This is it.

This fluke play will finally be the one that buries Dallas’ playoff chances after this loss and the Giants defeating the Ravens in three hours. It seemed fitting to assume the Super Bowl champs would awake from their month-long slumber and finally deliver in the clutch, thereby putting the Cowboys playoff aspirations on life support, especially in the wake of such a bizarre play that ended the Cowboys hopes for a perfect December record. But, as we all know, the Giants were routed in Baltimore setting up a very familiar situation for the Cowboys.

Dec 23, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham (80) fights for the ball after a fumble in overtime against Dallas Cowboys safety Eric Frampton (27) at Cowboys Stadium. The Saints beat the Cowboys 34-31 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Win and you’re in.

Nobody needs to be a football genius to know how these situations have gone in recent years for Dallas. In 2008, the Cowboys had a similar scenario against the Eagles in the final week of the NFL season and had a playoff berth staring them in the face. The result? A 44-6 beatdown in Philly and a sudden, crushing end to the season. The Eagles went on to lose in the NFC Championship game to the Cardinals. The same scenario reared its face again last season, also. The Cowboys and Giants were 8-7 and dueled in New York for the NFC East crown. Once again, Dallas wet the bed –for lack of a better term– and was relegated to watching the playoffs from the couch. The Giants? Well, they went on to defeat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in a rematch from 2007 –I also add that in 2007, Dallas was 13-3 and lost in the first round to those same Giants who went on to win the Super Bowl that year, as well.

The point I am trying to make here is that THESE GAMES MATTER. Now, Dallas finds themselves in their third winner-takes-all game in five years, and against the hated Washington Redskins. You could have been prophetic and told me at the beginning of the season that Robert Griffin III was going to guide Washington to a potential division crown and I would have laughed it off like it was nothing; I just did not think that the Redskins were capable of this. Six wins in a row and one win away from their first division title in years, figures right? Dallas couldn’t get it done in Philly and got behind early in New York, It remains to be seen if this team has the toughness to get it done in Washington, but I believe that they can. The signs were there that this cast of “misfits” was different when Dallas started off the dreaded month of December by reeling off three straight wins and securing their first winning record in the month of Christmas since 2001. Last week may have deterred some of the less passionate fans because of the familiar inconsistency the team showed, but the spectacular rally in the fourth down by 14 showed you that this team does not quit; this team will not die without a fight.

Dec 23, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten (82) catches a pass during overtime of the game against the New Orleans Saints at Cowboys Stadium. The catch breaks the single season receptions record for a tight end in the NFL. The Saints beat the Cowboys 34-31 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

New Orleans has an awful defense, this is no secret, so the fact that it took Dallas until literally the final ticks of the game to score 31 points is kind of tough explain, but they got it done and forced the game to overtime. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo continued his masterful month, throwing for over 400 yards and four touchdowns. While receiver Dez Bryant has his best career game, catching nine balls for 224 yards and two long touchdowns, but, Dallas lost.

After the game, none of the players cared to discuss the statistics from the game, the only one that mattered was the one that tacked on “7″ to the loss column. The team was dejected that they had not been able to  close the door in overtime on the Saints and still control their own destiny in the playoff hunt, can you blame them? I give all the credit in the world to defensive coordinator Rob Ryan for the job he has done considering the plethora of injuries that the defensive unit has sustained, but it was only a matter of time until the lack of first-week starters on the field caught up with Dallas. Brady Poppinga, Sterling Moore, Eric Frampton…those are not the names that Cowboy fans expect to make big plays in the clutch, but a taped together defense can only hold back the flood for so long.

Still, thanks to a beat down in Baltimore that the Giants sustained, Dallas controls their own destiny again; they have a chance to redeem themselves. Can they? Absolutely, Washington is on a hot streak, but they have a defense that is just as banged up in key positions. Will they? I want to say yes, Dallas has overcome a lot this season to get where they are now, but it may be too tall of a task to expect them to knock off a team playing as well as any team in the NFL, especially with so much on the line.

Thanks to the flex-scheduling by the NFL, the game has been moved to primetime on NBC next sunday night. Before defeating the Eagles a few weeks ago on NBC, Dallas had an eight-game losing streak on Sunday Night. The last time the Cowboys and Redskins played a primetime game on Sunday night was in 2010 on the first week of the season, Dallas came up short. The ending still stings for Cowboy Fans to this day and the name “Alex Barron” is outlawed from being spoken.

This is a new year, however, and a new team. Dallas can silence the critics for a week if they can put and end to the Redskins division hopes.

