Cowboy Domination: Why This Team Will Make a Superbowl Run

Every year a team overcomes adversity and gets hot at the right time of the season. In 2007 the New York Giants were an underachieving wildcard team that put all the pieces together to win the Superbowl. Last season saw the 9-7 Arizona Cardinals catch lightning in a bottle and come up just short against the Superbowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. So who is this years team that finds itself peaking at the right time?

After opening the month of December with two consecutive losses to the Giants and Chargers, the Dallas Cowboys found themselves written off by almost everyone. With prior playoff failures in their past, what would be the impetus for a reversal of fortune? As we would soon find out, this was a more mature Cowboy team who no longer felt the pressures that came with great expectations. The disappointment of the 2007 team that went 13-3 and lost in the divisional round of the playoffs, along with the 2008 team that collapsed at seasons end, were now an after thought. In fact, those failures that were expected to cripple this team, has served as a rallying call.

Tony Romo. As the fortunes of the Cowboys improved, so did the consistent play of their quarterback. While his early season performance was always beyond reproach, it was always the December-January swoons that made Romo a pinata for detractors everywhere. However, this year Romo has avoided the mental errors and has taken his performance to the next level. In addition, Romo has proven himself to be a leader and managed to avoid being the target of gossip columns that have hounded him.

Aside from the play of their quarterback, the Cowboys offense is finally healthy. Felix Jones, often injury plagued throughout his early career, has emerged as a consistent weapon with incredible open field ability. Couple that with the punishing running style of Marion Barber and shiftiness of Dashard Choice and you have the best running back tandem in all of football. Of course I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the dominant play of the offensive line who has collectively imposed its will against teams throughout the season, along with strong efforts from tight end Jason Witten and the Cowboy receiving corp.

Defensively, the Cowboys have seen a seismic shift ever since Wade Phillips has assumed the role of defensive coordinator. Despite having one of the most talented units in the league, the defense often found themselves out of place, over pursuing, and allowing far too many big plays. However, during this recent run, the Cowboys have been the league's most stout group. While I was never a fan of their secondary, this group albeit with the help of a successful pass rush, has shown the most improvement of any in the league.

As someone who is a diehard Giants fan, I would like nothing more than to see the Cowboys lay an egg in their next game. That being said, I think this team will represent the NFC in this years Superbowl. With the recent play of the Vikings and Saints, I think Dallas has the edge over both teams. In fact, Dallas reminds me of the Vikings when they were arguably the best team in the league at 9-1. This is the most balanced team in the NFC right now and after dominating the Eagles these past two games, I expect the recent playoff disappointments to be a thing of the past. After watching the Cowboys these past few weeks, it appears that not only are they hitting their stride at the right time, they are also more confident than they have ever been.