For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Blame Green Bay for Dallas’ current offensive funk. A strong assist may go to New England, with another hockey-like assist going to Philadelphia.

Why stop there?

Throw Garrett, Houck, and Phillips under the bus too.

Oh, yeah, and Bruce Read!

And what type of ridiculous list of whom to blame would be complete without Jerry Jones. After all, he brought in Roy Williams, and that has really hurt the Cowboys.

Blame Sir Isaac Newton!!

Did I lose you?

Let me explain.

The New England Patriots assembled an impressive offensive lineup last season. The Brady-led offense was a juggernaut that launched an unprecedented assault on opponents as well as the NFL record book. Tom Terrific made Wes Welker a Pro Bowl receiver and the ultimate possession receiver. Welker, in part, made Randy Moss virtually unstoppable and a touchdown-scoring machine.

An average and aging defense was good enough to permit New England to go undefeated in the regular season and make it to the Super Bowl because of this record setting offense. The Patriots’ season, however, did not end happily...for them.

More on the ending of the 2007 season will come up in a minute. Permit me to scoot ahead to the second week of the 2008 season.

The Eagles came into Dallas on Monday night and lit up a questionable Cowboys defense to the tune of 28 points (35 total, but Romo’s fumble in the end zone led to 7 points scored by the Philadelphia defense). The defense that cost Jerry 8 first-round picks and millions of dollars to assemble still struggled to stop or even slow down opponents.

Washington, Cincinnati, and Arizona also exposed an underachieving defense. The offense was soaring, however, scoring at least 24 points per game during this stretch.

There was a troubling trend developing, though, as Terrell Owens was not contributing to the offensive production anywhere near as much as he had in 2007. It seemed that the Packers had found the way to derail the Cowboys offense: play press coverage on Owens with a safety over the top.

Of course, that left the other receiver in single coverage more often than not. Enter Roy Williams.

As per Jerry’s own words, teams are playing the Cowboys offense straight up much more often these days. Opposing defensive coordinators are afraid to pay too much attention to Terrell Owens at the cost of leaving Roy Williams in man coverage for most of the game.

Now back to the 2007 Patriots. Defensive coordinators could not double Moss all the time and cover Welker one on one in the slot. Brady showed that he would dissect the defense and gladly control the clock, if Moss was given too much attention.

The Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl by playing the receivers straight up for the most part, but unleashing a wicked pass rush to limit the time Tom Brady would have to find his targets. New York made a concerted effort to bring enormous pressure and penetration throughout the game.

Again, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

By acquiring Roy Williams, defensive coordinators have resorted to playing the receivers conservatively, and focusing on bringing a fierce pass rush to disrupt Tony Romo. The past three teams have had the personnel to make this scheme work:

Pittsburgh – 1st in pass defense in the NFL.
Baltimore – 3rd in pass defense in the NFL.
New York – 7th in pass defense in the NFL.

Washington almost has the personnel to beat the Cowboys offense: 6th in pass defense in the NFL. The Redskins, however, lack the pass rush the other teams boast:

Pittsburgh – 2nd in sacks in the NFL
New York – 6th in sacks in the NFL
Baltimore – 11th in sacks in the NFL
Washington – 27th in sacks in the NFL

The Dallas defense limited Washington and New York to one touchdown, three field goals, and a safety: combined. The Cowboys defense also threw out a defensive gem against the Steelers, where just a touchdown and two field goals were scored by the Steelers offense, despite Dallas’ first four turnovers.

It is no surprise that the Cowboys have only mustered 71 points in those four games, or an average of 17.75 points per game. Dallas scored no more than 24 points in any of those games, while they did not score less than 24 points against any team prior to Romo’s injury.

Philadelphia has the 2nd ranked pass defense in the NFL. The Eagles also rank 3rd in sacks in the NFL. I expect to see Philadelphia employ a similar strategy focusing on pressuring Tony Romo on Sunday afternoon.

The folly of all of this is that the Cowboys have exposed their biggest weakness by fortifying the receiver position: the offensive line. Teams running stunts, twists, slants, and intricate blitzes give the Dallas offensive line problems. Defenses implementing those tactics have disrupted Cowboys lines for several years, so this is nothing new.

The good news is that if Dallas can beat the Eagles in Philadelphia, their playoff competition will likely be a step down from this last month:

New York – 7th in pass defense, 6th in sacks
Carolina – 11th in pass defense, 9th in sacks
Minnesota – 18th in pass defense, 4th in sacks
Arizona – 20th in pass defense, 14th in sacks
Atlanta – 22nd in pass defense, 12th in sacks
Chicago – 28th in pass defense, 18th in sacks

For those that are interested, Dallas is currently 4th in pass defense and 1st in sacks. I am sure the afore mentioned teams would rather not see the Cowboys in the playoffs. The Dallas defense is peaking at the right time.

In my opinion, the Cowboys playoffs chances and success will be a product of the Dallas offense and their ability to avoid turnovers, and provide Romo with time.

So adapting Newton’s law, if the Cowboys can take action and block well against opposing defenses in the passing game, Romo will react with a Super Bowl win.