If not, well, it will be another long offseason of analysts and fans saying that “this team just isn’t good enough”

Nobody wants that.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, Cowboy fans.

Flash forward to this week and your Cowboys are 8-6, seemingly resurrected from the depths of the mediocrity and in firm control of their playoff fate. It’s an opportunity that few would have believed attainable in week 9 because of how poorly Dallas had been playing. Stupid penalties, defensive breakdowns and untimely interceptions, these sights were a common to those watching on a weekly basis and really solidified most peoples predictions before the season that this was no better than a .500 team. What changed? How has Dallas suddenly won five of their last six games when so many key defensive players have been injured? There may not be one definitive answer, but I can take a stab at what I consider the contributing reason:

Team unity.

Any team in any sport that expects to accomplish its goals every year has to have a positive-thinking locker room and minimizing in-house arguments and unsatisfied players is a must. Dallas never had locker room crisis like the Jets or the Eagles, but you never got the sense that when they would walk out of that tunnel every week, that they were brothers going into battle together.

That obviously changed before the game in Cincinnati two weeks ago.

December 9, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Dallas Cowboys fans hold a sign honoring linebacker Jerry Brown after the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Dallas won the game 20-19. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

The death of Jerry Brown Jr. was something that no teammate was or could have been prepared for, it was a crushing emotional blow to a team already plagued by injuries to the team and could have served as a season-crippling tragedy to teams that were weak, but Dallas was not weak. When they walked out of that tunnel in Cincinnati, you could see it on their faces, they were brothers and they were playing for one of their own who was lost.

As Dan Bailey put the game-winning field goal through the uprights, you could feel that you would no longer see the same mistake-prone Cowboys for the rest of the season and that they would fight to the bitter end no matter the adversity facing them, because that is what teams do. This Sunday was another litmus test, the storied rivalry of Pittsburgh and Dallas was revisited in Cowboys Stadium and thousands of terrible towels waved as if to say “this is our house, your team only plays here.” Dallas could have folded easily like they have at home three times this season, they could have succumbed to the black-and-yellow masses who needed to win just as badly as the Cowboys did, but once again, they fought as a team.

Pittsburgh led 24-17 with just over ten minutes left, Brian Moorman booted a 60-yard punt and Steelers receiver Antonio Brown caught it and sped down the sideline, he found a crease and was set up for a big return that could possibly have put the game out of reach. Then came the play of the year for Dallas, Victor Butler, in an attempt to slow Brown’s momentum, flung out his arm in desperation and it made contact with the ball, jarring it loose and bouncing on the ground; it was quickly recovered by John Phillips of the Cowboys. Dallas went right down the field and tied it up, another testament to how this team has earned their stripes lately. We all know how it ended, with Brandon Carr reading Ben Roethlisberger’s second pass in overtime and diving in front of the receiver to make the interception and return it to the one-yard line. And after this Dan Bailey game-winner, the Cowboys officially controlled their own destiny.

Dec 16, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey (5) celebrates the winning field goal in overtime with holder Brian Moorman (2) against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Cowboys Stadium. The Cowboys beat the Steelers 27-24 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Now we are in a familiar situation, win the next two games, and Dallas wins the NFC East. Similar to last year, except it was Dallas who blew a two-game lead over the Giants and allowed them to win the division crown in week 17; New York went on to win the Super Bowl. I am not saying the Cowboys are in any way Super Bowl-bound, but I am saying that they have the appearance of a team that is gelling at the right time and figuring out how to make the plays during the clutch moments of games.

There is still a long road to go, New Orleans will have just as many fans screaming “WHO DAT”? this weekend in Dallas even though their playoff hopes are dead and gone and if that game is won and it comes down to week 17 in Washington for the division, expect a focused team who has brought themselves back from another middle-round draft pick and in a position to succeed.

Dallas controls their own destiny these last two weeks of the season, if they can keep showing the fight and focus that has been so evident these past few weeks, they will win the NFC East.

After that, well, you know how hot teams have done in recent history when it comes to the playoffs.

The sky’s the limit.

