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ESPNDallas poked and prodded the Cowboys schedule was released on Thursday.

Now, I've decided to take another look at it.

PODCAST
Ian Fitzsimmons and Richard Durrett examine the recently-released NFL schedule and agree that the Cowboys don't have any reason to complain. Listen

Positive September: The Cowboys have a chance to finish 3-1 or 4-0 in September. The toughest game of this early season stretch is the opener against the New York Giants, who are 4-0 at Cowboys Stadium. The last time the Cowboys finished September perfect (4-0) was 2007. Over the last two seasons, the Cowboys are 4-2 in September, a solid mark. However, that Week 2 loss at Seattle was a painful one last season. In 2011, the Cowboys lost the season opener against the New York Jets, but rallied to win an emotional game at San Francisco, 27-24, where Tony Romo suffered a broken rib and a punctured lung. Miles Austin (hamstrings) was also hurt in that game. If the Cowboys can finish September on a positive heading into the Week 5 game against Denver, then maybe, just maybe, this team might be headed to big things in 2013.

Tony Romo vs.: Coach Jason Garrett says quarterbacks get to much of the blame and or credit when it comes to wins and losses. He's right in some ways, but last year, Romo was outplayed by opposing quarterbacks, Russell Wilson, Jay Cutler, Robert Griffin III and Drew Brees, too many times last season. Outside of taking on the NFC East again, Romo, who already has two wins over Peyton Manning, has to make sure he performs well early in the season or the criticism he heard from signing a new contract will extend into the regular season. The Week 4 matchup against Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers proves to be interesting. You can almost compare Romo's career to Rivers'. Romo takes on Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, Brees and Cutler this season. I would like to know if Romo will face Matt Flynn or Terrelle Pryor on Thanksgiving Day when the Oakland Raiders visit Cowboys Stadium.

Why the Raiders on Thanksgiving Day: It seemed like a natural to have Peyton Manning face Romo and the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day. Instead, we have the Raiders take on the Cowboys for the second time in five seasons. Maybe the Raiders were given the date as a favor to the Davis Family to showcase the Raiders in front of a national audience. The Raiders were on of the worst teams in the NFL last season and while every team gets a prime time date, thanks to the Monday and Thursday night schedules, the Raiders didn't seem fit for a Thanksgiving Day appearance again.

IRVING, Texas – Until the Cowboys win in December, the closing month will always be the toughest stretch of games.

Three of the Cowboys’ December opponents had winning records in 2012 (Chicago, Green Bay, Washington) and two made the playoffs (Packers, Redskins). The Bears finished 10-6 in 2012 and lost out on a wild-card spot due to tiebreakers.

Winning at Chicago in December is a difficult challenge, but the Bears have changed coaches and have parted ways with future Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher. The Cowboys will also look to avenge a 34-18 drubbing last season at Cowboys Stadium in which Tony Romo was intercepted five times.

The first time Green Bay played in Cowboys Stadium, it won Super Bowl XLV. Aaron Rodgers is at the top of the quarterback charts in the NFL and Clay Matthews signed an extension this week. The last time the Cowboys played the Packers happened to be Wade Phillips last game as coach, a 45-7 thrashing at Lambeau Field on Nov. 7, 2010.

PODCAST
Ian Fitzsimmons and Richard Durrett examine the recently-released NFL schedule and agree that the Cowboys don't have any reason to complain. Listen

Every Cowboys fan should remember what happened when their team visited Washington to close the 2012 season. Romo was intercepted three times and the Cowboys limped home with a 28-18 loss to finish 8-8 for the second straight year. Any trip to FedEx Field has been a grind for the Cowboys. Robert Griffin III makes it that much harder.

Closing the year at home against Philadelphia will be nice after the Cowboys failed to win de facto NFC East championship games at MetLife Stadium to the Giants and FedEx Field to the Redskins in 2011 and ’12. In fact, the last time the Cowboys made the playoffs was in 2009 when they ended the year by beating the Eagles and beat them again a week later in the wild-card round.

What could help the Cowboys entering December is a late bye (Nov. 17) and the 10-day break after the Thanksgiving Day game. That time off could benefit the team’s health.

