Summary of Wade Phillips' press conference today, discussing DeMarcus Ware's and Marion Barber's status, as well as the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Follow the jump to read the press conference.

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On Thanksgiving Day, the Dallas Cowboys played one of their most-complete games of the year. Both the offense and defense held up their end of the bargain as Dallas romped to a 34-9 win over the hapless Seattle Seahawks. When I reviewed the game for this particular edition of Film Review, I wanted to concentrate on what the Cowboys were doing in the trenches. What kind of blocking schemes were they using, how was Tony Romo allowed so much time, how has the run defense righted itself, how are they attacking the opposing QB? All of these things were on my mind as I took a closer look. So while you'll hear the names of skill players dropped into the review, they're mainly there for context or when their involvement was critical to the war in the trenches. Otherwise, it's all about the dirty work along the line.

Now, for the one-time disclaimer. I'm not going to spend the whole review interjecting the phrase "The Seahawks are a bad football team and the Cowboys were taking advantage of inferior talent." This is all true. So I'm stating it right up front. You can't expect the results to be as good against a team like the Steelers, or the Giants, etc. But I was also trying to go for the philosophy of what they're doing and that will probably carry-over.

This post is for the offense, I'll post the second-part about the defense later today/tomorrow.

Go on the jump below to read the rest.

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Break out the 8-track tapes and put on a pair of funky bell-bottoms. It's the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers renewing old acquaintances and for some Cowboys fans, it ignites memories of that long ago era - the 1970's. A certain segment of Cowboys fans (read: old) like me cut our football teeth in that decade of bad fashion. The NFL was the land of dynasties then and no two teams dominated the decade like the Cowboys and the Steelers. Seven times in the 70's a Cowboys' or Steelers' team was playing in the Super Bowl. Two times the dynasties hooked up for a head-to-head competition. Tragically, for Dallas fans, those Super Bowls ended in failure and they also sent a young, emotional Cowboys fan crying to his room.

The 70's Cowboys/Steelers Super Bowls were two of the best ever played from a purely football standpoint, but the end results were not the best for us. Jackie Smith lives on in our collective consciousness and Lynn Swann makes us want to barf. The Cowboys finally exacted some revenge in the 90's when Neil O'Donnell made Larry Brown a rich-man and the world order was righted as the Cowboys finally topped the Steelers.

Even though this game is just a regular season matchup, albeit for high stakes for both teams, every time we play the Steelers I can't help but go back to the rivalry of yore. There's just something about the Cowboys and Steelers getting together that sounds like a good football game. Maybe I'm just caught up in nostalgia but I think some of you out there are feeling me.

Cowboys vs. Steelers, old-school, new-school; always in style.

For a great look at the Steelers, I highly recommend SB Nation's blog, Behind the Steel Curtain. As always, when commenting on another team's blog, try to stay classy. You know how we feel over here when the trolls start dogging our team. It ain't pretty.

December has not been kind to the Cowboys.

Injury news here and here.  

The Return of the Pac. Will his returns be any better this time around?

Jaguars @ Texans. Not exactly the best ending to a holiday weekend stuffed with football viewing. But it is what it is.

And this is an open thread for the game.

Lots of little moving parts today for the Cowboys. So I'll try to sum it up as best I can with help from a few sources.

First, neither DeMarcus Ware nor Marion Barber are practicing today and both are listed as day-to-day. Ware will probably practice sometime this week and might wear a knee-brace. Barber isn't talking much and they don't expect him to practice this week, but my guess is he'll play this weekend. Here's what he said to the press:

One group of reporters took a run at Barber, and he offered nothing. Two more reporters chased him down again outside the training room. When told that we needed something to put on the news, Barber said: "Tell 'em, 'God bless.'"

I love that kid.

But he did offer up some real comment today.

Marion Barber said he will not wear a special shoe for the Steelers game, but could wear a plate in his shoe. There was a walking boot in front of Barber's locker. By the way, Barber said he expects to play Sunday.

The Cowboys didn't call up Alonzo Coleman from the practice squad when Kyle Kosier went on IR, instead deciding to sign LB Steve Ocatvien. Obviously if Barber can't go, then Coleman is an option for this week's game.

Adam Jones is back at practice and Wade Phillips has made it clear that he will play this week, mainly on sub-packages and as the punt returner. This is a good thing because it appears Mike Jenkins will miss another game with his hamstring injury. The Cowboys will need to clear room on the roster for Adam meaning Quincy Butler's stint this time with the Cowboys could be over.

Coach also guesses that Montrae Holland will get another start at guard, trying to build on his good performance from last week. Could we have seen the last of Cory Procter? Let's hope so.

Also, Miles Austin is still at least a week away from playing.

