The holiday season couples many of the things we covet most in life—family, friends, faith, food and football. Christmas reminds us that miracles can happen and that God is always here to light the way in the darkness. It’s also important to remember that it always feels better to give than to receive. On behalf of everyone at GridironGrit.com and NFLTouchdown.com, we hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas (and Happy Hanukkah) and enjoy a Happy New Year! Week 16 was [...] Continue reading → | 2011 NFL Playoff Picture, 2011 NFL Playoff Picture Week 17, adrian peterson, Adrian Peterson Injury, America's Most Charitable Professional Athlete 2011, Andre Johnson and Wade Phillips Could Return For Week 17, Andrew Luck, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Baltimore Ravens Playoff Scenarios, Bengals Beg Fans To Attend Week 17, Best-Selling Religion Author 2011, Braylon Edwards, Braylon Edwards Cut By 49ers, Braylon Edwards Inspirational Story, Buffalo Bills, C.J. Spiller, Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers, CBSSports.com, Chicago Bears, Chris Beanie Wells, Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Bengals Playoff Scenarios, Cleveland Browns, Colt McCoy, ComcastSports.com, Dallas Cowboys, Dan Orlovsky, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Don Banks, Drew Brees Breaks Dan Marino's 27-Year Single-Season Passing Record, Elliot Harrison, ESPN.com, Falcons Want Revenge Against Saints After Brees Set Record, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Jim Harbaugh, John Skelton, Juan Castillo, Kansas City Chiefs, Kevin Kolb, Kevin Kolb vs. John Skelton Stats, Kyle Orton, Latest NFL News, Lee Russakoff, Mark Sanchez, Marshawn Lynch, matt moore, Matthew Stafford, Matthew Stafford Stats 2011, Miami Dolphins, Michael Gartman, Minnesota Vikings, Ndamukong Suh, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, New York Jets Playoff Scenarios, NFL power rankings, NFL Power Rankings Week 17, NFL Week 17 Playoff Scenarios, NFL.com, NFL.com Expert Power Rankings, NFL.com Power Poll, Norv Turner, Norv Turner Firing, Oakland Raiders, Oakland Raiders Playoff Scenarios, Packers To Rest Starters vs. Lions in Week 17, Pat Shurmur, Pete Prisco, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Steelers Playoff Scenarios, Raheem Morris, Reggie Bush, Rex Ryan, Robert Griffin III, Romeo Crennel, Ryan Fitzpatrick, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Shahid Khan, SI.com, St. Louis Rams, Steve Spagnuolo, Suck For Luck, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tarvaris Jackson, Tennessee Titans, Tennessee Titans Playoff Scenarios, Tim Tebow, Tom Coughlin, tony romo, Washington Redskins, Why Lions Need To Beat Packers Week 17

Patriots 41, Broncos 23 Miracles don’t work out of order. By rushing for 167 yards and scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter, the Broncos essentially fed their two fish and few loaves of bread as appetizers to the first six guests, leaving the next 4,994 hungry in the fourth quarter. [...] Continue reading → | Aaron Rodgers, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Drew Brees, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Philip Rivers, Tim Tebow, Tom Brady

Looking ahead to Week 14 by analyzing the film from Week 13. Cowboys O vs. Cardinals D Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton did a great job of mixing looks and shuffling through various blitz tactics. He was extremely aggressive bringing extra pass-rushers, though twice in the second half, Arizona sacked Tony Romo with just a three-man rush. The Cowboys abandoned their run game even though it had been fairly effective in the first quarter. The thinking behind this was likely that the Cardinals linebackers were aggressively shooting the gaps no matter what, so instead of running into the swarming defense, it made more sense to use play-action or just drop back and try to block it up. The Cowboys felt they could pickup and contain Arizona’s complex blitzes. [...] Continue reading → | caleb hanie, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Dez Bryant, Miami Dolphins, Mike Martz, New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders, Tom Brady, tony romo

The 2011 NFL season is half over, and the New England Patriots are 5-3 after eight games played.  The Patriots got off to a 5-1 start before the bye, with their most recent two wins coming at home against the New York Jets (30-21) and Dallas Cowboys (20-16).  However, the Patriots have been uncharacteristically unsuccessful after the bye, losing on the road to the Pittsburgh Steelers 25-17 and at home to the New York Giants 24-20.  Coupled with the Patriots' Week 3 loss at Buffalo, and the Patriots have done several things they rarely do: Lose to the Bills under any circumstances. Lose coming off of the bye week. Tom Brady lose to Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. Lose consecutive games. Lose at Gillette Stadium. The [...] Continue reading → | AFC East, Dallas Cowboys, Grades, New England Patriots, New York Giants, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers

