Cowboys News: Cowboys Unprecedented Rookies Lead Pro Bowl Voting

Cowboys Keeping Their Focus Narrow Despite Ever-Growing Spotlight -David Helman- Dallas Cowboys
Cowboys can see the postseason starting to take shape in front of them. As might be expected, though, nobody at the Cowboys’ headquarters is interested in looking too far in front – preferring to keep the focus on what’s front and center.

"It's nice. Everybody can take a big smile and that type of thing. But there's no celebration. I think everybody is totally focused on the New York Giants," said Cowboys executive vice president. "We obviously know they are the one team that has beaten us this year. We'll have our hands full going up to New York to play them."

Cowboys Keeping Their Focus Narrow Despite Ever-Growing Spotlight -David Helman- Dallas Cowboys
Cowboys can see the postseason starting to take shape in front of them. As might be expected, though, nobody at the Cowboys’ headquarters is interested in looking too far in front – preferring to keep the focus on what’s front and center.

Elliott leads all players with 681,361 votes. Prescott is second with 607,621. Two rookies leading the Pro Bowl vote is pretty crazy, especially since one of them plays quarterback. They are followed in the voting by Tom Brady, Antonio Brown and Derek Carr. Fans can continue to vote until December 13th.

Dallas Cowboys have NFL's best record because they own fourth quarter- Jean-Jacques Taylor- ESPN
The Cowboys are riding an 11-game win streak and have already clinched a playoff spot. How? They have a knack for making plays in crunch time.

The Cowboys have forced 11 turnovers -- only five teams have fewer -- but six have occurred in the fourth quarter, and 10 have come in the second half. Eight of the Cowboys’ 23 sacks have come in the fourth quarter, and 15 have come in the second half. These Cowboys don’t make a lot of plays on defense, but they tend to make them when it matters most.

Dallas Cowboys visit Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth -Diane Smith- The Star-Telegram
Dak Prescott and Alfred Morris were among the Dallas Cowboys to visit Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth on Monday, part of an annual holiday tradition for the NFL team. The players also visited children’s hospitals in Dallas.

"She was really excited to meet Sean Lee ’cause she said he is constantly getting hit," said Jeanna Bush, Jayce’s mom. "She was really excited to meet Zeke [Ezekiel Elliott] because she said: ‘Oh, I’m hungry’ because he says, ‘Feed me.’ "

Dallas Cowboys: Playoff spot is 'cool' and all, but Cowboys refuse to settle-David Moore- SportsDay
A few short years ago this franchise was forced to go down to the final game of the regular season year after year after year needing a win to make the playoffs.

"We have four more games left. Ultimately, one of these teams we may see in the playoffs anyway. So it's going to be important for us to set the tone early and establish who we are.''

Clinching Playoffs is "Cool," But Dak Excited About Visiting Local Hospitals -Nick Eatman- Dallas Cowboys
While the Cowboys have clinched a spot in the playoffs and await the only team that has beaten them all year, the first thing on this week’s agenda had little to do with football.

"I’m so excited. There’s nothing better. Just to be able to use my platform to benefit and put a smile on little kids’ faces who go through so much," Prescott said. "It means a lot for me and I hope they got a lot out of it. It’s fun to be around these kids and see their energy and their smiles after everything they’ve been through, and getting to share it with my teammates is awesome."

Three Things We Learned About The Cowboys This Week - Tom Ryle- Blogging The Boys
Now that the playoffs are locked up, it’s time to review what the last game told us.

In particular, the game looked a bit like so many from last year, when the defense would have a strong performance for three-quarters, only to fade late in the game as they were forced to stay on the field for so many plays. The Vikings had 69 snaps on offense, which is a huge number for an NFL game. Conversely, the Cowboys only had 49, which gave the defenders little time to get any rest. Most disturbingly, this was the second game in a row with such an unfavorable ratio for Dallas, and Washington was similarly able to rack up some big offensive numbers in the fourth quarter, although in that game the Cowboys were never really in danger as they had a two score lead to work with at that point and were able to match Washington drive for drive.

Dallas Cowboys' Morris Claiborne confident of in-season return-Todd Archer- ESPN
Cornerback Morris Claiborne, who has missed the last five games with a groin tear, is doing more than he expected at this point in his recovery.

"I'm getting a lot better, feeling a lot better, rehab and everything is going good," Claiborne said. "I’m doing more than I was expecting to be doing at this time. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will be back on the field."

Tony Romo gives smiles, receives smiles in visit to Children's Medical Center of Dallas -Clarence E. Hill- The Star-Telegram
Last month Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo talked about being "in a dark place" because of an injury that robbed of him of the majority of the season and his starting job to rookie sensation Dak Prescott.

"There is no question they do a lot for us," Romo said. "Just the joy on their face. That pure joy. I think we are pretty luck to be in a situation we can come and make some kids smile. I have a couple of young boys and so when you see the kids here at the hospital it touches your heart. It puts everything in perspective about where we are in life and how lucky we are."

Why Ezekiel Elliott will be a better long-term player than Dak Prescott; if and when Tony Romo play this year -Barry Horn- SportsDay
New York Daily News columnist Gary Myers recently joined SportsDayDFW's Ballzy podcast with Kevin Sherrington and Barry Horn to talk all things Dallas Cowboys.

Gary Myers: That was the first game of the year. And I know people were already getting a little impatient with him. I remember reading the papers the next day in Dallas. ... I saw him play a bunch in college and I think he's terrific. And you put him behind that offensive line you're getting the same kinds of results as what happened with DeMarco Murray a couple years ago. I think this year's Cowboy team is very similar to the one two years ago.

Who's In? If Randy Moss was on a NFL selection committee, he would leave the Cowboys out of the playoffs | SportsDay
Shockingly, only three of the five panelists had the 11-1 Cowboys as the No. 1 seed -- Charles Woodson, Matt Hasselbeck and Chris Berman. Trent Dilfer put Dallas at No. 2. But somehow, Randy Moss left the Cowboys completely out of the picture.

Moss: "I'm  leaving the Dallas Cowboys out. Y'all are going on records, I'm going on who is ready for the playoffs and who has the experience. I don't care about that. Wait until January, they might be the first team to exit, boy, keep talking."

Hmmm...Okay, Randy. Have you been hanging out with another Randy we know?