PODCAST
Fitzsimmons & Durrett discuss Tony Romo's contract extension and what it says about Jerry Jones. Listen

The Tony Romo contract has raised all sorts of ire among fans and some media members.

How can the Cowboys give Romo a $108 million contract with one playoff victory, three Pro Bowl appearances and a 1-6 mark in win-or-go-home games?

The market dictates so is one reason and another is the Cowboys believe Romo can deliver on a Super Bowl championship. But comparing Romo to the Manning Brothers, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger is almost unfair because these men have won Super Bowl titles.

So why not compare Romo's resume to some other good quarterbacks who haven't won a Super Bowl. We picked the following: Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub, Jay Cutler and Philip Rivers

Below is a statistical comparison:



Is Romo better than Ryan? Better than Schaub? Is Romo worth the money after comparing him to other quarterbacks?

You decide.

People ask all the time about the status of the contract extension the Dallas Cowboys are going to end up giving quarterback Tony Romo. They ask sometimes as though there's still a question as to whether he'll get it. I consistently answer that he will, and that he should, and for a number of reasons (not the least of which would be the Cowboys' inability to upgrade if they let him leave at the end of the 2013 season), the team has no choice.

Perhaps this latest report, from Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, will help convince those who still think it's possible they don't get this done. Ian's report says that the way Romo's contract is structured prohibits the Cowboys from designated him as their franchise player in 2014. The reason is that Romo's deal still has three more years on it, the final two of which will automatically void, but not until after the deadline for designating franchise players. So they can't tag him, and if the current league year ends without a new deal he'll be a free agent whose price will go through the roof.

Now, this seems like a ridiculous oversight by the Cowboys, but in truth they wouldn't reasonably have been able to franchise Romo next year anyway. The restructuring the team has done on Romo's contract over the years has pushed back a significant portion of his money into those voidable years, and his franchise number would be more than $25 million next year even if they could do it. So they realistically couldn't have done it even if the contract had been structured in such a way to allow for it.

The ultimate point here is a very simple one: Romo is going to get a very nice, long-term contract extension, likely this offseason. The team has been open about the fact that they are discussing this with Romo. They want him to be their quarterback for the rest of his career. They are confident they will get a deal done, and they don't share the fans' impatience because, a) they know huge deals like this take time and, b) they've been able to find ways to add a couple of key guys this week without reducing Romo's $16.8 million cap number for 2013. Once the new deal is done, that number will drop, and they can carry over unused savings into next year's cap if they like.

What Ian's report underlines is the extent to which Romo has the leverage in these talks. The Cowboys need to sign him long-term, for a number of reasons, and he knows it. So why not wait and see what the new deals look like for guys like Joe Flacco (who's already signed his), Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan? Romo's not going to make what those guys make, but they're going to set the top end of the quarterback market and give Romo and his agents useful numbers off of which to work. The only problem Romo has is if he gets into the 2013 season and gets hurt in his contract year and kills his chances of free agency. But that's a deadline that's still more than five months away. In the meantime, Romo is in no rush and doesn't need to be. He's the one holding the cards.

This is a deal that will get done. It's 100 percent certain. And when it does, it's going to be a very nice deal for Tony Romo.

Cowboys starting quarterback Tony Romo is a drop-back passer with excellent mobility and vision. While he's not a quarterback you can line up in the pistol formation, Romo is a quarterback that can elude pressure and has good enough speed to get up field.

But the sudden rash of option-type quarterbacks could be the future of the NFL.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was on 540 ESPN on Tuesday and said he sees athletic quarterbacks, option ones, as the future.

"The athletic quarterback, I don't think, is going to pass at all," Rodgers said. "You have seen the trend with more and more guys who can make plays when the pocket breaks down, who can extend plays, who are also good passers. You will continue to see that."

Given Romo's age -- he turns 33 in April -- maybe it's time the Cowboys look at one of those option quarterbacks that's been blazing the NFL these days in the upcoming draft. Of course, if you draft one, changing the offense will become vital to the success of that type of quarterback.

