FanHouse Tonyromo

In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the Steelers, Lakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and now the Yankees have all won titles in their respective sports. Cinderella is yesterday's news. The teams that win these days are the teams that always win, and if you think that's boring, well, tough. You can kiss one of Derek Jeter's five World Series rings.

So with that in mind, we need to be really careful about overlooking the Dallas Cowboys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All you ever hear about the Cowboys is what's wrong with them. Terrell Owens was a pain. Roy Williams is a loudmouth, too, and isn't good enough to replace T.O. Tony Romo's too concerned with his golf game and his high-wattage love life to ever attain his potential. The new stadium is ridiculous...

Charles Barkley is a former Dream Teamer, an NBA Hall of Famer, a studio analyst for TNT, and the owner of the worst golf swing you'll ever see. He also has thoughts on everything under the sun, which somehow makes him more likable.

Barkley appeared on ESPN Radio Dallas this week to talk about, well, a lot of stuff. Among the topics: the NFL's rules on protecting the quarterback.

On Sunday, FOX ran a cartoon on its NFL pregame show making fun of Jessica Simpson for being fat and Tony Romo for dating a fat chick. Hilarity did not ensue. And after reflection, on Wednesday FOX apologized.

Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo are easy fodder for NFL fans, writers and teevee personalities. There's no question that their tabloid-style romance made for easy commentary across the media spectrum.

However, based on this YouTube posted by NBC-DFW's Drew Margary, it appears that Fox is taking things a little too far. (At least judging by their readership: 45 percent were feeling "furious," 30 percent were "laughing," and 14 percent "didn't know what an internet was," which sounds about right when talking about Cowboy fans.)

Video after the jump.

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

The bye weeks are finally upon us, but relax it's no time to panic. You see, had you planned your draft accordingly you would have realized that when you drafted Matt Forte, Drew Brees and Greg Jennings they all had a bye in Week 5. OK, show of hands if you're really that on top of things. Listen, I try to cover those bases, but once the beers flow and the clock starts -- I lose focus.

Regardless, we will get through this together. It's October (the best month of the year) with a glorious weekend of sports and fantasy football on tap. There's never a reason to let a few voids in your roster make you worrisome. Come on, you don't want to walk around like Tony Romo on most Sunday afternoons (kinda-sorta kidding). Just check out our weekly player rankings and tune into the Sunday tailgate. We promise to help you get through this.

Now let's poke around and see what's newsworthy this side of fantasy football.

As an NFL quarterback Tony Romo is required to learn an insanely large playbook (this includes numbers, words, AND combinations of both) simply so he can call the plays that head coach offensive coordinator Jason Garrett dials up.

Romo is also required to know how to count to four, which seems reasonable enough. So you can imagine that there will be significant outrage (in fact, there already is) when people realize that this country's educational system has failed him.

How do I know that? Well, as Dallas' local FOX station points out (via SBNation), Romo has difficulty differentiating between "3" and "4".

DENVER -- So much about Tony Romo's rise to NFL stardom has seemed mythical -- the small college background, his undrafted status, his ascension to starter under Bill Parcells' direction, his Pro Bowl selections in 2006-'07, the celebrity girlfriends and lifestyle.

Now Romo's work performance as the Dallas Cowboys quarterback is increasingly under scrutiny, as is team owner Jerry Jones' decision to give his famous starter a six-year, $67.5 million contract extension midway through the '07 season. Sunday's sloppiness in a 17-10 loss in Denver to the 4-0 Broncos only gives the Romo skeptics more fodder.

Fact is, Romo and the Cowboys were beaten at a difficult road venue, Invesco Field, by a fired-up opponent brimming with momentum and confidence.

Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games.

Faller of the Week: Everyone on the Oakland Raiders. The Houston Texans entered the game as one of the league's worst defenses. They were the worst in the NFL against the run. Sunday, the Raiders gained just 165 yards and only a single first down on the ground against those same Texans. I'm done with Darren McFadden. Michael Bush and Justin Fargas shouldn't be considered viable fantasy contributors in any format, and I'd even give up on Zach Miller (which isn't his fault, but he's not going to put up stats for this embarrassingly inept offense). This team is dead to me, and they should be to you, too.

We are only two weeks into the season, but if you're sitting at 0-2 in any of your fantasy leagues, it might be time to make a few minor roster tweaks. No, it's certainly not a time to panic, but that sense of desperation must be setting in for you. Relax, we're in this together. The best way to get back on the right track (aside from pulling off a lopsided trade) is to trim the fat so to speak.

So, let's talk about who is floating at the mediocrity level and if they can redeem themselves or if you should spare yourself the wait. That's right, it's the weekly round of "Sink or Swim" where I get to shed the pessimistic, or in some cases, optimistic perspective on the fantasy underachievers. Let's look no further than the hit-or-miss/boom-or-bust Dallas Cowboys wide receivers and give them a warm round of applause, because today they are on the hot seat.

Do you keep 'em or cut 'em? Let dig a little deeper first.

The Colts beat the Dolphins 27-23 in a thrilling Monday Night Football game featuring a late touchdown by Pierre Garcon and the failure to score a late touchdown by the Dolphins' offense, and that's where we start our latest NFL Twitter mailbag on Tuesday morning.

We also get into the controversy of Terrell Owens tweeting about Tony Romo and more in our latest NFL Twitter mailbag, which starts below.