Dallas Cowboys: 10 Reasons the Cowboys Are Ready for NFC East Supremacy in 2012

It's no secret that the Dallas Cowboys have struggled to meet expectations over the past few seasons. 2009 marked their first playoff win since the 1996 season, and after that landmark win, the Cowboys returned to their old, underachieving selves. 

The 2010 season left Wade Phillips out of a job as the Cowboys plunged to a 1-7 start to open the season.  Then, an initially promising 2011 campaign left Cowboys fans exasperated as a nose-dive finish ended the Cowboys' season at 8-8. 

That brings us to 2012.  And with each new NFL season comes new-found hope and expectations for America's team.  What follows is 10 reasons why you should expect the Cowboys to upstage the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins in 2012.

Tony Romo

Question: Who will be the best quarterback in the NFC East in 2012? 

Answer:  While Eli now has two rings, and Michael Vick and Robert Griffin III bring the upside, 2012 is going to belong to Tony Romo.

Reasoning:  Strictly statistically speaking, Tony Romo has been the best quarterback in the NFC East for the past few years.  His great numbers are often overlooked by the abundant misfortune that seems to follow him during the worst possible moments. Some people say he chokes.  Others just say he must not be clutch.

Perhaps he has just been unlucky.

In 2012 everything will fall into place for Romo, and the overall success of the Cowboys will surely follow.

Morris Claiborne

The Dallas Cowboys pulled one of the biggest moves of the first round of the 2012 NFL draft when they traded two draft picks to the St. Louis Rams in order to draft Morris Claiborne with the sixth overall pick.

It's no secret that the Cowboys struggled in their secondary last season, and even though he will only be a rookie, Claiborne will have a major impact on the overall success of the Cowboys as soon as he steps onto the field.

Brandon Carr

Clearly taking every step to shore up their weakest link, the Cowboys signed DB Brandon Carr to a lucrative deal in the offseason.  Carr has played with the Kansas City Chiefs for all four of his seasons in the league and has started all 64 games. 

Last season, Carr snagged four interceptions, and when paired with Morris Claiborne, it looks like the Cowboys have turned their secondary from a weakness to a strength.

DeMarcus Ware

With the addition of the aforementioned Morris Claiborne and Brandon Carr, opposing quarterbacks should have a harder time finding openings in the Cowboys secondary, consequently giving more time for Rob Ryan and the rest of the defense to develop the pass rush.

Enter DeMarcus Ware.

Over his seven-year NFL career, Ware has recorded 99.5 sacks, including 19.5 this past season.  With a cleaned-up secondary giving Ware even more time to rush the passer, the all-time single season sack record will be in his sights.

Return to Health of the RB Corps

One of the most overlooked aspects of the Cowboys 2011 campaign was the loss of their emerging star RB DeMarco Murray.  Murray suffered an unfortunate season-ending ankle injury during the heartbreaking loss on December 11th against the New York Giants, and the Cowboys offense did not look the same for the rest of the season.

Heading into 2012, Murray's ankle is feeling fine, and all signs point to a big season coming for the young star.  Couple that with a healthy dose of Felix Jones, and all of a sudden, Tony Romo and the passing game have a reliable running game to back them up.

Return to Health of the WR Corps

If the DeMarco Murray ankle injury wasn't enough to hamper Tony Romo and the offense, the crippling of the WR corps due to injury surely did the trick. In case you forgot, injuries to both Dez Bryant and Miles Austin left Tony Romo with Laurent Robinson as his No. 1 WR for a large chunk of the season.

In fact, Romo at one point had to rely on a winner of Michael Irivin's reality TV show to fill in as a starting WR.

A new season brings back a healthy Miles Austin and Dez Bryant, to go along with the always-formidable Jason Witten.  When paired with a healthy DeMarco Murray and Felix Jones, the Cowboys offense will be giving headaches to defensive coordinators across the league.

Linebackers

Being a Penn State and Dallas Cowboy football fan, I couldn't leave out the potent linebacking corps that the Cowboys will field in 2012.

Penn State alumni of Linebacker University—Sean Lee and Dan Connor—provide solid anchors of a linebacking unit that will see the return of highly-touted Bruce Carter.  Pairing these inside linebackers with the always-dangerous DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer on the outside leaves the Cowboys with one of the NFL's top linebacking corps.

It Is Rob Ryan's Time to Shine

During the dismal 2011 campaign, most of the Cowboys collapses could be entirely blamed on a porous defense.  Although the Cowboys had brought in highly-touted defensive coordinator Rob Ryan in the previous offseason, the blame did not fall on Ryan but rather on the lack of talent at his disposal.

With the addition of Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, Dan Connor and Brodney Pool, the lack of talent excuse no longer exists.  That means one thing.

It's game time for Rob Ryan now.

With the challenge there, expect Rob Ryan to rise to the occasion and build a defense in his second year that protects the leads that Romo and the offense give him.

Jason Garrett

While shuffling through coaches and trying to find the right personality and fit for the Dallas Cowboys organization (see Phillips, Wade and Campo, Dave), Dallas finally landed the right candidate with its hire of Jason Garrett.

With a track record of success as the offensive coordinator, and a pedigree of a top NFL coach, Garrett is primed to see huge success in his second full season at the helm. 

Despite the difficult 8-8 finish last season, Garrett continued to get the most out of his players that he had available to him.  With a revamped roster heading into 2012, Garrett will begin the run of what will be many years as a successful coach in the NFL.

Dan Bailey

It is very hard to win Super Bowls in the NFL without a reliable kicker.  Although routinely overlooked, a clutch kicker can be a huge difference maker in the week-to-week grind of close games.

Bailey fits the bill exactly for the Cowboys.  As a rookie last year from Oklahoma State, Bailey made three game-winning kicks as well as ran off a streak of 26 consecutive made field goals, which tied a franchise record.

So while the offensive firepower and defensive upgrades will place the Cowboys to be in a position to win nearly all of their games in 2012, look for Bailey to provide a sturdy leg to lean on.