Are Cowboys the team to beat?
ARLINGTON, Texas - Their embarrassingly long wait between playoff wins is history, shredded to pieces alongside their December jinx.
Now it's time to consider something a lot more meaningful about the Dallas Cowboys, like how long this playoff run might last.
A 34-14 victory over Philadelphia on Saturday night guarantees Dallas will play at least once more, in Minnesota on Sunday. Yet the way the Cowboys dominated the Eagles, and the way they've won their last four games, suggest they are the team to beat in the NFC.
"If we beat Minnesota, something special can happen here," team owner Jerry Jones said. "I don't know that we will, but there's no reason why we can't."
Dallas hasn't trailed during its four-game surge. The Cowboys are doing it with the basic formula for playoff success: a solid quarterback and a stingy defense.
Tony Romo is putting up points early and often without making the careless mistakes that fueled those now-erased hexes. He has 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions over the last four outings, putting up 24.8 points per game. He guided Dallas to a franchise playoff-record 27 points in the second quarter Saturday night, putting the Cowboys well on the way to their NFL-record 33rd playoff win, but first since Dec. 28, 1996.
Earlier this season, the offense piled up yards but not points. Lately, they've been getting the most out of their drives, a testament to offensive coordinator Jason Garrett having figured out how to blend the pass and run, and how to mix up his stable of running backs to keep defenses guessing.
Meanwhile, DeMarcus Ware and the defense are keeping offenses frustrated.
Dallas has given up only 31 points the last 16 quarters, just 4 touchdowns in four games. And three of those games were against New Orleans and Philadelphia, the teams that scored the most and fifth-most points in the NFL this season. The Eagles had just 18 snaps in the decisive first half Saturday night, and they finished 2 of 11 on third downs.
"There's no miraculous answer," nose tackle Jay Ratliff said. "It's just people doing their job and everybody playing together."
Coach Wade Phillips is also the defensive coordinator and he's drawing lots of praise for his unit's performance. What he hasn't drawn is Jones' guarantee of sticking around next season. That seems pretty moot, though, especially with Jones joking about it.
"I'm superstitious," he said, "and I wouldn't want to touch anything that's going pretty good."
If the Saints win their game Saturday, the NFC championship will be in the Superdome. If they lose, the Dallas-Minnesota winner will host the Super Bowl play-in game.
That's why Jones feels so good about his team's chances if it can get past the Vikings.
The Cowboys already have won at New Orleans; in fact, that's the game that sent both teams in opposite directions. Dallas hasn't lost since, and the Saints haven't won since.
New Orleans still landed the No. 1 seed in the NFC because Minnesota lost two of its last three games, which indicates that Brett Favre and the Vikings are also vulnerable.
The Cowboys have flaws, too, of course. They just aren't readily apparent right now.
"The critical thing is when (this team) got in tight situations, it would drop the ball or shy away. I think now we see that it won't," Jerry Jones said. "It has sound fundamentals and has substance and that it will compete. This stage isn't too big for it."