Dallas Cowboys Week 5: The Best of Both Worlds

So here we are coming up on week six in the NFL.  As the weeks go on, the NFC East continues to solidify it's position as the best division in football.  The New York Giants are in the lead with a 4-0 record, but they really haven't played any dynamic defense.  The Washington Redskins have yet to throw an interception, and are 4-1.  The Philadelphia Eagles fell to 2-3, but don't think they're out of contention just yet.  Our Dallas Cowboys wrapped up week five with a 31-22 victory of the Cincinnati Bengals, thanks to some heroics on both offense and defense.

Best Offensive Player of the Week:

Two weeks ago I gave the best offensive player award to ground pounder Marion Barber.  I'm going to keep that trend this week, and give it to the rookie running back Felix Jones.  This is the fourth game that Jones has had a touchdown (against Philadelphia he returned a kickoff) and the third with more than 60 yards despite working in a dual backs system that heavily favors Barber.  This week Jones had 9 rushes for 96 yards and a touchdown.  That's pretty impressive for a rookie who sees limited handoffs.  He has an icredible ability to get to the outside utilizing blockers, and then puts on an incredible burst of speed to get through the secondary defenders.  While Barber thrives using contact and taking defenders head on, Jones is able to get around them much faster.  Not a bad fantasy pick if I say so myself.

Honorable mention goes to Jason Witten this week. He leads the NFL in receiving yards with 442, and is just one touchdown shy of the league leader.  Once again Witten was Tony Romo's go to guy on some critical plays, particularly third downs and a touchdown early in the first half.  He was able to keep the chains moving, and was an amazing blocker for rushing or play action plays.  And how about Patrick Crayton?! Talk about the right place at the right time!  Crayton was in the endzone when a bullet pass from Romo bounced out of the hands of Miles Austin and into Crayton's right arm (which he proceed to catch one handed).  This play sealed the Cowboys lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

Defensive Player of the Week:

This week I decided to pick a defensive player that may have saved us the game: Tank Johnson.  Following a costly interception in which the Bengals came away with a field goal that made the game 17-16 early in the fourth quarter, the Bengals went for an onside kick that they managed to recover.  It looked as though this could be another scoring drive, until three plays later when Johnson forced Chris Perry to fumble.  The fumble was recovered by the Cowboys and led to a Romo to T.O. pass for a touchdown.  Johnson's fumble couldn't have come at a better time, and proved that picking him up was a very wise move.  For the day, he only had one other tackle, but is known for pressuring quaterbacks and taking down running backs.

Honorable mention goes to Keith Davis (though he is usually just a special teams player).  Following another Bengals touchdown that brought the score to 24-22, Davis was able to get has hands on the ball passed to Ben Utecht and bat it away, making the two-point conversion no good.  This was a critical play that could have given the Bengals confidence.

Another honorable mention goes to Greg Ellis. Carson Palmer's first pass of the game was deflected into the hands of Ellis, giving the Cowboys their first interception of the season.  The defense had previously been on a five game drought, though Adam "Not Pacman" Jones had two opportunities to pick off Palmer.  Both were dropped.

The Cowboys are 4-1, and are in prime position to move up in the NFC East.  This week we face the Arizona Cardinals, a tough offensive and defensive team.  If our defense can make plays, especially by putting pressure on the quarterback, we should have no problem with their offense.  As for our offense, I hope Romo takes some time to get his composure back in the pocket, he wasn't standing as tall and seemed a bit skittish last week.  If he can come away this week with no interceptions and still keep the high fly offense, we should have nothing to worry about.  How 'bout them Cowboys?!