It seems like there is always something to complain about as Dallas Cowboys' fans. Whether it is underachieving, poor decisions or a number of off field problems, there is little to keep a Cowboys' fan happy. I want to take some time here to look at the five best players from the 2011 season and why they gave me something to cheer about despite the lackluster finish.
1. Tony Romo
A lot of people talk about how Tony Romo is not a good enough quarterback to get the Cowboys to a Super Bowl but in 2011 he proved to be good enough to win any game. He had some mental slips early in the season and had a couple of bad games but he also brought Dallas back in some nice come-from-behind victories. Romo finished the year with 4,184 passing yards, 31 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions. His 102.5 quarterback rating was the highest of his career.
One of the side plots to the 2011 season was the race to try to break the single-season sack record. For most of the year, it was between DeMarcus Ware and the Minnesota Viking's Jared Allen. Ware was on pace to break the record when he hurt himself midway through the season. He did not miss a game but he struggled with sacks until a flurry at the end of the year. Ware finished with 19.5 sacks and should break the Cowboys' all-time sacks record in 2012. Allen also fell short, missing the record by half a sack.
3. Sean Lee
With Keith Brooking and Bradie James showing their age, things could have been really bad for the Cowboys in 2011. However, second year former Penn State Nittany Lions' star Sean Lee stepped up and proved to be a perfect complement to Ware in the linebacker corps. Lee finished the season with a team high 105 tackles and four interceptions despite playing with a cast on his hand for most of the season.
The Dallas Cowboys were supposed to be a team where Dez Bryant and Miles Austin were the big playmakers on offense. However, thanks to an injury to Austin, Dallas had to sign free agent Laurent Robinson. All Robinson did in 2011 was catch a career high 54 receptions for 858 yards and lead the Cowboys in touchdown receptions with 11 on the season.
While he did not last the entire season after injuring his ankle, DeMarco Murray made watching the Dallas Cowboys exciting again. In his first start, he broke the Dallas Cowboys' single-game rushing record with 253 yards. He injured his ankle in Week 14, and only started seven games before that, but he finished the season with 1,078 all-purpose yards, 895 on the ground and proved to be the running back of the future for the Cowboys.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys' fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys' related news, good or bad
