My favorites were the Al’s Chevrolet spot and the Miss Evelyn spot. Which spot did you like? Comment below.

In full disclosure, this post is part of a sponsorship campaign with Chevy/GM in coordination with Lijit Networks, Inc. for SuperBowl XLV. I received compensation for these posts, but the opinions expressed here are my own.

When Flozell Adams met with the media on Monday to kick off Super Bowl week for the media, it was obvious that he was having a hard time containing his excitement. Adams said all of the politically correct things, including tipping his hat to the quality of the Cowboys organization. Adams went so far as to say that it didn’t matter where the Super Bowl was being played, just so long as he was in it. But with each question he answered about the opportunity to play in front of the Dallas Cowboys fans as a member of the reigning AFC champions, it was getting harder and harder for Adams to hide his joy.

The new Dallas Cowboys coaching staff under Jason Garrett continues to take form, especially on the defensive side of the ball. New Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has named Matt Eberflus as linebackers coach. Anyone familiar with Rob Ryan will not be surprised by this hiring as Eberflus was the linebackers coach for two years under Ryan in Cleveland.

The NFL predictions on the rest of the vacancies in the Dallas Cowboys defensive coaching staff are starting to become interesting. Dave Campo was the defensive secondary coach under Wade Phillips, and he is still listed on the Dallas staff currently. There are talks underway between Rob Ryan and Jason Garrett as to whether or not Campo will remain in Dallas, or if Ryan will bring in his own secondary coach.

Roger Staubach was approached by Jerry Jones as early as 2007 to help head the effort to get a Super Bowl played in Dallas. Throughout the process, the hall of fame quarterback has been constantly in the news as the face of the Dallas organization, aside from Jones, and the driving force behind convincing the NFL that Dallas deserves a Super Bowl. Staubach has said that one of his reasons for doing this is because once Dallas is in the rotation for hosting a Super Bowl, it will stay in that loop and get more big games in the future.

It was announced this week that Roger Staubach will be the one who brings the Vince Lombardi Trophy on to the field after Super Bowl XLV and hand it to broadcaster, and fellow hall of fame quarterback, Terry Bradshaw to give to the winning coach. Staubach continues to talk to the media about the advantages of having the Super Bowl in Dallas, and he is expected to be an integral part of the big game on Sunday February 5, 2011. The process of handing off the Lombardi Trophy is so precise, that Staubach says he practiced for two hours on how to get it right.

The Dallas Cowboys have announced that Rob Ryan, brother of New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan and son to legendary defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, has taken the defensive coordinator’s job in Dallas. The betting services consider this a curious move by Ryan because, for all intents and purposes, it is a lateral move.

Rob Ryan taking the job in Dallas has two immediate effects. It puts a bit of a dent in the notion that Mike Holmgren is going to attract top flight coaching talent just by being in Cleveland. It is possible that Holmgren allowed Ryan to leave the Browns because Holmgren does not feel that Ryan is the right guy for the job in Cleveland. But neither side is saying much about the move. The other effect of this Rob Ryan move is to elevate the feeling that a coaching job in Dallas is the job that every NFL coach wants. It adds a bit of muster to that Cowboys mystique that owner Jerry Jones is so fond of.

The Cowboys were obviously not impressed with their offense last season, so they went to the extreme of creating a new coaching position and realigning other duties. New offensive line coach Hudson Houck will now have the coordination of the running game added to his list of duties. To help Houck out, the Cowboys have created the position of assistant offensive line coach. To fill the position, the Cowboys have interview former Cowboys tight end Dan Campbell and former hall of fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews. Bruce Matthews is the uncle to current Green Bay Packers’ linebacker Clay Matthews, but Bruce Matthews has also been an assistant offensive coach with the Houston Texans for the past two seasons. While the Cowboys have not made any announcements as to the hiring yet; Bruce Matthews is considered the top candidate.

Former Cowboys wide receiver, and current member of the San Diego Chargers, Patrick Crayton was on a San Diego radio station this week enlightening the football world to what is going on in Dallas. According to Crayton, the Cowboys let rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant get away with not performing many duties that a rookie would normally need to perform. Crayton did not go into details, but he repeated that Bryant was pampered by the Cowboys front office.

Crayton also mentioned that he does not feel that the Cowboys will respond to Jason Garrett. According to Crayton, the person that gets the respect in the Dallas locker room is Jerry Jones, and the personality of Jason Garrett is not going to be able to overshadow the dominance of Jerry Jones with the Dallas players.

The online sports betting world wants to be surprised at the fact that Jerry Jones finally hired Jason Garrett as the full-time Dallas Cowboys head coach, but the NFL football betting world has been back and forth on this for so long that most people are just glad it is over.

The Cowboys are not part of the Super Bowl betting frenzy, but they did make the news by finally announcing that Jason Garrett will have the interim tag removed from his title and be made the new head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. The betting services, and Jason Garrett, all know that the performance of the team under Garrett will be compared to the team’s performance under such coaches as Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson and not Wade Philips. Garrett knows that he must do significantly better than Philips if he wants to keep his job for more than two season.