Patriots QB Tom Brady led a game-winning TD drive that ended with a TD pass to TE Aaron Hernandez, giving the Patriots a 20-16 win over the Cowboys, overcoming four turnovers.  The win (combined with the Bills' loss against the Giants) puts the 5-1 Patriots in sole-possession of first place in the AFC heading into the bye week. Let's state the obvious, though: The New England Patriots had no business winning this game against the Dallas Cowboys. The Patriots (specifically, their offense and special teams) played exactly the kind of game that was going to hand the victory to the Cowboys.  They had two first quarter turnovers (QB Tom Brady was intercepted by Cowboys CB Terence Newman, and KR Matthew Slater lost a fumble).  Slater also fumbled a kickoff in the Patriots' last regular [...] Continue reading → | Aaron Hernandez, Andre Carter, Chad Ochocinco, Dallas Cowboys, Dez Bryant, Jason Garrett, Jason Witten, New England Patriots, Rob Gronkowski, Rob Ryan, Sean Lee, Tom Brady, tony romo, Wes Welker

The dynasty of the 1990s meets the dynasty of the 2000s (http://www.nfltouchdown.com/good-ol-days-dynasty-bowl-the-hype-of-90s-cowboys-2000s-patriots/) as the Dallas Cowboys (2-2) visit the New England Patriots (4-1) at Gillette Stadium.  This is the Patriots' first interconference game of the season and they look to go into the bye week on a positive note.  The Cowboys are coming off of their bye week and look to figure out if they are more like the team that has won two tough games this season or the team that has blown huge leads. The Cowboys are coming off of a meltdown of significant proportions as they had a 27-3 lead at home against the Detroit Lions break under the [...] Continue reading → | 1SKILLZ Gameplan, Aaron Hernandez, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Bill Belichick, Chad Ochocinco, Dallas Cowboys, Deion Branch, Dez Bryant, Felix Jones, Jason Garrett, Jason Witten, Miles Austin, Nate Solder, New England Patriots, NFL Week 6 2011, Patrick Chung, Rob Gronkowski, Rob Ryan, Tom Brady, tony romo, Vince Wilfork, Wes Welker

Some 20 months ago, at the conclusion of the 2009 NFL season, I released the Team of the Y2K Decade Power Rankings.  It was one of my more favorite articles I've ever written for this site (http://www.nfltouchdown.com/super-bowl-xliv-aftermath-the-team-of-the-y2k-decade-power-rankings-and-other-patriots-news/).  Number one on that list, due to the strength of three Super Bowl victories, is the New England Patriots. And all the way down at number 22, you will find the Dallas Cowboys, on the strength of one playoff win in four appearances.  Quite a hard fall for what was unquestionably the team of the 1990s in the NFL. I look at the Cowboys, and for [...] Continue reading → | Bill Belichick, Dallas Cowboys, Darren Woodson, Deion Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Jay Novacek, Jimmie Johnson, Michael Irvin, New England Patriots, offensive line, Robert Kraft, Tom Brady, TROY AIKMAN

The 101st meeting between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins was really a boring game. It was and yet a marquee matchup and division duel on Monday Night Football.  Only one touchdown was scored, and a total of nine field goals were notched. To a casual fan, it was certainly less-than-thrilling. To James Williamson, it was frustrating. Mainly because of horrible mistakes by the center and the wide receivers. Dallas had several opportunities to blow the Redskins out of the game, but they had to settle for field goals due to redzone inefficiency. The first thing I noticed was the field was slippery for some reason. Guys on both teams were falling on the turf like they were on ice. It was ridiculous. That might’ve had some effect on offensive production, but too [...] Continue reading → | Bill Bailey, Dallas Cowboys, DeMarcus Ware, James Williamson, Kevin Ogletree, NFC East, Phil Costa, Redskins vs. Cowboys, Redskins vs. Cowboys Review, tony romo, Washington Redskins

Have you heard enough of "but they haven't played anybody" yet? Gotten enough of Bills fans saying they're better because of Buffalo's big comeback came against the mighty Patriots? Fired up to see the Detroit Lions shut more people up by beating down the Dallas Cowboys at Jerry World? That's good, you should be!  But also, maybe reel it in a little. This isn't going to be another "temper your expectations" article.  It wouldn't matter even if it was, since I have no delusions about my ability to quiet the buzz after a massive win at the Metrodome.  But I need everyone to wrap their minds around this concept. The Detroit Lions could very well lose in Dallas this weekend. Alright, calm down a bit [...] Continue reading → | Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Detroit Lions Undefeated, Lions vs. Cowboys, NFL Week 4 Preview

Apparently, the Cowboys center, Phil Costa, was not just making mistakes by himself, but according to the Cowboys, the Redskins were improperly helping him by calling out the Cowboys snap counts. The belief is former Cowboy now Redskin, defensive end Stephen Bowen, helped the Redskins defensive line learning the snap counts, and starting calling out the number on which the football needed to be snapped. Phil Costa had at least four bad snaps, and an illegal snap penalty during the game. Several times Tony Romo was surprised by a snapped ball that resulted in a fumble. Romo's ability to act quickly and get the football back kept Dallas from turning the ball over several times. ESPN's Calvin Watkins pointed out that under the rules, that is illegal. Section 3 Unsportsmanlike conduct, [...] Continue reading → | Cheating, Dallas Cowboys, James Williamson, Redskins vs. Cowboys, Stephen Bowen, tony romo, Washington Redskins