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During the 2007 season, the Dallas Cowboys won 13 regular season games behind a healthy, effective Tony Romo, a fantastic year from a 34 year old Terrell Owens, a very good season from No. 2 WR Patrick Crayton, and a typical between the hashes season from superstar TE Jason Witten.

Put simply, Romo played well, and the Cowboys had some GREAT weapons, as well as some good OL play.  A year later, the OL fell apart, Owens vastly declined, and much of what the Cowboys offense accomplished was done with smoke and mirrors, and Romo’s third down play.  The 2008 Cowboys were never a great offense.  They had no help from the outside, not from mid-season acquisition Roy Williams, not from Owens, not from Crayton.  Jason Witten had a nice year, but the offense was not dynamic, it was merely functional, and only when Romo was healthy enough to make all the throws.

Simply, the Cowboys weren’t going to be a factor in 2008 unless the Cowboys could get back to being the type of offense they were in 2007.  Over the first five weeks of the season, the Cowboys showed they could establish balance and run the football as well as any team in the NFL, but they did not show that they could sustain that balance.  Tony Romo was putting up good numbers, even prior to this last game against Atlanta, but his mistakes had been so mind-bogglingly awful that it was tough to see the Cowboys as a contender if the passing game was so horribly flawed.

But in their last two games, the Cowboys, and Romo in particular, have developed quite the number one target.  Instead of sticking with what wasn’t working in the passing game, and trying to justify the ridiculous trade for WR Roy Williams from Detroit, Romo has completed 421 yards worth of passes to their third receiver, Miles Austin, an undrafted WR from Monmouth who has been in the Cowboys’ system for 4 years.

Of course, that was third receiver Miles Austin.  Now, it’s go-to receiver Miles Austin, not only the best receiver on the Cowboys, but perhaps the very best route runner in the NFC East.  It’s Austin who will allow Patrick Crayton to go back to the slot where he has been effective in the past before, and will allow Roy Williams to hopefully settle in as a No. 2 reciever on a team that still has that running game to balance it’s passing game.

The unsung heroes in the remaking of the Cowboys offense is, well, the offensive line.  (No disrespect meant towards Marc Colombo’s career as a vocalist).  It’s an offensive line that was just horrendous last year, but now with a healthy drummer Guard in Kyle Kosier, the offensive line has solidified itself as a competent unit in a division dominated by defense (and generally poor OL play).

For the Cowboys to be competitve, they have to have the best offense in the division to account for their defensive shortcomings.  And with Romo functioning with help from Miles Austin, Kyle Kosier, Jason Garrett, and a three-headed running game, the new Cowboys are the best offense in their division, and a team that could ride this newfound strength all the way to the NFC playoffs.

Major League Baseball got what they wanted in this World Series match-up: they got the defending champs against the franchise that has won more titles than any other in history.  They got all the storylines and the intrigue that October, er, November baseball is supposed to be about.  When you consider that this league has had to suffer through (in recent years) Tigers-Cardinals, Red Sox-Rockies, and the intriguing but still terrible Rays-Phillies matchup, these two large market franchises playing each other are good for baseball.

What’s good for baseball is not always good for the national fan though, and I simply do not care about Phillies-Yankees.  I wish I could, but I’m thinking if I’m sitting around on Thursday night, I’ll be more inclined to watch the college football or UFL games than the World Series.

And that’s just the way it’s been for me in most years.  I love baseball.  I just haven’t gotten caught up in the playoffs since, oh, I’d say 2005.  I lived in the Chicago locality when the Cubs made their NLCS run in 2003, and when the White Sox won it all in 2005.  I lived in Michigan when the Tigers made their 2006 run.  As a fan of a team who hasn’t been to the postseason in my lifetime, I’ve had every reason to get caught up in the baseball postseason despite not ever having a dog in the fight.  It’s just never been all that importnant to me.  And now with the Yankees and Phillies matching wits in the Fall classic, it’s going to be just another off-season where I won’t be able to tell you off the top of my head who the world champion was.

Which does not mean I don’t have an opinion on what will transpire.  I’ll tell you this: the best pitcher in this series is not CC Sabathia, it’s Cliff Lee.  I don’t think the Yankee’s line-up is appreciably more dangerous than Philly’s.  And I don’t think you can say at this point that the Philadelphia bullpen is a liability.  It may not come down to it, but how much better of a job has Charlie Manuel done in the playoffs that Joe Girardi?

In my mind, the key players in this series are: Yankees outfielders Johnny Damon and Nick Swisher, and Phillies LHP Cole Hamels.  When the Yankees have had prolonged hitting slumps, it’s because they’ve been lacking in production from their outfielders, as you would expect.  I certainly don’t see a pitching advantage for the Yankees, maybe a negigible defense advantage, but if both Damon and Swisher have big series, they’ll be tough to beat.

Cole Hamels was great in the playoffs last season, but his up and down regular season (exemplified by a very good 1.29 WHIP, but a pedestrian 4.32 ERA), has led to three relatively disappointing playoff starts.  In this series, all he has to do is provide more production for the Phillies than Andy Pettite can give the Yankees.  If he does that, the Phillies have the stronger rotation, a very competent bullpen, and the edge in the series.

I’m picking the Phillies over the Yankees, in seven games.