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Yes, the start of training camps is two months away, but it’s never too early to consider the coming season. A look at the best-case and worst-case scenarios for the Cowboys in 2012.

Dream scenario (12-4): The issue in Dallas is the extent to which the defense improves. If the improvement remains incremental, they'll lose some games they should win and have to scrap to stay in the division race. But if the defense takes a dramatic step forward in its second year under defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and with Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne having been brought in to upgrade the secondary, the Cowboys become a Super Bowl contender quite quickly. In the Cowboys' dream scenario, Tony Romo has another big year at quarterback, Miles Austin and DeMarco Murray stay healthy and Dez Bryant takes a big developmental step forward of his own, using his considerable physical ability to dominate matchups in other teams' secondaries and the end zone. The new guys on the offensive line tighten things up in the interior, the move back to right tackle makes Doug Free more comfortable and Tyron Smith transitions seamlessly to left tackle. And in the dream scenario, the improvements in the secondary help the defensive front seven get more pressure on the quarterback, with outside linebacker Anthony Spencer playing the way he did in December of 2009 and DeMarcus Ware playing like... well, like he always does.

Nightmare scenario (6-10): The Cowboys' nightmare scenario, as is the case with anyone's, includes injuries. In this scenario, Austin and Bryant struggle to stay healthy, and the team actually does find itself missing the surprisingly effective replacement Laurent Robinson provided in 2011. Murray also gets banged up, forcing them to rely once again on Felix Jones and little else at running back. Claiborne struggles, as young corners often do, to adjust to the speed and intensity of the NFL game, and Spencer muddles along once again, content to be a pretty good but not great player opposite Ware. In the nightmare scenario, Romo has a bad year, riddled with turnovers and the kind of inconsistency that gives his critics actual evidence for their criticism, and raises legitimate questions about how much longer the Cowboys will remain committed to him. The nightmare scenario includes a slow start against a very tough-looking early portion of the schedule, and sees the Cowboys succumb to the tension and negativity that's always so quick to cling to them in times of trouble. And no, because you're asking, I don't think that even the nightmare scenario puts Jason Garrett on the hot seat. Jerry Jones loves that guy.

There's little sense in taking the bait when San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh tells a radio program Michael Crabtree "has the best hands I've ever seen on a wide receiver."

Anyone with a strong grasp of NFL history would place Cris Carter, Raymond Berry and Steve Largent on a short list for receivers with the surest hands.

Hall of Famer Ken Houston, speaking for a 2008 piece on all-time great wideouts, stood up for AFL stars Otis Taylor and Lionel Taylor.

"Lionel Taylor, I mean, he would catch a BB," Houston said.

Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson, speaking for the same piece, said Randy Moss, then with New England, had the best hands in the NFL at that time (2008).

"A lot of guys can catch," Thompson said then. "He can catch on any platform, as we say in scouting. He can adjust and catch it over the top of somebody's head, catch it falling down, and it doesn't matter if he is covered."

With Moss now on the 49ers, it is possible Crabtree does not posses the best hands among wide receivers on his own team.

Oops. I wasn't going to take the bait on this one, but now it's too late. Time to regroup.

Bottom line, I suspect Crabtree has impressed Harbaugh this offseason, and Harbaugh would like that to continue for as long as possible. By offering such strong public praise for Crabtree, Harbaugh is setting a standard for Crabtree to meet this season. He realizes Crabtree has the ability to meet that standard, or else he wouldn't make the statement.

We should all recall Harbaugh's calling quarterback Alex Smith "elite" and promoting him for the Pro Bowl last season. Then as now, Harbaugh was standing up for his guy. Smith enjoyed the finest season of his career and even outplayed the truly elite Drew Brees at times during the 49ers' playoff victory over New Orleans. The way Harbaugh backed Smith played a role in that performance, in my view.

Back to Crabtree. He has the ability to rank among the most sure-handed receivers in the game. He has not yet earned that status, but now he has little choice, right?

As the chart shows, Crabtree finished the 2011 season with 12.2 receptions per drop, which ranked 28th in the NFL among players targeted at least 100 times. Larry Fitzgerald led the NFL with 80 receptions and only one drop. Those numbers are according to ESPN Stats & Information, which defines drops as "incomplete passes where the receiver should have caught the pass with ordinary effort."

Crabtree suffered six drops last season by that standard, a few too many for the player with the best hands his head coach has ever seen on a wide receiver.

Every team in the NFC West had a 1,000-yard rusher last season.

Coaches in Seattle, San Francisco and St. Louis have promoted run-first philosophies. Arizona has invested first- and second-round picks in running backs Beanie Wells and Ryan Williams, respectively.