"We have seen that the last few years especially -- the year Robert Griffin had this year, his mobility," Rodgers added. "Russell Wilson is an athletic guy. Andrew Luck, as well, is an underrated athlete. You are going to see more and more of the top picks being big-time athletes as well, like (Colin) Kaepernick is."

However, ESPN's John Clayton believes drop-back passers will be in vogue again. It's something he writes about in his latest mailbag.

IRVING, Texas – Might a trip to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl be in Tony Romo’s immediate future?

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers announced on 540 ESPN and ESPNWisconsin.com that he will not play in the Jan. 27 Pro Bowl because of an ankle injury. Washington’s Robert Griffin III is out following knee surgery and will be replaced by New Orleans’ Drew Brees.

If Matt Ryan wins the NFC Championship Game against San Francisco on Sunday, then he would need to be replaced.

Romo would have to be in the discussion with Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Eli Manning of the New York Giants. The Cowboys do not confirm whether a player earned Pro Bowl alternate status or not.

Romo had more passing yards (4,903) and touchdown passes (28) than Wilson (3,118, 26) and Manning (3,948, 26), but he also had 19 interceptions, which tied Brees for the most in the NFL. Wilson led the Seahawks to the divisional round of the playoffs, and Manning's Giants finished 9-7, one game better than the Cowboys.

But there’s also a question about his health. He cracked a rib in the regular-season finale against Washington that left him in great pain after the game, but three-plus weeks of rest should help.

Romo was an addition to the 2009 Pro Bowl and earned trips in 2006 and ’07.

A fourth trip to the Pro Bowl, no matter how he got it, would help to a small degree in negotiations on an extension.

Can the New York Giants' pass rush perk up and help a Big Blue defense that held the Falcons offense scoreless during the playoffs last season repeat that performance Sunday in Atlanta?

Can the two men the Dallas Cowboys brought in to be shutdown cornerbacks keep the Steelers receivers covered while Ben Roethlisberger scrambles to keep plays alive?

Can the Washington Redskins scheme, adjust and work around their defensive personnel shortages for another week, keeping Trent Richardson in check and daring Brandon Weeden to beat them in Cleveland?

These are the key storylines Sunday as the NFC East race spins into its final weeks. Amend them with different opponents, and they are likely to remain the key storylines in this division the rest of the way. Although the quarterbacks get all the attention in this division and statistically there's not a top-10 defense in the bunch, the team that plays the best defense in these final three games is the one most likely to emerge with the division title.

The NFC East race is a jumble. The defending champion Giants hold a one-game lead, but they have road games the next two weeks in Atlanta and Baltimore and are far from assured of winning out. The Falcons and Ravens are a combined 11-1 at home this season and 65-11 the past five. Sure, New York is a defending Super Bowl champion that has shown it can win anywhere, but there's not a team out there that could safely assume it would go 2-0 in those games. The Giants are going to have to play the way they played in January, not the way they've played for most of the past month and a half, if they're going to keep control of the division. To do that, they need to be more ferocious on defense.

The Giants have 31 sacks -- tied for 12th most in the league. Jason Pierre-Paul leads them with 6.5. Osi Umenyiora has six. Justin Tuck has only three.

The numbers are fine, but they're not Giants numbers. This is a pass rush that took out Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady en route to its second Super Bowl title in five years. Unless someone gets more than one sack a game the rest of the way, they're going to finish the regular season without anyone in double figures. That doesn't compute, and it has as much to do with why the Giants haven't already put away this division as anything.

It's possible that seeing Ryan and the Falcons will rekindle memories of how dominant they were up front 11 months ago, and if that's the case, the Giants could be the team that gets on the defensive run that gives them the division title.

The Cowboys sit one game back of the Giants, tied with the Redskins for second place. Statistically fine for much of the season, the defense has endured a brutal rash of injuries. Both starting inside linebackers, a starting safety, a starting defensive lineman and their nickel cornerback are on injured reserve. This week, star pass-rusher DeMarcus Ware (elbow) and starting cornerback Morris Claiborne (concussion) have already missed practice. Nose tackle Jay Ratliff remains in doubt, and his backup, Josh Brent, is out because of his well-publicized issues. The Cowboys are running short of players on defense, which could take them right out of this picture if it continues.

