas. In any other uniform, he would be on my fantasy team every year. He is clutch, appears to have grown into his leadership role and gives his team a real chance to win every game. Too bad for the Cowboys that our guy did all that in his first year!
10. We Want Dallas!
11. I am concerned about Dez Bryant, Jason Witten and DeMarco Murray, but I just have this sense that no matter what, this game is going to come down to the end. For our sake, I would hope we could go up by multiple scores by halftime, but we all know how this thing is going to go down. I suppose I am most hopeful that we have the ball at the end with a chance to put Kai Forbath into position for the game-winner. More on Kai in this week's Ten Yard Fight. How is Jim Haslett going to get pressure on Romo? We never seem to ever be able to get to him, and there doesn't ever seem to be a down-and-distance that is too much for Romo to get. We'll need sacks, but I think in order for us to have a real chance, we need to cause fumbles when we sack Romo. Ryan Kerrigan and Rob Jackson need to get after it.
Happy holidays once again to everyone and I'll try to get the Ten Yard Fight earlier in the day on Wednesday!
12. WE WANT DALLAS!!!