When Jerry Jones was making the official announcement late last week, he indicated that it was the abrupt turn-around of the team once Garrett took over that convinced him that he has his coach. Garrett has already started to hire his staff and has indicated that he will have no off-season. Garrett has been charged with creating a Super Bowl team in Dallas, and he is set to take his job very seriously.

One of the coaching jobs that will get significant media coverage with the new Dallas coaching staff is defensive coordinator. Wade Philips ran the defense when he was the head coach, and most people felt that the defense under-performed for the past couple of years. The top candidates being considered for the open Dallas defensive coordinator position include Vic Fangio who currently works for the Stanford college football program and Greg Manusky who is currently a member of the San Francisco 49ers coaching staff. It is unclear as to whether Jerry Jones will hire the defensive coordinator, or if Jason Garrett will get involved in the final decision.

Jason Garrett was the offensive coordinator under Wade Philips, and he maintained that position when he took over as head coach. Now that Garrett is the head coach, one name that keeps coming up as the new offensive coordinator for the Cowboys is Miami Dolphins tight ends coach John Garrett. It probably does not hurt that John Garrett is also the older brother of Jason Garrett. The Cowboys hope to have a decision later in the week on both the offensive and defensive coordinator positions.

One casualty of the Dallas Cowboys search for a head coach was the departure of wide receivers coach Ray Sherman. Sherman had interviewed for the head coaching job that was eventually given to Jason Garrett. When Garrett was announced as the new Cowboys head coach, it was also announced that Sherman is no longer part of the Cowboys organization. It was not made clear whether Sherman resigned after not getting the head coaching job, or whether he was let go to make room for a wide receivers coach that Jason Garrett will choose.

Everyone is speculating that Jason Garrett will be the Cowboys new head coach, and the announcement is expected tomorrow. The last hurdle was to satisfy the Rooney Rule, which was done with the interviewing of WR Coach Ray Sherman by Jerry Jones today. More on this in the link to a Dallas News article below:

Hurdles Cleared for Jason Garrett Hiring

The online sportsbook experts have not seen a press release or heard an announcement from the Dallas Cowboys that confirmed that Jason Garrett is the next head coach, but rumors about Garrett building a coaching staff keep popping up.

The newest NFL betting rumor is that the Cowboys brought in Miami Dolphins assistant head coach and secondary coach Todd Bowles to interview for the offensive coordinator position and not the head coaching job as originally reported. The football betting world knows that Bowles has been with the Dolphins for the last three years, and in those three years the Dolphins have dropped a lot of interceptions. But, as part of the Rooney Rule, Bowles was said to be interviewing for the head coaching job. The NFL predictions are guessing that the talk was more about defensive coordinator than head coach.

Still, with Jason Garrett now interviewing prospective members of his coaching staff, Jerry Jones has not yet named Garrett as head coach. The speculation was that Jones would do so earlier in the week, but he did not. Now with Eric Mangini available for a coaching position, rumors are flying again that Jones is not sold on Garrett and that the owner wants to interview Eric Mangini before making a final announcement. But the Cowboys did announce that the interview process ended earlier this week, but there has not been any kind of coaching announcement as of yet.

The activities at Valley Ranch in the last week or two are incredibly confusing and are raising a lot of questions. If Garrett is the new head coach, then why doesn’t Jerry Jones just make it official? If Garrett is not the head coach, then why is he interviewing coaches for prospective staff jobs? Obviously, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys front office know more than the media does. But this strange set of circumstances is only fueling the notion that the Cowboys are not a focused organization.

The Cowboys finished 26^th against the pass and lacked a quality cover corner in their secondary. That may be why there are new rumors floating around that the Cowboys may have an interest in tearing Champ Bailey away from the Denver Broncos. Bailey would give the Cowboys some of the closing speed they need at the corner and help bring stability to a defense that seemed to come unglued in the 2010 season.

The Dallas Cowboys finished the season with the sixth best passing offense in the league. That should give Cowboys fans a reason to be optimistic about 2011 when you consider that the starting quarterback missed most of the season, the offensive line was adequate at best and the star rookie wide receiver missed several games due to injury. The Cowboys can build on their successes of 2010, and try to create the offensive machine that everyone was expecting. Quarterback Tony Romo will be ready for summer workouts and training camp, and receiver Dez Bryant is expected to be ready by summer as well.

Enough about last seasons disappointment, let’s take a look at the Dallas Cowboys 2011 – 2012 schedule. Last year I provided a prediction for each game, which was so far from being right I decided to take a new approach. Instead I will go through the 2011 – 2012 schedule of home and road game opponents taking a look at their records and where they are headed next year.

Division Opponents (Home and Road Game)

New York Giants – Record: 10 – 6 – 0 | Missed Playoffs
The Giants looked strong all season, but injuries caught up with them down the stretch. This team will be strong again in the 2011 – 2012 season if they can stay healthy.

