by Juan Leer

Created on: July 02, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

The Cowboys have had a very successful 2007 season, and they will look to continue that in the playoffs. The Cowboys finished 13-3, winning the NFC East and having the best record in the NFC, giving them the bye and the #1 seed. With their talent on the offensive and defensive sides of the football, they look to be the favorites at this point to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

Now that Tony Romo has some more experience, the Cowboys took off and became a much better team. Romo got off to a great start before struggling a bit down the stretch, and then had the famous mistake on the FG snap to end the season. Looking to rebound from that, he should be very effective and has a lot of weapons around him.

To me, this season for the Cowboys hinges mainly on 2 things: First, how they adjust to new coach Wade Phillips, and second, how Terrell Owens behaves himself.

First, the new coach. It's possible we could see new schemes, new philosophies, and just about new everything under Wade Phillips. Bill Parcells has his own coaching style which has obviously been very effective for him, but it seemed like it might be wearing a bit on the players. So seeing how they respond to new coach Wade Phillips is going to be vital this year.

Second, it's no secret that Terrell Owens has been a problem child everywhere he has been. Despite his immense talents, he was basically run out of town in both San Francisco and Philadelphia. His first year in Dallas was, for the most part, incident free, but you can't always count on that continuing. If he does behave himself, the offense should be very potent and the Cowboys can be Super Bowl contenders. If he doesn't, it could drive the team apart.

So I think once again the Cowboys will be contenders in the NFC East and could be Super Bowl contenders. They have lots of talent at the skill positions offensively (including a nice 1-2 punch of Julius Jones and Marion Barber), and the defense is young and athletic. If everything comes together under new coach Wade Phillips, the sky is the limit for the Cowboys in 2007.

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