Run, run, run.

And yet the division focused on the passing game quite a bit during the 2012 NFL draft -- on both sides of the ball. NFC West teams drafted a league-high three wide receivers in the first two rounds. Teams from the division drafted three cornerbacks in the first three rounds, tied with the NFC North for most in the league.

The charts show how many receivers and corners each division added through the first three rounds. The combined total for the NFC West (six) was the most for any division, one more than the NFC North.

St. Louis drafted cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins (second round) and Trumaine Johnson (third round). Arizona used a third-round choice for cornerback Jamell Fleming. Arizona (Michael Floyd) and San Francisco (A.J. Jenkins) used first-round picks for receivers. St. Louis added receiver Brian Quick in the second round (and another receiver, Chris Givens, in the fourth).

NFC West pass defenses could face additional pressure given the scheduling rotation in 2012.

Every NFC West team faces New England with Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker.

The division also faces Green Bay (Aaron Rodgers, Jermichael Finley, Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson), Detroit (Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Brandon Pettigrew) and Chicago (Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall).

San Francisco draws New Orleans (Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham, Marques Colston) and the New York Giants (Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz). Arizona faces Philadelphia (Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin) and Atlanta (Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Julio Jones). Seattle faces Dallas (Tony Romo, Jason Witten, Dez Bryant) and Carolina (Cam Newton, Steve Smith).

The top five teams in 2011 passing yardage -- New Orleans, New England, Green Bay, Detroit and the Giants -- show up on NFC West schedules. Green Bay, New England, the Giants and Saints comprised the top four in yards per passing attempt. The top seven teams in passing touchdowns -- Green Bay, New Orleans, Detroit, New England, Dallas, Atlanta and the Giants -- play a combined 16 games against the NFC West.

And, of course, NFC West teams must face each other, which means games against Larry Fitzgerald, Vernon Davis, Randy Moss, Sidney Rice and others.

You guys know I'm active on Twitter (@ESPN_NFCEast and, to a lesser extent, @DanGrazianoESPN). I'm there to answer whatever questions I can, and at times like these the activity is more intense than it is at other times of the year. So I'm on there in between blog posts to help out. You can ask questions, vent, call me names, whatever. I'm there for you.

Some of the questions I get on there become so frequent that they take on lives of their own and become worthy of their own posts. Such is the case, I feel, with the question of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Laurent Robinson, who is making free-agent visits to places like Jacksonville and appears unlikely to return to Dallas.

To hear Cowboys fans on this topic, you'd think we were talking about the second coming of Jerry Rice. I mean, Robinson played very well for the Cowboys last year, and only three players in the league caught more touchdown passes, but I refuse to buy into the idea that replacing his production would become a major offseason priority for the Cowboys if and when he signs elsewhere.

Possible options for replacing Robinson include:

1. Throwing the ball to Jason Witten, Miles Austin and Dez Bryant more.

2. Finding a third wide receiver in the bargain bin, which is where they found Robinson last summer when no one else wanted him.

This isn't rocket science. Robinson became Tony Romo's favorite red zone target and ended up with 11 touchdown catches, but that doesn't mean Romo would be crippled in the red zone without him. Witten used to be his favorite red zone target, and there's no reason to think he can't be again. If they can keep Austin healthy and Bryant (still just 23 years old) continues his development, they won't need a No. 3 wide receiver to produce the way Robinson did. Robinson's production was a pleasant surprise, but it's not as though Romo and the Cowboys would have been lost without him.

The Cowboys need help on defense and on the offensive line. They're pretty well stocked at receiver. Falling in love with Robinson and overpaying him off of his first good season would be a free-agent gamble, and given their strengths and their needs, it's one the Cowboys would do well to let some other team make.

The Dallas Cowboys have a ton of offseason needs, many of which they plan to fill via free agency. But before they can go out and hunt for cornerbacks and safeties and guards and help for the pass rush, they need to know exactly how much salary cap room they have. Calvin Watkins writes that they're about $12.5 million under the projected cap right now, but that they can clear more room by restructuring the contracts of Dez Bryant and some other players:

It's written in wide receiver Dez Bryant's contract the Cowboys can move his $1.4 million roster bonus into signing bonus to create $957,000 of cap space. The Cowboys have done this in the past with several players.

Also, cornerback Orlando Scandrick, who is scheduled to make a base salary of $7.1 million can get that moved to signing bonus money to create cap space as well. Right tackle Doug Free is in the same situation. He's supposed to make $6 million in base salary in 2012 but that could get changed as well.

If the Cowboys move Free and Scandrick's money around, it will lower their salary cap figures and create $8.6 million in cap room.

