Keith Brooking News

By DREW DAVISON ARLINGTON - All season, Dallas Cowboys linebacker Anthony Spencer has been on the verge of making the big play.

Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman and secondary coach Dave Campo had a brief physical confrontation on the sideline Sunday, though Campo and head coach Wade Phillips both downplayed the incident after Dallas' 7-6 victory over the Washington Redskins.

The Cowboys know how difficut it is to run against Denver's defense. So what does it say about Washington's Ladell Betts that he carried 26 times for 114 yards and a touchdown in last week's win over the Broncos? "He showed what he can do,'' Cowboys linebacker Keith Brooking said.

Cowboys tight end Jason Witten is caught in a sudden flurry of penalties. Witten has been called for three penalties - two for pass interference, one for a false start - in the last two games.

Coming off a four game winning streak, aA victory in Lambeau seemed a distinct possibility.

The Dallas Cowboys and I suffered similar problems on Sunday - " hangovers. Mine came from a new idea I had regarding beer consumption.

The unseasonably mild weather was the lone exception. Everything else about the Dallas Cowboys ' experience at Lambeau Field on Sunday screamed that it was already December for the NFC East leaders.

The Dallas Cowboys know their season will be defined by how they do in December.

Cowboys at Packers Kickoff: 3:15 p.m., Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wis. TV, radio: Fox, DirecTV , WOAI-AM 1200, KCOR-AM 1350 Line: Cowboys by 3, O/U 47 1/2 Series: Cowboys lead 16-12. Last meeting: Cowboys won 27-16 on Sept.

By CHAREAN WILLIAMS, JEFF CAPLAN, and CLARENCE E. HILL JR. Midpoint grades B Rush offense: The Cowboys are eighth in the league in rushing, averaging 138 yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry.

Since Deion isn't the MVP, then who? a The Dallas Cowboys are 6-2. Your glass of blue Kool-Aid is more half-full than half-empty. Wade Phillips is Coach of the Year, Tony Romo's in the Pro Bowl, Keith Brooking is Badass of the Decade and you've got the Cowboys penciled in for Super Bowl XLIV February 7 in Miami.

Much will be made of Tony Romo's terrific game against the Eagles and Miles Austin's game-winning TD catch, both of which helped to dispel last year's awful loss in the same stadium to close out the season.

The Cowboys figure to extend their sack streak Sunday when they face Green Bay. The Cowboys have had at least three sacks in six straight games, and the Packers' Aaron Rodgers has been sacked more than any other NFL quarterback.

Two consecutive losses for Green Bay , one at home against the hated but patently better Minnesota Vikings and one on the road against the woeful Buccaneers, sent many writers to their desks to bang out haphazard mid-season epitaphs for the team once thought to at least be in the race for the NFC North ; however, it has also, with little doubt, ...

In a new book about the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who coached in Philadelphia from 1998-2007, had this little ditty about why the Eagles have been more successful than the Dallas Cowboys over the past decade.

Sorry if this one sounds familiar. But let me retract a column from two weeks ago when I said that game was exactly how the Cowboys envisioned these games to go.

Now that the regular season has hit its midway point, the Cowboys can take a few moments to catch their breath and reflect.

The Dallas Cowboys went into the stadium where their 2008-'09 season ended so horribly and were able to quiet those demons and the Philadelphia fans, as they beat the Eagles 20-16 to take sole possession of first place in the NFC East.

They collapse in December. That is the Dallas Cowboys ' recent history. And until they prove otherwise and win a playoff game for the first time in more than a decade, they will be looked at skeptically.

The last time the Dallas Cowboys felt this good, Tony Romo and friends went to Mexico to celebrate.