Here I Go Talking Football Again: Cowboys/Vikings Edition

Fear not, Dallas-Fort Worth, for I've officially hung up my oven mitts. No more jinxed enchiladas for Coach Wade, as evident by last week's loss to the Titans…

I'm starting to wonder WHAT is going to help us at this point!Moving forward, we face the Vikings this Sunday in Minneapolis, in what everyone has pretty much coined "The Desperation Bowl" of NFL 2010. As Cowboys' fans, do we find comfort in the fact that it's not just us, but the Vikings that are plagued with a litany of issues too? And these are two teams that many projected to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl! Ooops…

Let's just call it like it is: when everything is said and done in this Sunday's rematch of last season's divisional playoff game, it's either going to be the Cowboys or the Vikings crawling away in the embarrassment of a 1-4 slumping record. Tack on all of the Brett Favre drama—dating back to another will-he-or won't –he return offseason, to picture texting chicks his junkyard, to apology crying, and now his ailing elbow and ankle issues that have kept him out of practice, and last year's Minnesota rout is looking more and more like it may have been the last great performance of his career. If you choose to remember that fateful day at the Metrodome, Favre threw for 234 yards and four touchdowns in the Vikings' 34-3 annihilation of the Cowboys.

The addition of recently acquired ex-Pat Randy Moss gives the Vikings a deep threat and, in theory, should open up more space for Percy Harvin. But, does that even matter when the guy throwing them the ball may not be physically up to par? Favre has tendinitis in his right elbow and he's already made it clear that he'd consider sitting out a game or two if it starts getting worse.

In the case of our 'Boys, it seems like with each loss we are dealt, more and more speculation is being raised regarding Jerry Jones' reign grasp on Coach Wade. It seems like more Sundays than NOT this season, we're shaking our heads in a very "WTF?!!?" fashion. Another case in point being, the Cowboys' latest blunder filled performance in last Sunday's 34-27 loss against the Titans. This was in a game, mind you, that even coming off after a bye week, Dallas committed 12 penalties and three turnovers.

What mounts the frustration with Dallas is that on paper, this team has tremendous capabilities. Statistically speaking, the Cowboys have balance on both sides of the ball which made for no surprise that they were the preseason darling of the NFC.  Heads tend to scratch at this season's dismal record when you look at some figures: Dallas boasts the NFC's best offense at just under 422 yards per game and is ranked fourth in defense at just slightly over 304 ypg. But then, when you delve deeper into the figures, you see where Dallas' cripple factor comes in—to the tune of 9.5 penalties per game and a minus-4 turnover margin. That's 29th in the league.

If you remember in last season's playoff match up, the Cowboys held Adrian Peterson to 63 yards on 26 carries, but here's something alarming to consider. Forget Peterson, maybe Dallas should be focusing on Randy Moss. Looking at his numbers, he's averaged more than 100 yards receiving and scored 11 touchdowns in seven career games against the Cowboys. To make matters worse, those were all involved in wins.

The Vikings' D is without Cedric Griffin, so could this mean a potential rout for Miles Austin and Dez Bryant? Remember, Dez is still playing despite ankle and rib injuries, but after all, he IS Dez. Do we find comfort in that glimmer of hope that was seen last week against the Titans as Dallas finally got a pretty good surge out of their unstable running game with the help of Felix Jones, who came off of the bench to run for 109 yards on 15 carries. Or is Dallas better off alleviating some of the pressure off of Tony Romo, the same guy who threw for a career-high 406 yards on 46 attempts last week? I guess this is where I have to insert the bemoaning fact that Minnesota sacked him six times in that horrible playoff loss for us last season.

Is it also pouring more salt on the wound to add that the Cowboys have lost six of seven against Minnesota dating back to 1996? And yes, that does include the postseason.

So the jury is out with me on this one. This is officially the first time, I'm having a difficultly in actually throwing down on a final score. Vegas has Minnesota favored by 2, with the over-under at 45, if that helps any.

My official take on the game? I'll just stick to eating the (below pictured) pan of Coach Wade's enchiladas myself, watching the game, and hopefully not be dreading Monday morning…