As Calvin points out, they're also planning to cut cornerback Terence Newman, which could save them another $6 million or $4 million, depending on when they do it. Look for these kinds of moves to get made as the Cowboys position themselves to be very active in free agency when it begins Tuesday afternoon.

Yeah, I saw the story that Randy Moss wants to come out of retirement and play in the NFL again in 2012. And yeah, it's the offseason, so my first reaction was to do a post about whether he'd make sense for any of the teams in the NFC East. I'm not proud. It's content. It's a big name. It hits all four teams. And hey, you're reading it.

However, before we go any further, I must make one thing clear: I do not believe Randy Moss will ever play in the NFL again. The guy washed out with three different teams in 2010, couldn't find a job in 2011 and now, at the age of 35 and in a free-agent market flooded with good wide receivers in their primes, he thinks a team is going to take a chance on him? Agree to disagree, Randy. Agree to disagree.

That said, I have (as many of you are fond of pointing out) been wrong before. And so, if by some chance Moss can prove he still has enough speed to be a legitimate deep threat -- to get separation from defensive backs and perform as a difference-making downfield option for an offense, as he could not do in 2010 for three different teams -- would he make any sense in our division? My team-by-team ultra-fantastical hypothetical answers follow.

Dallas Cowboys: No. Not even a little. The Cowboys need a No. 3, first of all, and that's only if they let Laurent Robinson walk. If Dez Bryant and Miles Austin are healthy, Moss is an upgrade over neither one. And do you really want him around Bryant? No.

New York Giants: No. Not even a little. Go back and read the Cowboys answer and replace "Laurent Robinson" with "Mario Manningham" and replace "Dez Bryant and Miles Austin" with "Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz." No. Not a Giants kind of thing to do, this.

Philadelphia Eagles: Interesting, but only if they decide to move on from DeSean Jackson, as I believe they might. If Moss shows the deep-threat ability that made him such a weapon with Minnesota and New England at various points in his career, and if Jackson is out of the picture, the must-win-now-or-everyone's-getting-fired Eagles wouldn't be a ridiculous landing spot. Again, lot of "if"s, but don't be surprised to see this connection made again if Jackson isn't back.

Washington Redskins: The 2007-09 version of Moss is exactly what the Redskins need. But (a) this is the 2012 version, and (b) Moss doesn't respond well to being in losing environments. Even if he could flash that 07-09 form, the Redskins would have to be a lot more set at quarterback and offensive line than they are right now. And the quarterback would have to be a veteran like Peyton Manning or Kyle Orton and not a rookie or first-time starter like Robert Griffin III or Matt Flynn.

The Dallas Cowboys didn't see Laurent Robinson coming last summer, but thanks to Miles Austin's hamstrings and the speed with which he and Tony Romo developed a red zone rapport, Robinson became an important part of Dallas' offense. Now, he's an unrestricted free agent, and the team faces a difficult decision on what to do about him.

In the third installment of their position-by-position look at the Cowboys, ESPNDallas.com tackles the wide receivers. Bryan Broaddus acknowledges Robinson's contribution but "would not be surprised if the front office allows Robinson to walk."

He's made it clear that he wants to return to Valley Ranch and has indicated that the Cowboys wouldn't necessarily have to be the top bidders to keep him. What the Cowboys would be willing to pay for a No. 3 receiver who has proven he can be a quality fill-in starter isn't clear. If the Cowboys don't re-sign Robinson, they'll need to find another third receiver, whether it's in the draft or another free-agency bargain.

I remember No. 3 receiver being a concern for the Cowboys last August in training camp, and I remember talking to Bryan about this issue. At the time, we agreed that it was a small concern, in part because there was always a chance they could find a decent No. 3 wideout on the street (as they did) if they didn't like their internal options, and in part because of tight end Jason Witten's abilities as a receiver.

Witten this past season posted his lowest reception and yardage totals since 2006. I believe part of that was due to the emergence of Robinson, especially as a red zone option. I also think it had something to do with the Cowboys' offensive line struggles, which may have required Witten to spend more time as a pass-protector than a pass-catcher. It's entirely possible that, should the Cowboys let Robinson go, they can replace his production by throwing to Witten as much as they did in prior seasons. And if that's the case, internal options such as Jesse Holley or Raymond Radway might be sufficient replacements. Or they could find next year's Robinson in the free-agent bargain bin again.

The Cowboys need to spend money to upgrade the line and the secondary, and they could stand to spend some on a pass rush. If Austin and Dez Bryant can stay healthy, their concerns at wide receiver are small compared to those in other areas. So if Robinson wants more than No. 3 wide receiver money, or if he wants a long-term commitment, I'm with Bryan in that I wouldn't be surprised to see them let him go.

