I need to find me one of those. I had one when I was six.

And 14 Super Bowl appearances between the two of them and both these franchises continue to put competitive teams on the field with each decade that passes.

And here they are again with both teams putting legitimate Super Bowl contenders on the field this Sunday.

1) Stop the run
2) Give Romo time

We do both of those things, we should win. If we do just one, it’s going to be tight. If we fail at both, it’s going to be a long day.

More info on our two big injuries:

“The Cowboys got hit with a double whammy, losing the key players on the offense and defense within moments of each other. Luckily, it could have been a lot worse. Marion Barber dislocated his fifth (pinkie) toe and it had to be reduced in the locker room. It’s a very painful injury, but not as key to push off as the others. Where it will be tested is in lateral movements and, to a lesser extent, in stopping. Barber isn’t a start-stop runner — he is slowed by tackles, not his own power — so he should be able to get back to a reasonable level relatively quickly. For this week, it’s a question of pain tolerance on Barber’s part and prudence on the Cowboys’ part. If he can safely go, he will, though it’s likely to be a timeshare with Tashard Choice for at least a week. On the defensive side, DeMarcus Ware injured his knee on a rush. He was thrown off balance and took a step awkwardly, hyperextending his knee. He was being propped up during the postgame interview while denying the knee hurt, always fun to see. However, Ware’s injury was one of his own body weight, not of additional weight, and that saved him. It’s sore and a bit swollen, as of Monday, but the medical staff expects him to be able to play this week. There is some question of whether he will, though again, they have a couple days of practice and treatment before they make any final decisions.”

X was the first SB I watched (when I was 9) and I still remember Swann’s catch. In fact that is probably the first play I still actually remember watching live. And it still makes me sick! lol

It is a great rivalry, a game I’ve been looking forward to all season, and the fact that both teams are playing well, SB contenders and the game has such big playoff implications makes it all that much more exciting. Here’s to a little more revenge for X & XII…

Born the son of Jamaican immigrants in NY there was a deliberate tone in our house to fit into the American culture an life style. I came along in 73 which by then my two older brothers already had the battle lines drawn in our house… You either routed for the steelers or you routed for the Cowboys… those were the only options. I can remember when my brother who was a Cowboys fan bought me the coolest poster EVER! it was a picture of the Dooms Day Defense, defensive line standing in a grave yard with the tombstones of Pitt. Washington, NY, St Louis (Cardinals) sticking up out of the ground in a hazy fog. (My mind sometimes tricks me into believing I still got it hidden away somewhere)

I remind my oldest brother he was the reason I became a Cowboys fan. If he didn’t pick on me so much I probably would have liked the Steelers…. lol (I loved that Mean Joe Green Coke commercial) but since he liked them… I hated them so my choice was clear…Cowboys for life!!! It was my destiny… :-)

Good news pasted at the bottom here for our front seven (the link connects to the actual article and chart— I’ve quoted some below as well)— we have moved up from 25th against the run to 3rd in the second half. Of course, part of that is the relative weakness of our recent opponents, but games against two of the NFL’s leading HBs (Portis and Gore) are included in that improved stretch, so I think there’s reason to be proud of our front seven, and hopefully reason to believe that we can hold up better against teams like the Giants down the stretch here.

http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/smarterstats/2008/12/smarter-stats-second-half-ups-and-downs.html

“Dallas’s secondary hasn’t been playing much better of late, but their front seven has been spectacular, especially DeMarcus Ware and Jay Ratliff. They’ve moved from 25th to 3rd against the run.”

Of course, we’re not facing a run-first team this week— we’re facing a pass-oriented offense (376 pass attempts vs. 347 rush attempts through 12 weeks) with some dinged up RBs. Contrary to the opinion of idiot announcers who instinctively call the Steelers a “smashmouth, run-first team” without actually looking at the stats, the Steelers have been one of the NFL’s most pass-focused teams over the past 5 years, with the only exception being Tomlin’s first year, 2007. So I’d expect our secondary to be tested by Ward and Holmes, and our LBs to be tested on screens to Moore and potentially Parker.

You eliminate their speedy deep threat, keep focused on the run, while bringing the pass rush…We win this game….

Anthony Henry on Heath Miller
Pacman Jones on Hines Ward
Scandrick playing the slot WR

No Zone, No Double Teams…Bump and Run …Man vs Man….and Blitz the crap out of them……my solution for victory…

… matching mini-lettermans’ jackets that went along with the beanie? My parents would get me a new version each season from Sears.

I hope no one else is buying all of the media bunk regarding the pending Dallas swoon in December. DAC will have no problem overcoming the Steelers for three reasons, (1), the AFC is still a weak conference and the Steel City benefits from the same, (2), the PIT secondary, although tough, still cannot cover Owens or Witten in matchup situations, and (3), A. Romo can easily overcome their aggressive D by throwing under the coverage. I don’t see why Garrett doesn’t deploy such a strategy every game … I guess they think it’s a waste of Romo’s arm.

BTW, please stop by and check out my cool Cowboys’ folklore at GridironOpera.com.

On a muddy field with poor turf, I could see Roy Williams delivering huge plays due to his size and hands.

