This week the San Francisco 49ers head to Texas Stadium in a game that a few weeks ago looked like a sure win on the schedule. Now, the Niners have a new head coach  in Mike Singletary that has the team playing with confidence following a big win over the St. Louis Rams. The biggest difference in this team is how the offense has played behind Shaun Hill after J.T. O'Sullivan was benched late in the first half in Singletary's first game as coach. A team that turning over the ball at an incredible rate has learned to protect the ball and scored 35 first half points last week.

But just how much better are they? Just how much better has the offense performed with Shaun Hill and is their defense good enough to subdue the Dallas Cowboys offense? What are the big difference makers in the game? All of these questions we will attempt to answer in this week's edition of Let's Talk Numbers.

Follow the jump for a stats analysis that that will make KC Joyner grin. Maybe.

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EDITOR'S NOTE 2:45PM: Welcome to Brandon from Blogging the Boys.  And as always, if you want to answer questions from the Cowboys fans, my FanPost is up at Blogging the Boys.

Hey, this is Brandon W from Blogging The Boys, the SB Nation Dallas Cowboys blog. I'm here to answer any questions you might have about the Cowboys and the upcoming matchup on Sunday.

The Cowboys are looking to continue pulling the season out of the brink with their next two games, both against NFC West opponents. They need to know that these are games they have to win to make a brutal December schedule easier to navigate, although all games from this point out are crucial.

On the bad news for us front, rookie running back Felix Jones has been placed on injured reserve with a torn ligament in his foot. Felix was a huge boost for this team and really added a speed element that had not been there in a long time.

Tony Romo seemed to be back to his old, jovial self and that could be dangerous against future opponents. Romo with confidence is a scary, scary thing for any defense.

Feel free to ask anything about the Cowboys or the game and I will answer to the best of my ability.

Per the DMN blog:

Rookie RB Felix Jones will be placed on the injured reserve and will have surgery to repair a torn ligament underneath his left big toe.

Ugh.

The Cowboys will really be relying on Marion Barber now, and Wade Phillips will have to overcome whatever bugs him about Tashard Choice. In today's NFL you cannot make it very far without some sort tandem backfield that helps to relieve your main guy. Marion Barber is one hell of a running back but we need him to stay as fresh as possible. Right now Barber is one pace for nearly 400 touches this season.

Santa Clause came early this year and I now have two tickets to this weekend's game against the San Francisco 49ers. This will be my one and only game at Texas Stadium in my lifetime and I cannot even begin to say how excited I am to finally be able to watch a Cowboys game in the historic venue. I have been to three Cowboys games so far yet all of them have been a fan in enemy territory. Thus what I am most looking forward to is actually seeing a Cowboys game surrounded by tons of fellow fans.

So, I was wondering if there are any regular readers who plan on going to the game. It would be great to meet up and tailgate with some fellow BTB'ers.

Also, if anyone has some tips about attending the game let me know (Parking, tailgating, food and drinks, etc).

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of "What They're Saying", where things are a bit more enthusiastic than they have been in the past month or so.

The greatest thing of all about hearing and reading what the players had to say after the win is that it feels like they finally got it. The sense of urgency was there, the aggression, the intensity and the execution that was sorely lacking the past 6 weeks. After the game, players acknowledged that this was a big step in the right direction but that the journey is far from over. For this thing to get fully turned around the team needs this kind of effort every single week because the road only gets tougher from here on out.

The big story headed into the game was game was the return of Tony Romo. While it wasn't his flashiest performance, the most important thing was that Romo found that love for the game again.

"I was excited," he said, an observation he couldn't make often this season. "I think it was fun to get back out there and play, and it gave me a chance to miss the game quite a bit.

"It's so much fun."

Follow the jump for much, much more.

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Open thread to discuss the Cleveland Browns at Buffalo Bills Monday Night game.

When was the last time the Cowboys played true smash-mouth football, where the game was won by the offensive line and the defense laid out big hits and swarmed to the ball? Last year the Cowboys were pretty close to a true finesse team, where the offense carried the rest and defense did just enough to hold on. We saw what happened in the playoffs when the other team was more physical and out muscled the line of scrimmage and our finesse offense couldn't save the day (a hurt T.O. didn't help much either). The type of game the Cowboys played last night was exactly what the doctor ordered: a physical, down to the wire game that showed this team does have the heart and drive to win a close one when things aren't going perfect. The win last year against Buffalo is a great example of this. This team can build on a win like that and really carry some confidence into the next few weeks, where gaining momentum for a playoff run is now a very real possibility.

Follow the jump for my random thoughts on a great win.

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We're going to introduce a new feature here at Blogging the Boys; Let's Talk Numbers, a weekly comparison between the Cowboys and their opponents according to the stats. Following the jump, you will find a statistical breakdown the likes of which have yet to be seen here at BTB and while some of the numbers may surprise you, unfortunately a lot of them might not.

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