DENVER -- The Denver Broncos can thank Josh McDaniels for supplying one of the most improbable playoff wins in team history.

In fact, they can extend their gratitude to their reviled former head coach in person on Saturday night.

In an AFC West season that refuses to stop twisting chaotically, we will be treated to an unexpected storyline when the amusingly perplexing Broncos continue their unlikely postseason journey at New England on Saturday in an 8 p.m. ET kickoff. On a day the top-seeded Patriots confirmed McDaniels has rejoined the team, the Broncos qualified to face them with a thrilling 29-23 overtime victory over the heavily favored Steelers on Sunday in the best of the four wild-card games.

McDaniels, who spent the 2011 season with Rams, will be an offensive assistant for the playoffs and is expected to be the offensive coordinator in New England next season. He was the Patriots’ offensive coordinator prior to being hired as the coach in Denver. He was fired after 28 games in Denver.

A week ago, it seemed far-fetched that the Broncos would beat the Steelers and McDaniels would be actually coaching in the playoffs.

But that’s the 2011 season for you.

The Broncos-McDaniels showdown was made possible by an 80-yard pass play from redeemed quarterback Tim Tebow to receiver Demaryius Thomas on the first offensive play of overtime. According to ESPN Stats & Information, it was the longest overtime touchdown in NFL playoff history.

McDaniels targeted the pass-catch combination as a potentially dangerous postseason pair when he made Thomas the No. 22 overall pick and Tebow the No. 25 overall pick of the 2010 draft. It was McDaniels’ second and final draft in Denver.

McDaniels was widely criticized for drafting Thomas over Dez Bryant, who went No. 24 to Dallas, and for taking Tebow, period. First-year Broncos coach John Fox’s biggest challenge was trying to make something of the departed McDaniels’ criticized draft classes and the elephant in the room, Tebow.

Now, Fox, Tebow and company will take on McDaniels.

The Broncos go to New England with renewed faith in their passing game after improving to 4-0 in overtime games this season.

After struggling horribly in the past two games, Tebow regained his passing success, completing 10 of 21 passes for 316 yards. Thomas had 204 yards receiving on four catches.

From the first quarter of the Buffalo game in Week 16 through the first quarter Sunday, the Broncos had 18 punts and six turnovers in 28 possessions. They scored only 10 points in the stretch.

However, after going 0-for-2 passing in the first quarter, Tebow threw for 185 yards in the second quarter as Denver turned a 6-0 deficit into a 20-6 halftime lead. It was Tebow’s best quarter in his 15-start career.

Tebow had five passes of 30-plus yards Sunday against a Pittsburgh defense that was ranked No. 1 in the NFL against the pass this season.

During the week, Broncos football czar and Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway said that Tebow needed to “pull the trigger” and try to make some plays in the passing game. In the past two games, Tebow -- who was impressive against New England in Week 15 -- was tentative and reluctant to throw.

He appeared to start Sunday’s game that way, but after completing a 51-yard pass to Thomas second play of the second quarter, Tebow settled down and started to look like the improved passer he became earlier in December.

“I think that definitely gave us some momentum,” Tebow said of his early second-quarter success. “We were cooking pretty good from then on out.”

However, Tebow saved his best for last.

The Broncos’ offensive staff was planning to run the play to Thomas on their first play of overtime. Thomas said he thought he had a good chance to score when he saw he was in single coverage with Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor. Taylor had no chance.

Thomas beat Taylor off the line, caught a bullet from Tebow at the Denver 38, raced across the field to the end zone and into a tunnel as the crowd erupted, giving Denver its first playoff win in six years.

The unlikely day ended with Tebow taking a victory lap around the stadium, slapping the hands of fans.

Late in the week, there had been speculation that Tebow would be spelled by Brady Quinn on Sunday and talk about Denver needing to find a new quarterback this offseason got new life.

All that talk is off. It’s Tebow time again.

"He showed he’s an NFL quarterback today,” Broncos running back Willis McGahee said. "Case closed.”

Denver entered the playoffs with no juice at all. It was the eighth team in NFL history to enter the postseason with three straight losses and appeared to have no chance.

After Tebow showed again he can throw the ball, and the Denver defense continued its resurgence -- it pressured Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger all game and had five sacks -- the Broncos feel good about themselves again.

They remember they squandered a 16-7 lead with turnovers in a 41-23 loss to the Patriots three weeks ago. Sunday, the Broncos showed what can happen when they play with ball security.