But they've made it this far in spite of their deficiencies. They've won four of their past five games. Running back DeMarco Murray is back in the fold, red-hot wide receiver Dez Bryant apparently is determined to play in spite of a broken finger, and the offense is humming.

The defense has to hold it together, and the key is in that secondary. Ware and Anthony Spencer are playing well at outside linebacker, and the defensive line is average and going to stay that way. The defense is counting on Claiborne and fellow corner Brandon Carr to shut down receivers, especially in a game such as this Sunday's against Pittsburgh's receivers. If Claiborne can't go, the responsibility falls to Sterling Moore, who has looked good in his short time in Dallas.

Carr and Claiborne have been occasionally brilliant but generally inconsistent in coverage this season. The price the Cowboys paid for Carr in free-agent money and for Claiborne in draft picks says they're big-time talents who need to play that way. If they can shut down opposing receivers the next three weeks, the Cowboys' chances of coming from behind and stealing this division are a lot better.

In Washington, all eyes are on rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, who has a knee injury and may not play Sunday in Cleveland.

But the Redskins aren't really worried about their offense. They can run the ball with Alfred Morris, Pierre Garcon can get open down the field for backup Kirk Cousins, and they can score enough points.

Defense has been the Redskins' issue all season. They rank 28th in total defense and 31st against the pass. A secondary that didn't look all that great to begin with is now missing two starting safeties and a starting cornerback. The defense is also missing its best pass-rusher, Brian Orakpo, and starting defensive lineman Adam Carriker. It has been a struggle.

Yet the Redskins, which have managed to win their past four games to move within a game of the Giants, have a real chance. They have looked bad on defense for long stretches during the streak -- the second half against Dallas on Thanksgiving, the first half against Baltimore last week -- but they've managed to hold on. Coordinator Jim Haslett is doing an excellent job of changing up the game plan from week to week and half to half to maximize any advantage he can find. Outside linebacker Rob Jackson can be a disruptive pass-rusher for a half. DeAngelo Hall can be a decent cover corner for a couple of drives.

They mix, match and patch it together, and so far it's not falling apart. The key will be for the Redskins to keep walking that tightrope, and if they can do it for three more games, they absolutely have a chance.

So if you're trying to make sense of this NFC East race as it hits the home stretch, look not to the big-name quarterbacks and receivers but instead to the defenses. If one of these three teams can do something on defense it hasn't been able to do so far, that could make enough of a difference to decide the division.

In the final 20 days before the start of the regular season, we are counting down the top 20 players in the NFC East. For a full explanation, see this post.

No. 7 -- Tony Romo, Cowboys QB

Romo may be the ultimate example of a player whose reputation fails to jibe with reality. His inability to elevate the Dallas Cowboys to Super Bowl contenders during his time as their starting quarterback has come to define him. Critics ignore the facts of poor offensive line play and substandard defense and blame Romo for failing to win more than one playoff game to this point. Games such as last year's in which Romo helped blow second-half leads with interceptions against the Jets and the Lions don't help.

But the easy criticisms and unfair reputation obscure the reality that Romo performs pretty consistently as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. His career passer rating of 96.9 ranks among the greatest quarterbacks in league history. Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning are the only active quarterbacks with a higher career completion percentage. His career fourth-quarter numbers are excellent. And for all of the talk about interceptions, Romo only threw 10 of them last year against 31 touchdowns. His career TD/INT rate is 2.07 to 1.

Romo deserves to have a lot of the same things said about him that are said about quarterbacks with better reputations. He moves well in the pocket. He keeps plays alive, makes something out of nothing. He has shown an ability to overcome poor line play and a revolving door at running back and still deliver top-level production. He has shown an ability to help make receivers better. He deserves to be ranked among the current greats at his position and, obviously, among the best players in the NFC East. And if he ever does find a way to lead the Cowboys to a championship, the reputation might finally match up with the reality.

