I will probably receive really bad feedback for this, but I believe that the opponents that made a huge difference for their respective team should be mentioned. I would like to highlight the opposing player(s) that that made the game tougher for the Cowboys. Since opposing athletes generally shake hands following competition, I will go with “handshakes” instead of “game balls”.

Defense: It is hard to narrow this down to one. Champ Bailey obviously made a huge difference, but contrary to his comments, I do not believe that he made the Cowboys “pay” as much as he thinks. Brian Dawkins played great as usual, and an argument could be made for Elvis Dumervil, but I am going with another linebacker that played great for Denver: DJ Williams. Williams was 25 yards deep on some pass plays (see the hit on Roy Williams), but stuffed the run most of the second half. He led the Broncos in tackles (9) and posted a sack. A handshake for DJ Williams.

Offense: There really was nobody on offense that really claimed this award. Orton was off in the first half, and threw some really bad passes. Moreno had his monents in the second half, but fumbled. Buckhalter was gashing the Cowboys in the second half until he left with an injury. The Denver offensive line gave up three sacks, and committed a handful of penalties. Marshall had three catches for 40 yards before the Cowboys went all keystone cops in the last 2:00 minutes of the game.

No handshakes for the Denver offense.

Special teams: Again, nothing noteworhty, so no handshakes for the special teams.

Coaching: Dick Nolan gets the big, firm handshake for his adjustments in the second half. His unit sacked Romo five times, forced a fumble, and limited the Cowboys offense to 10 points. After Barber III left with an aggravated hip flexor, Nolan’s defense completely snuffed out the Cowboys running attack.

I have a feelling very few people will add to this list…

this would have been a break-out game for the boys. Boy, was I wrong. The Offense looked confused for most of the game. Romo looked out of it. I would have guessed that our TE’s would have had big games but would have been wrong again. Marty B. has blocked okay but other than that he has been MIA. I thought this kid was kicking ass in camp. Where has he been? Witten is so solid but looks a step slower this year to me. Dude can’t break a tackle to save his life. No speed at WR. I’m ready so see Ogletree get some snaps. We need Felix Jones back healthy ASAP. Without him we are up the creek going forward. Barber is so tough but I would like to see Felix start and Barber off the bench to wear teams down late in games. The offense looked just like it did in pre-season – no down the field plays! I guess speed has something to do with that. Defense is so up & down. Not sure what Ware’s problem is. Is Spencer just that bad at getting to the QB? The Safety’s still look like crap to me. The kid we signed from Jacksonville hasn’t done much at all. Hamlin looks like Hamlin from last year. I think both young CB’s have good potential going forward. Kick Bobby to the pine & get the Williams kid in the game. Hope his ankle is healed. Can’t believe our tough guy on D is some old fart from Atlanta. Brooking’s has earned my respect. Wish the rest of the guys on D had his desire. If we loose this week to KC it is all over baby.

consideration for Jenkins on D?

but this Twins/Tigers game is AWESOME. At least I get to enjoy some satisfying, dramatic sports this week without wanting to kick a cat or puke.

how undervalued Barber is around here(speaking specifically about the poll on the front page). He is the only one out there that has enough confidence in his ability to show emotion during the game. The rest are wound up balls of stress in the hopes of not messing up instead of looking to make the plays to win

I’d like to give balls to Wade and pray that he learns how to use them… and I’d like to give Red a game ball for helping achieve the goal of a coaching replacement in the offseason (both HC and OC).

Wonder if Barber was hurting in the 2nd half—1 carry doesn’t make sense.

Nice call by the coaches to have him on the bench with 1st and goal with 25 seconds. Yeah, and we really needed Witten blocking with 2 yards to go. How much time did they think ROMO NEEDED TO THROW A 4 YARD SLANT? it was the worst game I’ve ever seen Romo play except for the fumbled snap v. Seatlle. Boy, this kid can really break your heart.