“Everyone said we backed into the playoffs,” cornerback Champ Bailey said. “But we won a game in the playoffs and we’re moving on. We must be doing something right.”

Bring on McDaniels.

» NFC Wrap-ups: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

Arrow indicates direction team is trending.

Final Power Ranking: 13
Preseason Power Ranking: 14

Biggest surprise: Laurent Robinson. Signed as an afterthought by a team that didn't have a No. 3 wide receiver and wasn't sure it needed one, Robinson became a star in the passing game for quarterback Tony Romo. He caught 54 passes for 858 yards and tied for fourth in the league with 11 touchdown catches. With Miles Austin hurt for much of the season and second-year wideout Dez Bryant still developing amid a slew of off-field issues, Robinson was a big reason the Cowboys found themselves in the division race at all.

Biggest disappointment: The 1-4 finish. Even after crushing early-season losses to the Jets, Lions and Patriots -- each a game the Cowboys should have won -- Dallas stood at 7-4 and in position to take control of the NFC East with the Giants going through a second-half fade. But they gave away the game against Arizona with poor late clock management and a bizarre sequence on which head coach Jason Garrett iced his own rookie kicker, and from there it was a mess. Two losses to the Giants in the final four games sealed the Cowboys' fate, and the only game they won in their final five was against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that had quit on its coach. The defense collapsed late in the season and must be addressed, and the offensive line had a hard time protecting Romo. This was a system failure, and there are multiple personnel issues that have to be handled in advance of next season if they want to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Biggest need: The Cowboys need to get better in the secondary, which is weird because they addressed that last year by signing two free-agent safeties. But they knew Terence Newman wasn't going to be good enough at cornerback, which is why they tried to sign Nnamdi Asomugha, and they were right. Mike Jenkins played well but can't stay healthy. And while they signed Orlando Scandrick in the hope that he could take over for Newman as a starter next year, he doesn't necessarily look ready for a role like that. Cornerback, then, is a major need, and it wouldn't hurt if they did something about the pass rush. Anthony Spencer is a free agent at the outside linebacker spot opposite DeMarcus Ware, and Spencer does not appear to be the long-term answer.

Team MVP: DeMarco Murray. Yes, Romo had a great year and put up huge numbers. But he was also directly responsible for at least two of the early-season losses. And when you lose the division by one game, that has to matter. The Cowboys were at their very best when they were running the ball with Murray, their powerful rookie running back who ran for 897 yards in spite of not getting the starter's job until Oct. 23 and suffering a season-ending injury on Dec. 11. The Cowboys went 5-2 in the games that Murray both started and finished, and that's why I'm putting him here ahead of both Romo and Ware, each of whom had great years but vanished a bit when it counted.

Better, right? The trend arrow points up because the Cowboys won two more games in 2011 than they did in 2010. But the season left a bitter taste in the mouths of many fans and a lot of questions about the future. Is Garrett as talented a coach as Jerry Jones says he believes him to be, and will he get better and correct his mistakes as he gains more experience? Did Rob Ryan as coordinator really improve the defense, and can it take the next step if he gets a few more pieces in place before next year? Did Romo really learn from his early-season mistakes? He threw only three interceptions in the team's final nine games and may have taken a big step in his own career in spite of the fact that the defense and the offensive line crumbled around him. Will he continue to be a responsible and effective leader in 2012? The Cowboys appear to be in better shape than they were at this time last year, but it's hard to really see it through the disappointment of the final month.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants could not have asked for a better first half in the NFC East title game. They have done everything they've wanted to do on offense and defense. They have come out fired up behind high-energy stars like Mathias Kiwanuka and Victor Cruz. And when they've made mistakes, the Dallas Cowboys have consistently failed to capitalize on them.

Eli Manning is 15-for-20 for 199 yards and two touchdowns in the game so far. Ahmad Bradshaw has 46 rush yards and two touchdowns -- one on the ground and one through the air. The Giants are rolling with a 21-0 lead and will get the ball back to start the second half.