Rankings so far:

8. Justin Tuck, DE, Giants

9. Jason Babin, DE, Eagles

10. Victor Cruz, WR, Giants

11. London Fletcher, LB, Redskins

12. Michael Vick, QB, Eagles

13. Tyron Smith, T, Cowboys

14. Brian Orakpo, LB, Redskins

15. Jason Witten, TE, Cowboys

16. Dez Bryant, WR, Cowboys

17. DeSean Jackson, WR, Eagles

18. Osi Umenyiora, DE, Giants

19. Evan Mathis, G, Eagles

20. Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, Giants

This is the year that Tony Romo is expected to take the final step to winning it all.

No, not the Super Bowl. We’re talking about the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament.

Romo has finished second in the Lake Tahoe tournament the last three years and is the favorite this year. Harrah’s Sportsbook has put 5-2 odds on Romo winning next weekend’s event.

Of course, any mention of Romo playing in an offseason golf event is certain to elicit reactions complaining about him not being focused enough on football. Never mind that he’s one of six active starting quarterbacks scheduled to play in the tournament, a group that includes MVP Aaron Rodgers (50-1 odds).

Plus, it’s a pretty safe bet that Romo will get in a throwing session or two over the weekend. His two favorite receivers – Jason Witten (30-1) and Miles Austin (40-1) – are also scheduled to play in the tournament the weekend before reporting to training camp.

IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys will be represented in the top 10 of the NFL Network’s top 100 players of 2011 feature thanks to DeMarcus Ware.

Incredibly, Ware was not in the top 10 a year ago, finishing 12th. Now the question is whether he will be the highest-ranked defensive player in the poll. The show will air Wednesday at 7 p.m.

New York Jet cornerback Darrelle Revis would seem to be Ware’s biggest competition.

Ware was second in the league in sacks last year with 19.5 He has had at least 11 sacks in a season from 2006-11, including 20 in 2008. Since sacks became an official stat, only Reggie White (105) had more sacks in his first 100 games than Ware (85). White (five) is the only player with more 15-sack seasons in a career than Ware (three).

By the way the only other Cowboys in the top 100 list, as chosen by 448 players from across the league, are Jason Witten (No. 75) and Tony Romo (No. 91).

So what’s the best guess as to Ware’s rank?

You have to think quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Drew Brees will be higher. After that it’s a flip of the coin between Ware and Revis but maybe wide receiver Calvin Johnson because of how ridiculous a season he had in 2011.

I’ll guess Ware will be No. 6, behind Revis.

Go ahead and make your predictions in the comments.

I've enjoyed reading the recent comments from the fans regarding Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. The comments are based on a column written by KC Joyner, an NFL Insider for ESPN, who says Romo is a top-5 quarterback.

I agree. Statistically, Romo is.

Behind the stats, Romo plays tough, leads by example and does win games. Regular-season games.

At this stage of Romo's career, he needs to push his team to bigger things.

Romo has two years left on his contract and there's a belief the Cowboys will extend him for more years. However, Romo has to do something: win in the postseason.

He's got one playoff win, beating the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009.

Romo has to do more. Much more.

If Romo wants to be considered an elite quarterback -- like Eli Manning, Tom Brady, a healthy Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers -- he must push his team toward a deep playoff run.

"It's just about winning," Romo said late last month. "There is no discussion to be had for anybody. There is probably one guy who has ever played the position who didn’t win a Super Bowl who is in the discussion for the greatest quarterbacks and that’s Dan Marino. There are not a lot of them that get thrown around. You know that. It’s the same thing as winning majors in golf. We know what matters as a quarterback. We know what matters."

Romo doesn't get enough credit from the fans and maybe some in the media for what he's done for the Cowboys. He stabilized a position that was hurting the franchise. No quarterback is perfect, just ask the fans of the Baltimore Ravens who want to run Joe Flacco out of town.

Through 77 career starts, Romo is 47-30. Troy Aikman was 45-32 after 77 games and Roger Staubach was 59-18. Brady was 58-19 and Roethlisberger 55-22.

Did Romo cost the Cowboys some games last year? Of course. The debacles against the New York Jets and Detroit Lions come to mind very quickly.

