Romo threw for 309 yards and 4 touchdowns as the Cowboys defeated the Packers 37-27 yesterday night to become the 2nd team to clinch an NFL playoff berth. Crayton caught 2 scoring passes and Folk kicked 3 field goals in Irving, as Dallas won the 2nd meeting between the National Football League teams with 10-1 records in thirty-seven years. Cowboys’ 6th straight win lifted the team ahead of Green Bay atop the NFC with 4 regular- season games left. Dallas can still clinch the NFC East Division title if the NY Giants (7-4) lose at Chicago (5-6) on December 2.

Former NHL commissioner Tagliabue, who oversaw the National Football League’s global growth and rise from twenty-eight to thirty-two teams, is among twenty-six semi-finalists for the United States Football Hall of Fame. The new Hall of Famer will be selected next February on the eve of Super Bowl 42 in Phoenix, AZ. The list cut from 124 nominees, will be trimmed to only fifteen finalists by a mail ballot. Tagliabue, the National Football League boss from 1989 through 2006, produced record TV profits and new stadium construction.

The world of the National Football League has reacted with grief and shock at the news that Redskins player Sean Taylor died yesterday after he was shot during an apparent burglary at his home in Miami. Daniel Snyder, the Washington Redskins owner, said that was the worst imaginable tragedy. The Washington Redskins fans staged a candlelight vigil in front of the team’s training complex on Monday evening. A bullet was fired into the player’s groin, severing the femoral artery. Taylor died of apparent blood loss.

Bills linebacker takeo Spikes was scheduled to start agains the Browns last night, his first game since inguring his right Achilles’ tendon about a year ago. Spikes was expected to play in a few series in order to meet his final goal – to get ready for Buffalo’s regular season-opener at New England on September 10. Two key Browns players – receiver Braylon Edwards and veteran linebacker Willie McGinest – were also planning to make their preseason debuts

The Giants are a better team and Eli Manning is a better quarterback on the road. However, again on Sunday, the New York Giants were stunned by the Vikings, 41-17. Eli Manning hasn’t thrown an interception in his last 2 road matches as the New York Giants have built a 4-game winning streak away from their home Stadium. At 4-1, New York is one of the League’s best road teams. However, at 3-3, they are one of the worst home teams among the playoff contenders

The Detroit Lions have lost 3 straight games on Thanksgiving Day; they have been outscored in those contests by a composite of 95-26, and to crown it all, they have lost 5 of the last 6 in their traditional holiday timeslot. The losses, though, were notched in the midst of 6 consecutive losing campaigns for the storied franchise, and this season has been so far a different story for the Lions. Detroit enters Week Twelve as a 6-4 NFL team with a corner on 1 of 2 Wild Card slots in the NFC.

Michael Vick, former NFH star turned himself over to United States marshals yesterday to start serving a prison sentence for his involvement in a dogfighting conspiracy. Michael Vick before the dogfighting scandal ruined his career, and 3 co-defendants pleaded guilty to 1 count of interstate travel in order to aid illegal gambling and dogfighting. Former NHL star decided to begin serving his sentence even before judge imposes punishment upon him on December 10 at his scheduled hearing.

The Cleveland Browns kicker Dawson’s potential game-tying 51-yard field goal hit the upright. Then, it seemed to tap the crossbar before it bounced back onto the field. Several of the Cleveland Browns players insisted Dawson’s kick hit the curved center support behind the crossbar. The players went to the end zone, pointing at the spot where the football struck before it finally bounced back. It turned out to be true. The officials discussed the situation for about 5 minutes before ruling the kick went beyond the crossbar and through the uprights. After that, the Cleveland Browns took the kickoff in overtime and drove forty-three yards in 9 plays before Dawson kicked a 33-yard field goal to give the Browns a 33-30 win.

For the Vikings, it is a matter of pick your poison. After Oakland invades the Metrodome on Sunday, Minnesota’s fan base will see 2 quarterbacks with whom they have good familiarity, and to whom they would not relish losing. The 1st one is McCown. He ripped the hearts out of the Purple Nation while with Arizona back on December 29, 2003. The 2^nd one is Daunte Culpepper, who made three Pro Bowls as a member of Minnesota from 1999 through 2005 before the departure that culminated in a trade to the Miami Dolphins prior before 2005 season.

After 5 failed drug tests, a premature retirement and 2 suspensions from the National Football League costing him thirty games and millions of bucks in the past 4 seasons, Ricky Williams may be back in the Miami Dolphins uniform as soon as Friday. The League’s reinstated Williams after a history of smoking marijuana had served an eighteen-month suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.