Defense, Phillips Not Romo To Blame For This December.

The last two Decembers weren't good ones for Tony Romo. In 2007, Romo's stats in December were 83 of 138, for 860 yards three TDs, and four interceptions. Last season wasn't much better for Romo; 84 of 150, 889 yards, five TDs, and six interceptions.

This season, Romo has toned down his gunslinger mentality while keeping his flair for the dramatic.  When it came to December however, everyone was still skeptical on how Romo would perform, but he's done well.

So well in fact, Romo is pretty much the reason that the Cowboys were in both games the Cowboys lost. Against the New York Giants, Romo kept the Cowboys driving down the field with no running game to support him. He also set a personal record in attempts, completions, and yards and didn't throw an interception.

Against the Chargers last week, he took the Cowboys on a 99-yard TD drive to take the lead in the third quarter. He also didn't have a turnover in that game. He scored a TD in garbage time of both games to give Cowboys fans at least some hope for a few minutes. 

Another sign he's playing well this month is that Romo is finally on the same page with Roy Williams, who in the last two games has 10 receptions for 134 yards and two TDs. 

If you want to blame someone, look no further than Wade Phillips and the Cowboys defense.

The Cowboys defense hasn't executed in the last two games. The Giants' Steve Smith went off for six catches and 110 yards (and that's with two drops, one in the end zone) and on the biggest play of the game Sunday, Terence Newman gave Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson too much room along the sideline and he caught a 39-yard pass that set up the game winning TD.

The reason I'm looking at Phillips is that he has absolutely no sense of urgency. After the Giants game, he seemed optimistic that they could turn things around, but on Sunday during his post game press conference, he seemed more tired of losing than upset about losing.

Phillips' calm demeanor is rubbing off on the players, and that's a problem. I understand that Phillips isn't going to yell, curse, and get angry, but didn't he say he was going to hold more players accountable this season? That hasn't happened. It's ok for the Cowboys to be calm and relaxed, but you still need to realize that your season is about to end with you on the outside of the playoff picture.

The Cowboys are treating this like its October and there's still time to let things work themselves out. That's not the case. It's December, it's time to leave your body, blood sweat, and tears on the field.

Instead the Cowboys just leave opportunities and TDs.