Dallas Cowboys get first win in Jason Garrett era over the division-leading New York Giants.

The NFC East division is arguably one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL today, but this season has been an absolute nightmare for one of the division’s best team in the Dallas Cowboys.

Coming into Week 10, the Dallas Cowboys had just fired head coach Wade Phillips, promoted offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and won just one game all season long. Needless to say, the season is basically over in terms of playoff hopes, but that didn’t stop new head coach Garrett from motivating this team and bringing whole new attitude to America’s Team.

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Even though this team is basically completely out of playoff contention in the NFC Conference and won’t make the playoffs unless a miracle happens between now and the end of the NFL regular season, the Dallas Cowboys played better than they have all season long with some impressive performances on both sides of the football this Sunday at New Meadowlands Stadium.

Over the entire NFL regular season, the Dallas Cowboys have failed to live up to expectations and when perennial Pro Bowl quarterback Tony Romo went down a few weeks ago against the division-leading New York Giants, this team seemed worse off than they already were as they had to turn to veteran quarterback Jon Kitna to take the snaps from here on out.

With Kitna under center for basically the rest of the season (Romo out with broken clavicle), the hope for the future was bleak to say the least as he hadn’t started a game in over two years, but the show must go on and the Dallas Cowboys had no choice as they had to put some faith in their backup QB.

Unfortunately, the first couple of games with Kitna under center were awful as the veteran QB couldn’t get anything going for this offense despite the obvious talent at wide receiver (Dez Bryant, Miles Austin and Roy Williams) and at tight end (Jason Witten).

Despite no one believing that the Kitna had any shot of getting this team going, heading into Week 10 America’s Team were -13.5 point underdogs and not many people could doubt the fact that the Cowboys were set for yet another blowout against a divisional opponent.

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Surprisingly enough though, Jon Kitna really stepped up his game against the division rival New York Giants by having arguably his best game as a pro with 327 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Not only did Kitna have an impressive performance, but he was backed up by a
motivated defense that held the potent offense of the Giants to just 20 points in the 33-20 win.

Along with Kitna stepping up, rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant also had a big game with 104 yards and a touchdown of his own.

Needless to say, the Dallas Cowboys seem to be headed in the right direction with Jason Garrett calling the shots from the sidelines and if they can keep this up they might be able to finish the season on a high note.

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Quarterback Mark Sanchez has bounced back nicely from the injury he suffered against the Buffalo Bills in week 13. Since his full recovery and return to the Jets’ starting line-up, the “Sanchise” led the New York Jets to two straight victories, including a win over the Indianapolis Colts, to cap off the season.  Not only that, but Sanchez also helped the Jets beat Cincinnati in their season closer to qualify for a wild card spot and to set-up a rematch with the Bengals in the AFC wild card round.
 
It can be argued that the Bengals basically rolled-over against the Jets because even with a win Cincinnati still would’ve found themselves in a wild card spot.  Sanchez was used sparingly against the Bengals because of his nagging knee.  Coach Rex Ryan wanted his quarterback to rest and be fresh for the wild card opener. Despite playing in limited minutes against the Bengals, Sanchez showed glimpses of why he was a lottery pick in 2009 draft – he went 8 for 16 for 63 yards.
 
The Jets are intent on hiding Sanchez before unleashing him in the playoffs.  “Unleashing” is sort of a strong word since Sanchez is not an offensively explosive quarterback – at least not yet.  The Jets are trying to build Sanchez’s confidence for the future.  Plus, he is by far the best option and only option they have at quarterback.
 
Ryan is confident that Sanchez can lead the Jets deep into the playoffs – much like what then rookie Joe Flacco of the Ravens did last year in the playoffs.  He has made a strong argument why the Jets are the underdogs of the post season.  Ryan claims that a strong defense, solid running game and rookie quarterback are the only things needed for teams to advance to the conference championship.  He is far from wrong since the Ravens had the same formula last year in the playoffs.  Baltimore succumbed in the conference championship against eventual Super Bowl champs Pittsburgh Steelers.
 
Sanchez is more than capable of leading the Jets deep in the playoffs much like what Flacco did for the Ravens last year.  Ryan just needs to limit his throws to limit his mistakes.  Sanchez had a disappointing season after leading the Jets to a 3-0 record.  He threw four touchdowns and only two interceptions during the Jets fast start but proceeded to throw 15 interceptions and seven touchdowns before missing the game against Tampa Bay.  He has been progressing rather slowly than expected and the Jets made the playoffs because of New York’s Ryan-led defense and not because of Sanchez’s performance.
 
Since returning from injury, Sanchez has been more patient and efficient.  This is in large part due to Ryan’s game plan to limit the rookie’s throws.  Ryan must devise a game plan that has the Jets pounding the ball on the ground with Thomas Jones and allow their top-ranked defense to wreck havoc on the Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer and talented running back Cedric Benson.
 
The Jets playoff success does not depend on Sanchez exploding for big games but hinge on the rookie quarterback’s limited throws and mistakes.  New York’s success will depend heavily on Rex Ryan’s play calling and defensive schemes.

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