Philadelphia Eagles – Record: 10 – 6 – 0 | NFC East Division Champs
Michael Vick’s resurgence has the Eagles looking almost impossible to stop on offense. Vick’s contract is up, but it sounds like he will be an Eagle next season.

Washington Redskins – Record: 6 – 10 – 0 | Missed Playoffs
The Redskins couldn’t be any worse from the front office to the field if they actually tried to be horrible. The biggest question is who will they sign to a large contract this offseason to bench next year??

Non NFC East Division Home Games

St. Louis Rams – Record: 7 – 9 – 0 | Missed Playoffs
The Rams missed the playoffs when they lost to the Seattle Seahawks in week 17 of the 2010 season. The Rams should improve next year as they add more pieces around QB Sam Bradford and RB Steven Jackson.

Seattle Seahawks – Record: 7 – 9 – 0 | Wildcard
No that is not a typo, the Seahawks made the playoffs with a week 17 win over the St. Louis Rams.

Detroit Lions – Record: 6 – 10 – 0 | Missed Playoffs
The Lions will continue to improve if they can stay healthy in the 2011 – 2012 season. This team is in a lot better postion with the additions of RB Jahvid Best and QB Matthew Stafford.

Buffalo Bills – Record: 4 – 12 – 0 | Missed Playoffs
The Bills will still be rebuilding next year, but that process finally appears to be on the right track as the team begins to add talented players at the skill positions.

Miami Dolphins – Record: 7 – 9 – 0 | Missed Playoffs
Some analysts had the Dolphins making the playoffs, but the team took a step back in 2010. Rumor has it that the team will have a new coach next year, Bill Cowher anyone?

Non NFC East Division Road Games

Arizona Cardinals – Record: 5 – 11 – 0 | Missed Playoffs
The Cardinals are a quarterback away from being relevant again, it will be interesting to see if they can get a QB in the offseason.

San Francisco 49ers – Record: 6 – 10 – 0 | Missed Playoffs
The coaching carousel continues in San Francisco, the 49ers will have a new coach for 2011 and they still have questions at quarterback.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Record: 10 – 6 – 0 | Missed Playoffs
The Buccaneers are a young team on the rise, they should be even better next year. However things in the NFL don’t always work out that way, remember when the Cowboys were supposed to win the Super Bowl in 2010?

New England Patriots – Record: 14 – 2 – 0 | AFC East Division Champs
Going 14 – 2 – 0 with a defense that was called inexperienced and to young by the so called experts this year is pretty good. Winning in New England is always tough.

New York Jets – Record: 11 – 5 – 0 | Wildcard
The Jets faded down the stretch, and the only thing that is holding them back is waiting on Mark Sanchez to progress as a quarterback.

Sources: Y!Sports, NFL.com

The betting world is now wondering if Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo will actually come back to play the last two games of this season. There have been rumors circulating by those in the NFL betting world that Romo will not be back and that the next move for the Cowboys is to place Romo on the season-ending injured reserve list. Romo broke his collarbone in the week seven game against the New York Giants. While owner Jerry Jones and interim head coach Jason Garrett are not giving any specific details on Romo’s projected return, the feeling around the Cowboys is getting strong that the quarterback will be placed on IR as soon as this week.

In other injury news, the NFL predictions surrounding the return of safety Gerald Sensabaugh and linebacker Sean Lee are looking just as grim. Both are suffering from concussions and both have been unable to pass the tests necessary to clear them for practice this week. The normal procedure is to wait until Friday to test players for the game coming up on Sunday. If Sensabaugh and Lee fail their tests on Friday, then both will miss the game against the Cardinals on Christmas Day.

Interim head coach Jason Garrett has posted some impressive NFL scores since he took over as coach from Wade Phillips immediately after the week nine loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys are 4-2 under Garrett including divisional wins over the Washington Redskins and New York Giants. But owner Jerry Jones is still going with the interim tag on Garrett and has said that nothing will be made permanent until the season is over. Garrett is definitely a top candidate for the Dallas head coaching job, but the list includes rumored prospects such as Bill Cowher and Jon Gruden. Jerry Jones is expected to make his announcement some time after the Super Bowl is played in the new Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011.

In lighter news surrounding the Dallas Cowboys, quarterback Tony Romo has not been completely silent during his recovery from injury. After a lengthy, and very public, relationship with Jessica Simpson ended over a year ago, Romo started seeing beauty pageant winner Candice Crawford. Last week, on her 24^th birthday, Romo surprised Crawford with an engagement ring and asked her to marry him. She accepted, and now the couple have set about making wedding plans.

Cowboys fans will remember the incredible distraction that Jessica Simpson was said to be, and now many are wondering how Romo could be thinking about getting engaged when he is supposed to be trying to get back on the football field. Between women, golf and Las Vegas vacations it seems that Tony Romo always finds plenty of ways to occupy his time off the football field. Now the Cowboys are hoping that settling into married life will help the Cowboys quarterback focus on his career and help get the ailing Dallas franchise back into the playoffs.