Post-Game Analysis: Dallas (6-1) 24, Minnesota (2-4) 14.

T.O. got back on track, the defense rebounded with a strong day, and Tony Romo came close to one of Troy Aikman’s passing records as Dallas rebounded from the New England loss with a 24-14 win over Minnesota Sunday.

In the first half, it looked like there might have been some hangover from the previous Sunday, as Dallas dominated the first half but shot themselves in the foot with two fumbles in Minnesota territory, the latter of which was returned for a touchdown to give the Vikings a 14-7 halftime lead.

But, great defense, a huge special teams play, and finally getting back to the basics led Dallas to a second-half shutout and their sixth victory of the season.

The game turned in the third quarter, after a Mat McBriar punt pinned Minnesota at the 7. The Vikings were pushed back to the 2, and after a three and out, Dallas wound up with the ball at the Minnesota 36 after the punt return and a personal four penalty.

Five plays later, Marion Barber scored from the 1, and it was 14-all. Minnesota promptly drove into Dallas territory, but the defense rose to the challenge again and forced the Vikings into a 49-yard field goal attempt, which was blocked by Chris Canty, picked up by Pat Watkins, and returned by the second-year safety for a 68-yard touchdown that put the Cowboys ahead for good late in the third.

Romo was 31 of 39 for 277 yards and a touchdown, and came within three completions of tying Troy Aikman’s record for completions in a game. At the half, it looked like he would obliterate that record, as he was 28 of 32 in the first half. But, he only threw eight passes in the second half, so the record will have to wait another day. And, T.O., after disappearing in the last few games, broke out of his mini-slump with seven catches for 103 yards and a first-quarter touchdown.

And, along with the offense having another productive day, the defense had one of its best performances of the season in shutting down the Vikings and making sure the offense had ample opportunity to sew up a victory.

Anyway, on to the analysis, because that’s what I’m here for, right?

Offensive MVP: Barber. My fiancee isn’t a huge football fan, but she commented last night that Barber was her favorite player, because, in her words, ‘it’s all him.’ And, she’s really not far from the truth, because when he gets touches, he always makes the best of them.

In the last three games, he had only 25 carries as the Cowboys went away from him against St. Louis, Buffalo, and New England, but gained 127 yards on those carries (more than five yards per carry). And, on Sunday, he got 19 carries and ran for 96 yards and made four receptions, while scoring his first touchdown since Week 3. On the game-tying touchdown drive, he had four carries on the five-play drive, and when Dallas needed to ice the game late, he carried the ball for all nine plays of the drive and gained 64 yards, including a 21-yard on a 3rd and 2 with four minutes to go and a 24-yard run two plays later to put a stamp on the win.

Point blank, get him the ball (and not just because my fiancee says so).

Defensive MVP: Bradie James had his best game of the season, racking up nine tackles (six solo, three assists), a sack, and a fumble recovery.

But, he wasn’t the only one stood out. Greg Ellis continues to make up for lost time, as he had two sacks of Tavaris Jackson on Sunday. He already has 4.5 sacks in four games, which equals his nine-game total from last season.

And, DeMarcus Ware, though he saw his four-game sack streak come to an end, also made Jackson’s day miserable as well, pressuring him several times, including nearly forcing a safety in the third.

Offensive Analysis: Romo got the ball to the two guys he needs to get it to in T.O. and Jason Witten (10 catches for 86 yards), though he did miss on a potentially big gainer to Witten early in the fourth, a play after Witten juggled a first-down catch.

But, while we know Romo can sling it, it’s no secret that the run game needs to be a presence, no matter if Romo throws it 83 times in a game. Sunday was an improvement over the previous two weeks (when the opposition took the run out of it, due to the Cowboys having to play from behind), because when you’ve got two backs who run hard and run well, they need to be a part of the game, may it be carrying the ball or making catches.

Defensive Analysis: Tom Brady and Tarvaris Jackson are on two different ends of the spectrum. Brady had five touchdown passes in one half against the Dolphins on Sunday, while Jackson has four in six NFL starts.

But, one wonders if a defensive effort like the one on Sunday may have slowed the Patriots down. The D did what they did for part of the time against New England and applied it to the entire game against the Vikings, limiting Minnesota to very few big plays, harassing the young QB, and slowing down the NFL’s leading rusher.

Jackson was held to 6 of 19 passing for 72 yards, was sacked three times, and pressured countless more times. And, Adrian Peterson, while he had a 20-yard touchdown run on the opening drive, was held to 63 yards on 12 carries when he came in averaging 121.4 on 19 carries per game. He and Chester Taylor did have some nice runs in the second half, and there were a couple of times when Minnesota moved the ball well, but after that first-drive touchdown, the defense stepped up every time it needed to.

Overall Analysis: Frankly, it should have been over at halftime, as the Cowboys could have been up 21-7 or more, if not for the two fumbles and a missed field goal.

But, it was good to see how they parlayed that first-half dominance into points and a lead in the second half. The victory was a lot more resounding than the score indicates, because there were some missed opportunities on offense, but there’s no question about the all-around dominance (381-196 advantage in total yards, 36:35 to 23:25 advantage in time of possession).

Something does need to be done about the slow starts. They nearly got burned for it against Buffalo, and it made things extremely difficult against New England (when you have to battle back from 14-0 down in the first, by the time you take that third-quarter lead, it’s going to be a little difficult to hold on for 25 minutes against one of the best). You can get away with it when you’re playing the weaker teams, but with two games against Philadelphia (who continues to baffle, and not in the good way), two against Washington, and the Giants, Packers, Lions remaining, along with two other tough ones against Carolina and the Jets, slow starts can’t keep happening if Dallas wants to seriously be a contender.

But, a win’s a win, and coming off of the loss, it’s a good way to go into the bye week.

Looking Ahead

Speaking of the bye week, Dallas is off this coming week before embarking on a tough final nine weeks.

Coming off of the bye, they face their NFC East rivals, first going to Philadelphia and then New York, before coming back home to face the Redskins.

That three-week stretch will determine a lot, not only in the NFC East race, but also in the NFC playoff race, as the Cowboys, Giants, and Packers are above everyone else in the battle for first-round byes and in the running for home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Philadelphia is 2-4, and squandered a win against the Bears on Sunday by allowing Brian Griese to drive Chicago 97 yards in the final two minutes to score the game-winning touchdown with nine seconds to go and give Chicago a 19-16 win at Lincoln Financial.

For all of the talent that the Eagles have, they’ve underperformed thus far, and have had some embarrassments (giving up 12 sacks to the Giants, fumbling away the season opener at Green Bay, and looking anemic on offense in a home loss to Washington, along with Sunday’s loss). But, there’s no denying that you can’t overlook them, no matter how bad they seem to look.

The Eagles (and their fans) will be fired up for the game in two Sundays, and will be intent on putting a damper on Dallas’ run to the NFC title.

But, the Cowboys will have their own intentions, as they want to keep rolling on towards an NFC East title and postseason glory.

And, it’s Cowboys-Eagles. That’s enough right there, especially given the two losses to Philly last year, and how the Eagles put a stake through the Cowboys’ NFC East title hopes at Texas Stadium last Christmas Day.

The bye week will also hopefully allow Anthony Henry the necessary time to get back to full strength, and for the rest of the team to heal their nicks and get re-focused for what will be a tough, but hopefully, successful remainder of the season.