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Speaking on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM’s Ben and Skin Show, Laurent Robinson expressed his desire to stay with the Cowboys, regardless of what his role might be on the team. He added, “Money doesn’t drive me to play this game. I play because I like to have fun. I think I have a good fit here with the Cowboys.”

You may have noticed a lack of reaction posts for the loss to the Giants. Apologies for that, but I thought I would spare you all a post that repeatedly used the phrases “dickless” and “hurdled Newman.”

So… the 2011 Cowboys. What will history say about this team? Nothing. What should Cowboys fans say about this team? Nothing too nice and nothing too spiteful. The record sums it up pretty neatly. 8-8. Absolute mediocrity. For every fleeting moment of success, there was an equally crushing defeat. Despite that, this team still controlled its destiny in Week 17… and that control was squandered.

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Where does this team go from here? Quite specifically, the team needs to address deficiencies in the usual problem areas — the secondary and offensive line. I would also add help at inside linebacker to the grocery list. There’s no way that the season finale didn’t fully expose Terrence Newman and Keith Brooking as being liabilities, to put it nicely. Mike Jenkins is not reliable healthwise, and Orlando Scandrick and Alan Ball have trouble making plays on the ball when the opportunities present themselves.

I am not of the opinion that any coaching changes are necessary. Jason Garrett’s one glaring mistake this year (the Arizona kicker icing) will live on in infamy, but it’s a tiny blip on a radar showing nothing but competency otherwise. Rob Ryan rightfully accepted blame for the defense’s repeated failures, but aside from the Philadelphia games, there didn’t appear to be any problems with schemes — just the personnel’s capacity to execute them and on-field communication. A full offseason will bring younger players up to speed on the more complex schemes Ryan hoped to implement this season, and hopefully address the issue of late game collapses along with some upgrades at the aforementioned positions.

The worst part about this season is Tony Romo responded to criticism and posted a career year in a losing effort. With a patchwork offensive line and lack of running game until DeMarco Murray’s brief emergence, Tony Romo played stellar football through debilitating injuries and less-than-ideal surrounding circumstances. When the defense surrendered late-game leads, Romo marched the team down the field and put them in position to stay in the game or win. Missed/blocked field goals, dropped third-down passes, false starts, missed assignments, botched snaps, wrong routes — Romo contended with all of this and still posted dazzling numbers. Cowboys fans owe Tony Romo the courtesy of this offseason not including any “Can he be the guy?” questions/comments/concerns. He can be the guy even when he doesn’t have a fully-functioning team around him.

The questions/comments/concerns for fans should be: “Can we find an inside linebacker with a nose for the ball who can complement Sean Lee and maybe help close holes over the middle in pass defense?” “Should we draft safety or cornerback?” “What can we get in trade for Felix Jones?” “Will we re-sign Anthony Spencer?” “Can we afford to keep Laurent Robinson?”

So, that’s it for this year. Follow tCB for offseason news. We know you can find out about player movement anywhere, so we’ll try our best to post only breaking news and juicy rumors. Thanks for reading.

How many of you were expecting something freakish to happen during Dan Bailey’s game-winning field goal, too?

(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Some of the people I watched the game with naturally brought up Tony Romo’s botched hold in Seattle prior to Bailey’s kick. You know… I feel that as a result of that Seattle disaster, I wouldn’t want anyone else in the world holding a kick for me other than Romo. I’m sure he permanently has that moment etched in his brain and will never let his focus slip again during a pressure kick. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t expect the kick to get blocked or something else crazy to happen on what was pretty much a sure thing. 

That the game came down to a final kick says there were some major problems exposed for this 7-4 team (which could easily be 10-1). 

The secondary gave up big play after big play down the field. Terrence Newman’s pass interference tackle still not being enough to prevent a deep touchdown to Brandon Marshall pretty much sums up how ineffective the secondary played for most of the game. 

Dallas had nearly twice as many penalties as Miami, most of them being false starts, and wasted a valuable timeout late in the game to avoid a 12 men on the field penalty on a field goal for Miami inside the 10 yard-line. The team’s discipline needs to be addressed. This was a home game. That many false starts is inexcusable. 

Romo had a rough first half, and a rather pedestrian outing overall except for the big throws he made after escaping the grasp, which were ill-advised anyway.

On the bright side, I suppose since I’ve had to mention them about three weeks in a row, it’s safe to say that Laurent Robinson and DeMarco Murray are the real deal. 

Ten days to prepare for Arizona while the Giants deal with the Saints and Packers. Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

Interesting Notes:

Felix Jones had zero carries and was on kickoff return duty.

It’s really hard to think this one was almost pissed away. A 52-yard Graham Gano field goal barely sailing wide right is the only reason Washington didn’t hand Dallas a loss in a game which seemed as though the Cowboys would jump on the Redskins and never look back. It came down to a 39-yard Dan Bailey field goal which just passed over the right upright. 