Should be no surprise, constant neck stingers, the guy doesn’t know how to tackle. Atleast that makes room to activate Pac-rat to the active roster

just a silly thing, but I noticed how symmetrical our record is through week 12 lol

W W W L W L L W L W W W

is winning in the trenches on offense and defense period. We need to give Romo time and yes stopping the run will be huge, but throughout the season if Ben is pressured he plays very poorly which is why D-ware would have been huge. I do think Spencer will play very well though and be a big factor.

If this game took place a month earlier when the Giants visited Pittsburgh, I’d say the first team to 21 wins. Now, especially considering the messy condition the field’s going to be in not just because of all those high school playoff games being played on it but possibly snow; I think it’s more realistic to say the first team to 10 wins. That’s right; 10.

All you have to do is look at two games the single-win ’07 Dolphins played against the Giants and Steelers on awful playing surfaces; losing to the Giants 13-10 in London and the Steelers 3-0 on a field goal that was scored in the last 3 minutes of the game. If an awful field can be the great equalizer in a game matching a bad team against a very good team, what kind of crapshoot will such conditions make a game between two evenly matched teams?

One other thing…….
Most of the intrigue and hype has been focused on the two great units going against each other: Dallas’s offense vs. Pittsburgh’s defense.

Something else to keep in mind though is that Pittsburgh’s defense has been just as inconsistent as Dallas’s defense. Pittsburgh’s had games where they only scored totals of 14,11,10, and 6 as well as a game against Baltimore where even though they scored 23 their defense returned a fumble for a TD so the offense only actually produced 16. At times, their offense has struggled as much as their defense has dominated. They’ve had as much trouble hanging onto the ball as the Cowboys D has had ripping it from the other team.

This is a game the Cowboys will probably have to win 14-10 but unlike the Redskins game there won’t be very many yards to be had on the ground so they’ll either have to find a way to pass even in slop or force Big Ben into a glut of turnovers.

Brings back major memries!! I still think that ball touched the ground!!….and I NEVER want to see Mean Joe Greene throw a kid a jersey again! (Although I heard they are trying to get Troy Polamalou to make a commercial)

The Steelers/Cowboys rivalry especially hits home with me living in western PA most of my life. The losses in the SBs made life during the ’70s pretty much unbearable at times.

We got our revenge in ‘95 though, although Steelers fans to this day don’t want to give us any credit for the victory, blaming O’Donnell for the loss, much the same way we blame the SB XIII loss on Jackie Smith.

I think Sunday’s game will be really close, hard fought game, and I’m so looking forward to watching it live at Heinz Field, the atmosphere should be tremendous.

I was was listening to DC.com the other day and I have to agree.

The Pat Watkins experiment has to be over. He’s a decent special teams player and filler for a safety, but he won’t ever be a starter in this league.

Or at least not a viable one.

OH and BTW I did multiple posts a few weeks ago because my comp wacked out. I’m good to go and spew my logic based opinions over the blog now.

I think that the Steeler’s corners are good but not outstanding(even though Ike Taylor is good), this entire game will rely on Romo reading the blitzes and being able to take advantage of the aggressiveness that Pitt plays with.

I have a feeling that Jason Witten will be Romo’s main target. Pitt might put Troy P. on him, but that would be very risky, as it would leave alot of single coverage on Roy and TO.

lol funny guy. but thats why the season is not one game long. we have learned from our mistakes in our losses. and i am just pointing out that many of the scores that offenses have against us are in short field conditions.

we sure could have won all of our games but no we made some mistakes that cost us some games but we have seen drastic improvements over the past few games against some worthy opponents.

But you never know, some crazy things can happen in the snow. Dallas could catch some breaks or just have great success against us somehow. That’s why you play the game. I can only break down what i have seen so far and I believe we should be able to win this game from what i have seen. But thats my opinion.

I grew up a Cowboy fan near Pittsburgh, and have been to 3 Rivers quite a few times…never Heinz though. Got quite a few Steeler fan friends that will be there.

The two guys the Steelers have that I wish the Boys had are Polomalu and Leftwich. Most teams will struggle with the backup QB, but Leftwich looked good the game Big Ben went out.

Steeler fans posting comments on a dallas based blog?

That tells me that someone has WAY too much tim on their hands.

I remember being bummed when Dallas lost to the “Steelers” in 1975. The dirt dozen played over their head. I was happy how they challenged.

But the 1978 game against the SteAlers" left a permanent mark. We should have been the team of the 70’s, not them. Yeah, Smith dropped the ball, but I remember clearly the ref’s letting those guys hit a second or two late EVERY time and get away with it. The bogus penalty was obvious but they let the team in black get away with dirty murder on the field. Dallas was a finesse team and cheap shots were just the formula to help them win. i still wonder if those ref’s made a bundle after that game.

http://fansided.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=1809&sid=7711bab60bc4c8512b7219f511d359a6

In the 70’s there was no question who wore the “white hats” ;-)

GOOD: http://www.knowyourdallascowboys.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/staubach.jpg

EVIL: http://www.typophile.com/files/Lambert.jpg

Good luck Sunday Stealer fans

Why are these rare games usually played in PA?