How do you explain it? Do you credit the players for finally coming together? The coaches? Both? Or, how about giving former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy the credit? Dungy is the one who said the “Dallas Cowboys are done”. As a matter of fact, it was talked about to the players in the locker room before Saturday nights game against previously undefeated New Orleans. If that’s all it takes to get this Cowboys team to play like they did last night, good lord…Hey  Jerry Jones, would you please hire Tony Dungy tomorrow? Not as a head coach, at least not yet. Hire him to tell the team before each game how bad they are and how they’ll finish the year.

We hope that’s not the answer for this Dallas Cowboys team. Dallas stepped onto the Super dome field last night a completely different group. Taking the opening drive the length of the field for a touchdown? This team? It was eighteen games ago that the Cowboys scored a touchdown on their opening drive. What was even more impressive  and stunning was they did it again on their second drive. Before you could say “crawfish etoufee”, the Cowboys were up 14-0 over the undefeated New Orleans Saints. Fans in the super dome were in shock and it’s safe to say 100% of the viewing audience in the DFW area wasn’t sure who the hell they were watching.

This was not the same Cowboys team. At least for the first quarter and most of the first half. Dallas built a 24-3 lead going into the 4thquarter, only to have the Saints make a valiant rally to cut it to 24-17 with eight minutes remaining. What? Did you expect the 13-0 Saints to just roll over and die? They were unbeaten for a reason, but the Cowboys had a enough players that would not allow this game to get away.

DeMarcus Ware is a lucky man. He’s also an amazing athlete and a warrior. Somehow, he willed himself to get better and back on the field last night. He created havoc for Drew Brees and twice caused big fumbles. The last one with twelve seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Cowboys. Anthony Spencer is improving at such a rapid pace, I don’t know if anyone can keep up with him. He’s starting to not only apply constant pressure to the quarterback, he’s making the sacks, the tackles, and covering the backs out of the backfield. Spencer lightens up the load on Ware and vice versa. Hmm? If they are both cooking next week against Washington, that means Jay Ratliff will be free and he’ll have three sacks himself. More defensive props go out to Mike Jenkins. He’s by far the top defensive back and continues to make big plays. Starting to remind me of Everson Walls. Always making big plays.

Offensively, Miles Austin is the MVP of this team. He’s already over 1000 yards  receiving and has eleven touchdowns this season. Those are Pro Bowl type numbers. You can’t teach speed and Miles Austin has plenty of it. More importantly, he knows how to run after the catch. Tony Romo was splendid again while taking the bull by the horns a few times last night and did things himself. When MB3 decided to look for some popcorn in the stands instead of accepting the handoff on a draw play, Romo didn’t waste a second, tucked the ball away and took off running for a solid gain. That was Romo’s attitude last night. He was not going to be denied. Even backups John Phillips and Kevin Ogletree were impressive making big catches in key situations. Wish we could say the same thing for Roy Williams. He’s frustrating to watch each week. He takes two steps forward and three steps backward everytime. Yikes!!

Can a win solve everything? Yea…no….maybe…well, it depends. Winning against the Saints was the first time in a long time the Cowboys won a must game. How far can this carry them? Is Tony Dungy available to speak to the club? Once again, the ball is in their court. Dallas has the opportunity to take care of it’s own business and win the NFC East and gain home field in the first round of the playoffs. They’ve been here before and nothing ever changes. Dallas constantly disappoints those that follow them and never seem to be able to put themselves in the easier position to win in the post season.

Maybe it was the players who did it last night.  Maybe it was Jason Garrett and Wade Phillips finally hitting their stride as coaches and getting their team primed, ready and focused to play and win the game. I’d like to think it was all the above and had nothing to do with Tony Dungy calling them out. However, if it was Dungy that worked, I’m taking up a collection now to fly him to Washington and to Dallas in a few weeks for the Eagles game. Anyone want to anty up?