Tony Romo's Hot November Spells Doom for Rest of Cowboys Season

The most important part of the Cowboys season starts on Sunday as Dallas travels to Arizona to take on the Cardinals. Over the past four seasons, Dallas is a combined 9-9 in December and January. Not a record that sparks confidence, but at least they are .500 to end the season.

After Arizona, the Cowboys return home to face the Giants, take off for Tampa Bay, come back for a contest against the Eagles and end the season at the New Meadowlands with the Giants again. While I believe that Dallas will beat the Cardinals, their past few games suggest that the Cowboys shouldn't overlook any team.

They beat the 3-8 Dolphins by one point and the 4-7 Redskins by three, so Dallas should take no team lightly.

What will be vital for the Cowboys' success in December and January will be the play of one Tony Romo. Tony is usually at his best in the month of November (this November, Tony has 10 touchdowns to two interceptions), but he'll have to keep his hot streak going.

If he can't sustain his great play as of late, then Dallas is doomed for failure. In 2008 during the last two months of the season, Romo had five interceptions, and Dallas failed to make the playoffs with a record of 9-7.

But in 2009, when Dallas won their first playoff game since 1996, Romo only had two picks with nine touchdowns. The Romo from two seasons ago will have to emerge again for the Cowboys to have a chance.

Another factor working in Dallas' favor is that of the Cowboys' competition. The Cardinals have the 25th-best passing defense in the league, as they allow 250 yards through the air per game. Romo should have a feast due to the Cowboys' new-found love for the running game. The Eagles were supposed to have one of the league's best defensive backfields this season, but they are middle of the road at best.

The Giants are worse than the Cardinals when comes to pass defense, 26th in the league, and the Bucs are 28th. Not exactly a group of secondaries that will strike fear in the heart of Romo, Dez Bryant and Jason Witten.

With so much "good news" being shown about the Cowboys opponents and their defenses, here is the bad news. Tony Romo has a tendency to throw bad passes (see Jets and Lions), so he has to be careful with the ball, which he has been as of late. The Giants have the eighth-most interceptions in the league this season with 14, and the two most important games that Dallas will play down the stretch will be against New York.

Dallas split the season series with them last year, and the Giants will be emotional, hungry and scrappy by the time these two squads meet.

Romo will have to take care of the football down the stretch, because if he doesn't, then Dallas can say goodbye to their playoff hopes. He's been great as of late, but his hot November may spell trouble because it makes one wonder can he keep this hot streak up for much longer? I think that he will and that Dallas will overcome any talk of a late-season slump and make it to the second season.

The Bucs and Cards are finished, but with three games against division rivals, the Cowboys will have to be careful and not overlook two teams who may be out of the playoff race when they square off against each other.

Look for head coach Jason Garrett to lean on DeMarco Murray and Felix Jones even more in December and January and for Romo to remain consistent. At least that's the hope.

-JH

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