Figures, doesn’t it? The Cowboys come literally a  finger away from the franchises largest comeback in history (down 23-0 against the New York Giants in Dallas) but just the tip of receiver Dez Bryant’s finger landed out of bounds and spoiled what could have been a momentum-shifting win for the team at the time. Still, Dallas has won four of their last five games and was in good position to challenge for a wild card spot –thanks to a suddenly ice cold Chicago Bears team–or even the division. That is, until news broke on Monday afternoon that Bryant had broken his index finger which could require season-ending surgery. I could see Cowboy fans nationwide yell a collective “ARE YOU KIDDING ME”? After such an emotional win over the Bengals on Sunday in the wake of the tragedy that took the life of Jerry Brown Jr., the optimists out there were talking about how this win could unite the team even more and give them the strength to rally late in the season and make it into the playoffs. Most of that talked ceased upon hearing about Bryant’s injury.

It was confirmed by Bryant later Monday night that he had fractured his finger and that he was unsure if he could play through the injury. Plenty of fans were peeved about the receivers attitude toward the injury and expected a rah-rah type response in the form of a statement boasting about how no injury could keep Dez from playing. But instead, they got a shrug of the shoulder. Now I am sure a lot of people think that it is a cake walk for a professional wide receiver to play through a broken finger, just tape it up, get a cortisone shot and go out there, right? Wrong, it isn’t 100% up to Bryant even if he wants to play or not; he has to be medically cleared.

This news comes at a most inopportune time for the Cowboys considering how well Bryant had been playing lately and how he has lived up to the “elite” status put on him when he was drafted in the first round two years ago. The Oklahoma State product has produced five touchdowns in his last three games and on Sunday, eclipsed the 1000 yard receiving mark for the first time in his career. The recent consistency is a welcomed sight for Cowboys fans who would routinely get on Bryant for his tendency to disappear in the second half of games. Ironically enough, every single one of Bryant’s touchdown’s this season have come in the second half, and it is no surprise that Dallas’ offensive production is much higher in that half, as well.

If we are to assume that Bryant will be shelved for the year for arguments sake, the question becomes: how does Dallas make the playoffs now?

Losing your most dynamic offensive weapon this late in the season is usually a death sentence to teams, especially mediocre ones like Dallas. Does anybody expect Miles Austin, Dwayne Harris and Kevin Ogletree to suddenly become ten times more productive then they have been all season? I didn’t think so, Austin is the next man up a far as receivers go, but he has been inconsistent and injury-prone since he received a contract extension, still, he has the ability to be the number one guy for Romo and will have to up his game to account for Bryant’s absence in these last three weeks.

Tight end Jason Witten is Tony Romo’s security blanket and is eleven catches away from setting the single-season NFL receptions record for a tight end, but could he turn back the clock to 2007 and become a touchdown machine in the final games? Not likely, Witten is great and a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but he has lost Romo’s eye in the red zone and only has a few touchdowns on the season. When it really comes down to it, the only conceivable way I can think of for the Cowboys to shock the world and make the playoffs without Bryant is to throw out the playbook and use EVERYBODY.

One frustrating thing this year has been the lack of screens and trick plays from the Cowboys. I am by no means expecting Boise State out there and double-reverses being run on every other play, but things have been just too vanilla, which is a contributing factor to a 7-6 record. Screen passes require a good offensive line most of the time, which Dallas doesn’t have, but they do have a young line who, if given the chance, would be athletic enough to block downfield for a running back. Another play that I see run a lot by good offensive teams is the fake play-action boot, then throw to the opposite side where the tight end is wide open. Romo is best out of the pocket, so plays like that would be right in his wheelhouse. I could get specific with X’s and O’s here, but I doubt people will want to read that. The point is, without Bryant, Dallas needs to figure out how to turn water into wine on offense and put points up on the board consistently–which they weren’t doing even with Dez.

The last thing that I will suggest is to use third-string running back Lance Dunbar and receiver Cole Beasley. This may be a bit of homerism coming from a North Texas student, but the Lance can ball. He is a speedster who can break tackles and play any role a team needs him to be. His size is not intimidating, but is Darren Sproles, or Maurice Jones Drew? Dallas could use him on end-arounds or even as a slot receiver on various plays. Dunbar spent his entire college career at UNT proving people wrong about him, the Cowboys should give him a chance to contribute if Bryant is gone for the year.

Beasley is a similar player with upside and the kind of receiver Dallas has lacked over the years, a small guy to find the holes in the zone and be a nightmare to defenses. I know he is on the field for plenty of plays, but I rarely see him running any long out’s or in’s and he is usually just used as a decoy.

Dallas will be expected to falter without their top receiver, the next three games are against teams who don’t have a problem scoring, but the season is not over until it is over.

Of course, it remains to be seen if Bryant will try to play through the injury or not.

This writer hopes his article proves premature on that front.