If anything, Romo has to make those around him better.

If Dez Bryant doesn't know the plays (we believe he does), but there's this perception he doesn't, then Romo needs to get on him. Romo said once he doesn't believe in publicly scolding guys, especially on the sideline, that's fine.

Behind closed doors is where he does his best work.

The Cowboys need Romo now more than ever. The defense is getting better, thanks to what Jerry Jones and the front office did in the draft and free agency. It seems the offense really didn't need much tweaking other than the interior of the offensive line.

Upgrades at the guard spots and switching the tackles should improve the offensive line this season. The core group at running back and wide receiver remain the same.

So does the quarterback.

With that in mind, it's time for Romo to get his team into the postseason. And once he gets there, win more than one playoff game. That should be the only stat that should mean something now.

So we have this thing where you can go on and vote for who you think should be on the cover of "Madden NFL 13," and perhaps because it's March it's been set up as a bracket. There are 32 players in the bracket. The idea was that there'd be one for each NFL team, but as you can see the Patriots and Jets each now have two. All the Jets had to do to get their second was spend Wednesday completely embarrassing themselves.

But I digress.

New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz is the 2-seed on the left side of the bracket, matched up in the first round against 15th-seeded Washington Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo. We all like Orakpo, and he's sure to get a bit of a boost from the small measure of fame he's earned giving the caveman a hard time on the Geico commercials. But Cruz is the popular breakout star of the surprise Super Bowl champs, and he's sure to roll through the first round. In fact, as I break down the bracket, Doug Gottlieb-style, I don't see too many potential tough matchups for Cruz until the final. Fourth-seeded Larry Fitzgerald could give him a run, but I think the winner of that stellar second-round matchup between Fitz and the Philadelphia Eagles' LeSean McCoy is going to be spent. And I like Cruz's chances even against top seed Cam Newton in the semis. I'm picking Cruz to salsa right into the final.

McCoy is the fifth seed on the same side of the bracket, and he's got a tough draw. A first-round matchup against an underseeded Reggie Bush, who has a Kardashian history and may pull in some tabloid votes, is brutal. Then he's likely to see Fitzgerald in the second round and Newton in the third. If McCoy makes it to the semis, he'll have earned his way there, no doubt about it.

On the other side of the bracket, Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware is the No. 10 seed and matched up in the first round against No. 7 seed Jared Allen of the Vikings. I like Ware to pull the upset here, and while there's trouble looming in the second round from No. 2 seed Rob Gronkowski, I think Ware's won enough "Madden" games over the years that he can upset Gronk as well. I have Ware in my Elite Eight, but that's where his dream ends. He's going to get either Tim Tebow, Arian Foster or Calvin Johnson there, and those guys are heavyweights.

My bracket has Cruz meeting Aaron Rodgers in the final and Rodgers getting his discount double-check revenge for the Giants' victory over the Packers in the NFC playoffs. But what do I know? I picked the Packers to win that game, and I never do well in the bracket pools.

Anyway, go vote. It'll give you something to do while you wait for London Fletcher to sign or the Giants to do something or whatever it is you're doing these days as a fan of a team in the super-quiet NFC East.

IRVING, Texas -- Brandon Carr did not know Rob Ryan before the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator got off Jerry Jones’ private plane in Kansas City the day free agency began, but he quickly liked what he heard.

“His bread and butter is go rush the quarterback, put pressure on them and put your cornerback on an island,” Carr said.

Carr does not mind the island life. At 6-0, 207 pounds, Carr likes to play physically on the outside.

“It’s a challenge and I’m all about challenges,” Carr said. “With me signing that contract, I knew even before it was going to be a big challenge playing for the Cowboys and getting the attention they get. I know pretty much every game, I’ve got to bring my A game.”

Coach Jason Garrett said what attracted the Cowboys to Carr was how he fared against some of the top receivers in the game, like Detroit’s Calvin Johnson and San Diego’s Vincent Jackson while playing against the Chiefs

Johnson had two touchdown catches vs. the Chiefs last year but had just three catches in the game for 29 yards. Jackson had eight catches for 112 yards in two games vs. the Chiefs for San Diego. Green Bay’s Greg Jennings did not play against Kansas City in the Packers’ only regular-season loss of the year, but Jordy Nelson was limited to two catches for 29 yards and Donald Driver had two for seven yards. Aaron Rodgers threw for a season-low 235 yards.

