Dan Bailey doing his impression of Rafael Septien (photo by dallascowboys.com)

Whew!… Give me a minute, I gotta catch my breath. Here we went again, somewhere between thrilling and frustrating for the 3rd straight week, coming out on top for the 2nd time. Our Dallas Cowboys ground out an 18-16 win against a typically tough Washington Redskins team despite playing an uglier game than last week at San Francisco.

Dan Bailey Kicked (like Rafael Septien) and Tony ‘ribs‘ Romo screamed (at his players, not in pain). The Cowboy’s wide receivers and center Phil Costa qued the circus music. With equal parts gritty-talented play and embarrassing-mistake filled play, it was a true team effort. (more…)

With 5 of the Cowboys remaining games coming against NFC East rivals, they are definitely still alive in the 2010 playoff race. Many are counting the Cowboys out and looking ahead to the 2011 NFL Draft, but I refuse to do that and it seems that team owner Jerry Jones believes the same.

Jones had a meeting with the team today and wasn’t his normal self. This time, Jones was exactly what the team needed and he came in with a stern approach and message.

“Actually, put up or shut up,”  Cowboys Pro-Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. “That’s what I got. ‘You guys, we have everything in place, I made the team sort of what it is right now. Everybody is playing well on this team, the thing is the way that we’re playing sort of like [selfish], undisciplined so we got to find some way to stop being our own Achilles heel and win some games.’ ”

“I think just him being the owner he always expects more,” Ware said. “And we expect more out of ourselves because we’re playing good ball and giving all the effort but we’re getting out there and making stupid penalties and just stupid plays.”

Let us hope that Jerry’s message resonated through the Dallas locker room. With the owner coming in to lay down the law, perhaps players will finally buckle down and start fearing for their job. Hopefully the result will be less bone-headed plays and a Cowboys victory on Monday night.