The Giants have been picking on overmatched Dallas cornerback Terence Newman all night, and Newman has given them no reason to stop. Not that he's the only Cowboy who should be blamed for what's going on here tonight. Here is a list of costly Cowboys mistakes from the first half. It's not for the faint of heart:

• Tony Romo overthrowing Dez Bryant on third down on the first series of the game after Bryant had gotten past Corey Webster and could have had a long gain.
• Newman missing a tackle and allowing Bear Pascoe to hurdle him and convert a third down deep in Giants territory.
• Newman getting smoked by Cruz for a 74-yard touchdown reception.
• Alan Ball failing to corral a muffed punt that would have set the Cowboys up with good field position in Giants territory.
• Abram Elam completely missing a one-on-one tackle and allowing Bradshaw to run in for a touchdown.
• Gerald Sensabaugh failing to pick up a Brandon Jacobs fumble, which eventually bounced back into the hands of Manning.
• Romo going past the line of scrimmage before throwing the ball to Bryant for what looked like a big third-down pickup deep in Giants' territory down 14-0 late in the second quarter.
• Ball downing an excellent Chris Jones punt inside the 5-yard line after going out of bounds, leading to an illegal touching penalty and awarding the Giants the ball on the 20-yard line instead of inside the 5.
• Henry Hynoski pulling a repeat of the Pascoe hurdle job on Newman on the play just before Bradshaw's short touchdown catch pushed the lead to 21-0 with 1:09 left in the half.

It all adds up to this: One team came to play and the other team looks as though it did not. The Giants have been creative and quick and effective with their pass rush, which has deprived the Cowboys of a chance to take advantage of the Giants' secondary or even really find out if Romo's hand is OK. The Giants have kept the Cowboys off of Manning, which continues a trend. The Cowboys didn't sack Manning in the game three weeks ago in Dallas, and haven't tonight. And the Giants have blocked fairly well in the run game when they've needed to.

The game is not decided or out of reach, but a different -- and much more focused -- Dallas team needs to come out of the halftime locker room, or next week's playoff game is going to be here and not in Arlington, Texas.

Amid all the pre-holiday chaos, I almost forgot. The Dallas Cowboys' media relations staff was kind enough to get me a phone interview this week with wide receiver Laurent Robinson. And if I don't share it with you guys, what was the point, right?

I asked Robinson, who's been a surprise star for the Cowboys this season as the No. 3 wideout and very effective fill-in for Miles Austin during Austin's injury, why the Cowboys' receivers don't seem to mind the fact that they all have to share catches. Wide receivers do tend to bristle at such things, historically, and Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is spreading the ball around a lot lately. In last week's victory over Tampa Bay, Robinson, Austin and Dez Bryant each caught a touchdown pass. Now that's a way to make sure to keep all of your wide receivers happy.

"We love that Tony spreads the ball around," Robinson said. "We've just got a good group here of selfless players, and I think everybody likes being a part of this offense and helping it click the way it's been clicking."

It certainly has. Romo has thrown 18 touchdown passes and just two interceptions in the Cowboys' past seven games, and the team is 5-2 in those games. If the Giants lose and the Cowboys beat the Eagles on Saturday, or if the Cowboys beat the Giants next Sunday, Dallas will be division champs. The passing game is a big part of the reason why.

Over the past eight games, when the Cowboys are in three-wide receiver sets, Romo has 11 touchdowns and no interceptions. Robinson has caught seven of those touchdowns. ESPN Stats & Information tells me that Robinson has caught all seven of the passes in which he's been targeted in the end zone, and that only Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has more catches this year (11) when targeted in the end zone.

"Tony's just doing a good job in the pocket, moving his feet and keeping those plays alive," Robinson said. "And when I see him scramble, all I'm thinking is, 'Get open,' because I know he'll find me if I do."

It didn't take long for Romo and Robinson to develop a connection. Robinson said he made sure to grab a seat next to Romo in team meetings as soon as he showed up, and that the biggest early hurdle to their relationship may have been the fact that Robinson had gone to Illinois State and Romo to rival Eastern Illinois. But once they gave each other a hard time about that, the rest was easy.

"I just have a great feeling about wearing the star every day," Robinson said. "I always knew I could play in this league with the right opportunity and the right chance, and that's what this is here. I don't worry too much about who's the first guy or second guy or third guy. I just want to go out and play hard and show what I can do, and this is definitely a place where, if you do that, they're going to throw you the ball."

Robinson's living proof of that.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Well, we thought there would be a lot of points in tonight's divisional showdown between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys, and the first half did not disappoint. Even though it was the Giants' defense that scored the first points when Jason Pierre-Paul sacked Tony Romo in the end zone for a safety, the offenses didn't take long to get in gear, and the Cowboys hold a slim 17-15 lead with the Giants set to get the ball back to start the second half.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning is only 9-for-19, but he's made some very nice throws under pressure and has already hooked up with Hakeem Nicks fro 105 of his 146 passing yards. A couple of drops by Victor Cruz have hurt the overall numbers and cost the Giants yards. Romo is a more efficient 10-for-14, but for only 104 yards as he has so far been unable to work wideouts Miles Austin and Dez Bryant into the mix. Romo loves him some Laurent Robinson, though, especially when it's time to score a touchdown, and the Dallas run game doesn't look like it's lost much with Felix Jones subbing in for an injured DeMarco Murray at tailback. Guess all of that hype about the impact of fullback Tony Fiammetta's return was on the mark.