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Washington scored 17 unanswered points in the second and third quarters to take a touchdown lead. From there it was a classic NFC East rivalry game. Every time Dallas seemed to get an edge on the Redskins, they answered back until the game ended up in overtime — the last thing you want on the road against the division rival. When Washington won the coin toss, it seemed all in the cards for this one to be squandered, but the defense held and forced the long kick for Gano. 

Laurent Robinson came up big again in Miles Austin’s absence, and all of the Cowboys’ main passing threats posted a touchdown apiece. Even Martellus Bennett had three receptions, one off a deflection that wouldn’t have been possible if his head wasn’t in the game. 

Felix Jones’ return proved uneventful, and I’m sure some might blame his five carries for disrupting DeMarco Murray’s tear (his streak of 100-yard games ended today with 73 yards), but it seemed as though the Redskins had more to do with that. 

Penalties were nearly our undoing. Nine penalties for 48 yards, but very untimely yardage, and we were lucky to avoid a delay of game penalty for calling a timeout we didn’t have prior to the final field goal attempt. 

It’s another game which is hard to measure because Washington hasn’t been competitive, but these rivalry games are practically played in a vacuum where it’s a surprise if they aren’t competitive. We probably won’t have a real clear-cut test until we play the Giants in three weeks (even though they just lost to the Eagles.) In the meantime, we’ll just have to settle for being tied for 1st in our division.

Solid Tony Romo game alert:

292 yards, 22/37, 3 TD, 0 INT, 113.8 pass rating

Interesting stat:

Tony Romo is 18-2 in November

I really don’t remember the last time a Cowboys game had coverage switched by the network to a more competitive game because Dallas was blowing someone out (I live in the San Antonio market which did this in addition to the Rio Grande Valley and Oklahoma City, that I know of). 

(Photo credit: Ron Jenkins/ Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

This one is tough to assess. Buffalo appears to be on a skid after the Jets exposed some weaknesses in their offense which had a lot of success early in the season. Even so, the Cowboys took care of business in every facet of the game and the scoreboard reflected it. 

DeMarco Murray continues to assert himself as a legitimate threat, bringing some much-needed balance to the offense. When Felix Jones returns, he should be used exclusively as a kick returner and third-down back in passing situations as a safety valve or screen receiver. 

The offensive line had another strong performance, giving up no sacks and generally giving Tony Romo all day to find his receivers. Also, the team had no turnovers.

Much like Murray, Laurent Robinson has proven reliable and stepped up his role. It’s looking as though there will finally be a strong receiving corps of three when Miles Austin returns to the lineup.

We should also take this opportunity to recognize Dan Bailey’s consistent kicking. He has really been a miracle considering how nebulous the kicking game was coming into this season. 

The rest of the NFC East lost today, and just like that, we’re a game behind the Giants with the easier schedule between now and the time we play each other. 

Solid Tony Romo game alert

23/26, 270 yards, 3 TD 0 INT, 148.4 passer rating

Interesting Stat:

Tony Romo’s 88.5% completion percentage was the best ever for a Cowboys quarterback in a single game  with a minimum 15 pass attempts. (Via @STATS_NFL)

Fun notes:

DeMarco Murray completely hurdled an upright Buffalo safety Jairus Byrd in the third quarter.

Buffalo wide receiver David Nelson gave his girlfriend the football after scoring the Bills’ sole touchdown. His girlfriend is Cowboys cheerleader Kelsi Reich.

DallasCowboys.com is reporting that Miles Austin will be out at least 3 weeks with an injury to his right hamstring (last time it was his left). Austin could be out as long as 5 weeks. 

Laurent Robinson will likely start at the number two WR next week against the Bills. 

There’s not much to get excited about or dwell on in this one. You’d like to think we could’ve blown the Seahawks out of the water, but with the way this season has gone, a W is simply a W. 

(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

The only thing you can really take away about this one is that Miles Austin is hurt and we don’t know how long his hamstring is going to be a problem. Luckily, it appears like we have a solid option emerging in Laurent Robinson if Austin misses time, and the running game is doing OK with DeMarco Murray.

Let’s look ahead instead of devoting any more time to this blah win. Pending tonight’s game for the Eagles, we could end up a half game ahead of them and two back of the Giants, with New York having a VERY tough schedule ahead of them for the next four weeks before we get a crack at them. 

A win against Buffalo next week would really help ensure we can gain some ground and stay even or ahead of Philadelphia since we will be facing the likes of Washington, Miami and Arizona afterward. 

Solid Tony Romo game alert:

19/31, 279 yards, 2 TD 0 INT, 112.2 rating