Hat tips to Mullin, scottmaui, Nick Eatman and the DMN blog for the info. 

It feels sort of like a bye week. No Dallas Cowboys football this Sunday, but we got a victory safely banked away and now we root for the NFC contenders to lose. According to Todd Archer the best scenario for us today is the Giants beat the Redskins, San Diego takes out Atlanta, the Saints beat-up the Bucs and Green Bay crushes Carolina. If all that happens we are the #5 seed and control our own destiny. If only Washington and Atlanta lose, we slide into the #6 seed.

Sounds good to me, that's what I'm concentrating on this Sunday.

This is an open thread for the games today. Feel free to chat it up.

Mac Engel takes a look ahead for the Cowboys. 

Martellus Bennett keeps talking and keeps catching TD's, and both activities are very entertaining.  

JJT says the run defense is the key. I'm always a "win the trenches" guy, so I'm with it. 

Welcome to a festive edition of What They're Saying. An 8-4 record, complete domination of a game and ungodly amounts of turkey produces that very satisfied coma of holiday bliss. Football is entering the stretch run when pretenders fade and contenders are made, and our Dallas Cowboys are finally playing some inspired, team-centered football. They've shown a little heart and enthusiasm recently, winning does seem to cure all in sports. So let's thank the Football Gods for their early holiday present, giving us the 49ers and Seahawks in a short week. Chalk two victories up on the big board and it's on to December, where we hope more holiday good tidings await.

Let's dispense with the bad news right away so it won't be a buzz-kill. Both DeMarcus Ware and Marion Babrber got injured. Ware's knee initially looked vulnerable to a long-term thing. But, after the game, he's been quoted as saying he feels good.

"I'm good," said Ware, who had three sacks and four tackles for loss. "I was scared. Injuries are part of the game, and they usually don't happen that way with me."

He also said the same while receiving his Gobbler award and states even though he's having an MRI done, he'll be ready for next Sunday. 

"I'll be ready for this big game in Pittsburgh," Ware said.

As always, we must remain cautious until the MRI is read, but everything sounds positive now. Big bullet avoided if DeMarcus is good to go.

Meanwhile, Marion Barber dislocated his little toe but there is no break according to Dr. Jerry Jones.

Barber suffered the strange injury late in the second quarter and went to the locker room with less than a minute remaining before halftime. Owner Jerry Jones said X-rays were negative.

[snip]

"That ought to be manageable," Jones said.

The Barbarian had this to say after the game.

Ha! Psyche.

Barber, as usual, said nothing. Jerry Jones said his star running back suffered a dislocated pinkie toe on his right foot.

"I don't want to speculate," Jerry said when asked about Barber's availability against the Steelers, "but there's no way I'll rule him out."

At least they're talking about Barber possibly playing next Sunday instead of debating something more serious. But again, we need to wait for the official word.

So both injuries considered, things look positive right now while we cautiously await official word.

On to the good news, after the jump.

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The Philadelphia Eagles host the Arizona Cardinals in what will hopefully be a competitive game. Also, Texas A&M plays Texas.

This is an open thread for both games.

On Turkey Day, the Dallas Cowboys feasted on some bird, gobbling up the Seattle Seahawks 34-9 in a game that Dallas owned from the first drive. Look no further than the big uglies on both sides of the ball for the victory. Dallas owned the trenches. In the first half, when the Cowboys built their lead, Tony Romo could have taken a turkey-induced nap in the pocket and still had time to pick out receivers. Romo ate his fill of the Seahawks defense, passing for 331 yards and 3 TD's. He also wasn't sacked on the day although he pulled off a few Houdini-like escapes. Montrae Holland was an upgrade over Cory Procter and looks like he may be the replacement for Kyle Kosier we needed.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys amassed seven sacks (celebrated with turkey dances) and many more hurries on Matt Hasselback while totally frustrating the Seahawks offense. For another game, this defense comes up big by not allowing a TD and getting a couple of turnovers. DeMarcus Ware was a beast with three sacks and now leads the NFL at 15.

Mentioning Ware though brings to mind the bad news of the day, Ware's knee injury and Marion Barber's foot injury. Ware said after the game while accepting the Gobbler award that his knee felt good but they didn't want him to go back in. But as always, we'll have to wait for the doctor's report.

The skill guys did their part, Jason Witten was huge, Roy Williams and Terrell Owens got involved, Martellus Bennett caught another TD and Tashard Choice showed some skill replacing Barber.

On the field the Cowboys played an excellent football game. Off the field, we have to wait for the injury report.

But go ahead and celebrate anyway, we're 8-4, and we're playing much better football. Granted against some bad competition, but you have to play who they schedule for you. The Cowboys had no problems accepting their bird feast today.

Box score.