If one of these defenses is able to make some halftime adjustments and some second-half plays in coverage, that team could well run away with the game. But right now it seems more likely that the offenses will continue to rule the night and that many more points await before this one's over.

Some more thoughts on the first half:

• Real curious to see whether Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw plays in the second half. Word is he was benched for blowing curfew, but he's dressed and eligible to play. In his absence, Brandon Jacobs looks like a complete animal, running over people and inflicting pain on would-be tacklers the way he did early in his career.
• With the exception of the Gerald Sensabaugh pass interference penalty that led to Jacobs' touchdown, the Cowboys have to be happy about the way their red zone defense has played. They've held the Giants to field goals twice, including in the final two minutes of the half after Jones' ill-timed fumble gave them the ball at the Dallas 14-yard line. Earlier in the game, they held on after a 64-yard Manning pass to Nicks set the Giants up with first-and-goal on the four. Some credit for that stand, however, goes to questionable playcalling by the Giants, who called end zone corner fade routes on first and second downs and a weak draw play with D.J. Ware on third.
• Injuries are mounting for Dallas. Center Phil Costa is out with a concussion. Murray left with an ankle injury, and it doesn't sound as though they expect him back, which is why Jones is getting the carries. Hey, at least Jones should be fresh after sitting behind Murray all of these weeks.
• And from the irony department: Dan Bailey's 49-yard field goal with 15 second left in the half was 49 yards long -- same distance as the one he made and then missed at the end of regulation last week in Arizona.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- If it's to be a shootout here tonight between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, each team will have its full complement of receiver options. Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham, who has missed the last two games with a knee injury, is active for tonight's game. So is Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin, who has missed the last four games with a hamstring injury, and Cowboys fullback Tony Fiammetta, who has missed the last three games due to illness.

The return of Fiammetta should help a Cowboys run game that's averaging 2.3 more yards per carry with Fiammetta in the lineup than without him. And the return of Austin to go with Dez Bryant, tight end Jason Witten and 2011 surprise standout Laurent Robinson, should help Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo pick apart a Giants secondary that's playing without its best player, safety Kenny Phillips.

But the Cowboys' secondary hasn't exactly been stopping anybody lately, and Giants quarterback Eli Manning will have Manningham back to help him attack it with Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz, who have been two of the best receivers in the entire league this season. Manning needs 295 yards for his third straight 4,000-yard passing season, and since the Giants are rushing for only 83.2 yards per game, it's possible he'll have to get that many tonight to keep the Giants in the game.

I'll be here all night with your updates, and we'll be live-chatting the game, so hang out here for all of your Giants-Cowboys needs as we chronicle this critical NFC East showdown.

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FALLING

1. DeSean Jackson, Eagles receiver. It's hard to believe Jackson can just keep falling every week. Two weeks ago, the Philadelphia Eagles benched their star wideout for missing a team meeting. Last week, he got a taunting penalty that cost them 50 yards of field position in a game against the Giants. And on Sunday, after dropping two touchdown passes in a loss to the Patriots, Jackson was benched by Eagles coach Andy Reid in the fourth quarter. Jackson is clearly consumed by his contract situation, and he seems to be playing ultra-cautiously in an effort to avoid injury. That's not going to help his standing with the Eagles' front office, and at this point there's no way to know how much of a factor we can expect Jackson to be for the rest of the season. The likelihood that he plays elsewhere next year has never been higher.

2. Giants' defense. Tom Coughlin came right out and said it after Monday night's loss to the Saints: "When we don't get to the passer, we have trouble." Opposing offenses have been changing up their protections to keep the Giants' defensive linemen off of their quarterbacks, and the result is that the Giants' deficiencies in coverage are being exposed. They can't afford to blitz because that makes them even more vulnerable in coverage, so the down linemen are left to find a way through the extra blockers to give the defense a chance.

3. Nate Allen, Eagles safety. The Eagles' loss was thorough enough that it's almost hard to pick on any one particular defensive player. But the second-year safety had one of his worst games as a pro Sunday, and was front and center for several of the big plays with which the Patriots dismantled the Eagles' defense. Those included Wes Welker's 41-yard touchdown catch, Deion Branch's 63-yard catch and his 23-yard catch and a missed tackle on tight end Aaron Hernandez. Allen shows talent and promise, and every young guy's going to have rough games. This was an especially rough one for Allen.