“Those games you don’t need any kind of motivation,” Carr said. “You know what’s ahead of you when you’re playing against receives that are big playmakers. You have to go out there and really trust in your training and coaching and believe in yourself to make plays, that this is a guy you’re going to shut down. I’m up for all of those challenges and I know going to the NFC East there’s some great offenses that put up points and can move up and down the field. That’s a big challenge. I’m going to keep working hard and try to perfect my craft.”

IRVING, Texas -- For the 16th straight year the Dallas Cowboys will be represented at the Super Bowl by former players.

Four ex-Cowboys will be on the sidelines Sunday when New England plays the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. Defensive back Nate Jones and fullback Lousaka Polite play for the Patriots, while defensive tackle Chris Canty and wide receiver Isaiah Stanback are on the Giants.

Canty starts for the Giants, while Jones and Polite are backups for the Patriots. Stanback is on the Giants’ practice squad.

Canty was a fourth-round pick by the Cowboys in 2005. Jones was a seventh-rounder in 2004 in the same round that produced Patrick Crayton and Jacques Reeves, which is a great job by the scouting department to have three keepers that late. Stanback was a fourth-round pick in 2007 but his conversion from college quarterback to wide receiver was slowed by a foot injury.

The four had some memorable moments:

Canty seemed to play his best against the Giants, which could have led to his six-year, $42 million deal he signed with New York in 2008, but his most memorable moment as a Cowboy came in 2007 when he blocked a 48-yard field goal attempt by Minnesota and saw safety Patrick Watkins return it for a touchdown. The Cowboys won, 24-14.

Jones’ most memorable moment came in 2007 as well when the Cowboys all-but clinched homefield advantage in the NFC. He can also be credited for hastening the Aaron Rodgers’ Era in Green Bay because he knocked Brett Favre out of the Nov. 29 meeting by hitting the quarterback’s arm on a blitz off the edge. Rodgers played well in Favre’s absence and became the Packers’ starter the next year.

Polite joined the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2004. I guess his most memorable moment came in 2006 when Julius Jones, Marion Barber and Tyson Thompson scored rushing touchdowns in a 45-14 win at Tennessee. Others might remember that as Vince Young’s first career start. Polite’s better moments came when he followed Bill Parcells’ & Co. to Miami.

Stanback’s moment was a 58-yard kickoff return against Seattle in 2008. Unfortunately the Cowboys did not score on that drive and he caught all of two passes before he was released before the 2009 season began.

Jason Garrett accurately called this arguably the best season of Tony Romo’s career. That doesn’t mean Romo should be considered a Pro Bowl snub.

Just because Romo played as well or better than he did in his three previous Pro Bowl campaigns doesn’t mean he earned another trip to Hawaii. Romo won’t go, even with Eli Manning busy with the Super Bowl.

Nobody can question Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and New Orleans’ Drew Brees as the NFC’s top two quarterbacks. One set the NFL record for passer rating while leading his team to a 15-1 record. The other broke the league record for passing yards while playing for a 13-3 team.

Carolina’s Cam Newton will be Manning’s replacement. It’s hard to have a problem with that, considering that Newton set a rookie record with 4,051 passing yards and a record for all NFL quarterbacks by rushing for 14 touchdowns.

The NFC quarterback with the biggest beef isn’t Romo, the league’s fourth-highest rated passer (102.5) after throwing for 4,184 yards with 31 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions. It would be Detroit’s Matthew Stafford.

Stafford, the former Highland Park High star, became the fourth quarterback in NFL history with a 5,000-yard season. He became the seventh quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 40 touchdowns in a season. He led the Lions, a longtime NFL laughingstock, to the playoffs.

Romo had a great year despite Dallas’ late-season fade. It just wasn’t good enough to get to the Pro Bowl given the NFC’s ridiculous riches at the quarterback position.