I stayed up way past my bed time last night to watch the entire Dallas Cowboys preseason game against the Oakland Raiders. Here are are some of my thoughts.

The audio for the telecast was awful. Sounded like it was coming across an old am radio.

The starting Dallas offense looked quite good. Romo spread the ball around well, and the timing was on for everyone, especially for a first game.

Today’s Dallas Cowboys rumor is that it will be announced tomorrow (Saturday, January 17th) that Jason Garrett will be named the new head coach of the St. Louis Rams.

Much of the shine that Garrett had after last season has been tarnished. It would not surprise me if Jerry wasn’t as keen to keep him with the Cowboys as he was last season.

Despite the best efforts of the owner, the coaching staff, and the players, the Dallas Cowboys may yet find a back door into the playoffs. After last night’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens, where the Cowboys defense completely collapsed in the closing minutes, the playoff hopes looked quite bleak.

With a 35-14 loss to division rival New York Giants, the Dallas Cowboys fall to 5-4, take the last spot in their division, and are virtually eliminated from the playoffs.

And none of this can be blamed on Tony Romo’s girlfriend Jessica Simpson.

Let’s be honest here. The Cowboys weren’t playing all the well before Tony Romo hurt his finger.

So, other than a negative influence from Jessica, what are the proximate causes of the Cowboys’ decline?

Certainly, injuries…