RISING

1. Roy Helu, Redskins running back. The Redskins' running game returned in a big way Sunday, and the rookie Helu was the star of the show. Helu had 108 yards on 23 carries, caught seven passes for 54 more yards and turned in that electrifying 28-yard touchdown run during the Redskins' second-half comeback. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said Monday that Helu would remain the starting running back. Shanahan had been hesitant to give Helu a starter's workload earlier in the season, and it's possible he could back him off some down the stretch in order to preserve him for next year. But as long as the Redskins are trying to win games, it seems Helu is going to have to be a big part of that.

2. Laurent Robinson, Cowboys receiver. Just as everyone predicted before the season, the Cowboys' offense right now is keyed around Robinson and rookie running back DeMarco Murray. Robinson has been Tony Romo's favorite target in recent weeks, especially in the end zone, and the productivity of players like Dez Bryant and Jason Witten has even suffered a bit as a result. Robinson has become much more than just an adequate replacement for injured wide receiver Miles Austin, and there's no reason to think the Cowboys won't continue to make him a big part of their offense even when and if Austin is healthy enough to return.

3. Cowboys' playoff hopes. The Giants' third straight loss gave the Cowboys a one-game lead in the division, and with the remaining schedule in their favor they might only need to win one of their two head-t0-head matchups against New York to be division champs. If Dallas wins in Arizona on Sunday and the Giants lose at home to the Packers, the Cowboys might be able clinch the NFC East with a victory over the Giants on Dec. 11 in Dallas.

A couple of Thanksgiving night thoughts now that I've had a chance to digest the Dallas Cowboys' 20-19 victory over the Miami Dolphins, among other things:

This is the Romo you read about: How many times have you been told that you have to deal with the bad Tony Romo because of how good the good one is? Well, I'm sure lots of Cowboys fans were rolling their eyes about the two first-quarter interceptions. But there was Romo at the end, dancing away from pressure and finding Jason Witten on that big 23-yard gain, finding DeMarco Murray for a big completion while getting drilled and expertly moving his team into field goal range without poor decisions or unnecessary risks. Romo made the plays he needed to make to win the game, and that's what we're supposed to use to judge quarterbacks, right? Wins?

Running tough: Murray has found the going tough the past two games, playing without fullback Tony Fiammetta and against defenses that are strong up front. But for the second week in a row, Murray was in there grinding out the tough, between-the-tackles yards the team needs him to be able to get if the offense is to work as well as it can. He had 87 yards on 22 carries, which is good, hard running back work, and it's got to encourage the Cowboys and their fans that their rookie running back is tough and willing enough to handle it.

Defense a mixed bag: The Cowboys were tough up front, cutting off the Dolphins' run game between the tackles. But Terence Newman needed to basically commit pass interference on every play in his effort to stop Brandon Marshall. Marshall's touchdown catch was completely amazing for the fact that Newman was strangling him with two arms while yanking him to the ground. With Mike Jenkins out, the Dallas secondary suffers, and opponents know they can take shots down the field. The good news is that there are few receivers in the league with Marshall's size and physicality. The bad news is that the Cowboys' next game is against Larry Fitzgerald and the Cardinals. They need to sort out some coverage issues.

Automatic Dan: Could any Cowboys fan have imagined how good you feel about Dan Bailey with the game on the line? That was the rookie place-kicker's fourth game-winning field goal this year in the final two minutes or overtime. And while it was only a 28-yarder, as soon as they were in field goal range all you were thinking as a Cowboys fan was, "Just don't turn it over." You knew Bailey would make the kick. And what a feeling that's got to be for the Cowboys. They're relying on rookies at kicker and running back, and the rookies are among the most reliable players on their roster.

Loving Laurent: For most of the game, I was wondering if Romo had forgotten there were other people to whom he could throw the ball besides Laurent Robinson. But when the Cowboys get near the end zone, Romo doesn't feel the need to go anywhere else. ESPN Stats & Information reports that Robinson has been targeted in the end zone five times this year and has caught all five of them. I imagine Dez Bryant will still get his in the coming weeks, and Romo did remember his old friend Witten on that final drive when he needed him. But Robinson has earned Romo's trust in key spots very quickly.

In Summary: You may have wanted them to crush the Dolphins, and you may well be able to argue that they should. But this is a different Miami team than the one that began the season 0-7. Its defensive line is fearsome, and Romo will wake Friday morning with the aches and bruises to prove it. Matt Moore is playing very well at quarterback. Miami came in as one of the hottest teams in the league, and while a victory over a team that's now 3-8 doesn't stand out as one of the sparkling achievements of their season, the Cowboys can feel good, for the second week in a row, about a win that didn't come easily but came nonetheless.