Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!!  First post ever on my first blog ever - hope you will find this enjoyable and informative.  Credentials?  No formal experience but I've been a dedicated fan of the Cowboys all of my life and can remember watching games with my family since the 1970 season or so.  The goal here is to use this blog as an outlet for me to express my thoughts, opinions, joys, frustrations and everything in between about the Cowboys season.

Thoughts on recent developments:

1)  I was surprised to see the Packers "cave-in" so easily to the Bears this past weekend!  An early Christmas present for the Cowboys, gift wrapping the home field advantage for the playoffs.  I, for one, am glad that the Cowboys won't be playing in Lambeau to try and get to the Super Bowl - a huge advantage for the Cowboys.

2)  Not too worried about TO's high ankle sprain - I believe three weeks will be enough to get him back to 80% or so, which should allow for enough production from TO to help win the first playoff game.  I'm not sold on Patrick Crayton, Miles Austin and Sam Hurd having enough talent to get the job done. 

3)  Can't wait to see what Terry Glenn can offer this weekend and I certainly hope that he will be able to use the Redskins game as a chance to get ready for the playoffs.  Also interested to see if the Cowboys will activate Isaiah Stanback and Tyson Thompson for the Redskins game.   I think Stanback has potential but he hasn't show much in the way of durability thus far in his short career. 

4)  Despite my life-long hatred of the Redskins, I'm not expecting a win this weekend.  Far more important that the Cowboys rest key players, allow injuries to continue to heal, etc. than to try and win against an NFC East opponent.  The Redskins will need to win this game to keep their playoff hopes alive and the game is away at FedEx Field.  Still, I do hate the Redskins and their fans, it would be great to see the Cowboys win a game they don't need and knock the Redskins out of the playoffs, in the process. 

5)  Finally, I'm concerned about the offense production over the past few weeks and hope that the coaches and players will get in synch for the playoffs.  Opposing teams seem to have figured out how to disrupt Romo's passing rhythm and the running game, although Barber had a good game against the Panthers.  Hope the bye week will help the team get back to the mid-season form that produced a ton of points and yards. 

That's it for now - nothing too controversial or outrageous but simply my initial thoughts on the Cowboys for this week.  By the way, I'm in the Philadelphia area for Christmas and it's been great to listen to all of my Eagles friends admit that the Cowboys are the better team this year.  Of course, they say it with gritted teeth and the usual venom but I'm enjoying the hell out of this season's turnaround!  Most Eagles fans I know still can't believe that the Cowboys are a serious contender for the Super Bowl - I love the denial that's inherent in all Eagles fans.  Good luck to the Cowboys this week, hope to post something again next week.