The Dallas Cowboys are under new ownership, and have been for awhile now.

No, I am not reporting that the Jones family has sold one of the world’s most valuable sports franchises. The ownership exchange has not been the result of an asset exchange. It has been more of a hostile takeover.

Let me explain.

Andy Reid owns the Dallas Cowboys

In 13 seasons as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Reid has posted a 17–9 record versus America’s Former Team. While the Cowboys have ventured past the first round of the playoffs but once in that span, Reid’s Eagles have won seven division titles, played in five NFC championship games and been to one Super Bowl.

Oh, by the way, the Cowboys have plowed through five coaches in those 13 years. They have, however, kept the same GM. Apparently, owner Jerry Jones is willing to let coach Andy Reid dominate his team year after year, just as long as GM Jerry Jones gets to keep deluding himself into believing he is a competent “football man.”

The thing Jones is most proud of these days is his shiny new $1.2 billion play pretty in Arlington. But he doesn’t own that, either.

Eli Manning owns Cowboys Stadium

The Giants were the Cowboys’ first-ever opponent in the new stadium. Eli & Company spoiled the grand opening by beating the Cowboys. Eli would add insult to that injury by signing the locker room wall after the game.

“First win in the new stadium,” Eli wrote.

It would not be his last. Manning has posted a 3–0 record in Arlington.

Manning is not the only Cowboys opponent enjoying success in the place ESPN analyst Chris Carter called, “That night club the Dallas Cowboys call a football stadium.” The Cowboys’ overall record (to date) in the new stadium is 14–11. That amounts to a .56 winning percentage, barely above .500.

Of course, the underwhelming performance in the new stadium has everything to do with the teams Jones and his cronies have fielded and little or nothing to do with the new digs.

December owns Tony Romo and his Dallas Cowboys

For Tom Landry, December was important. The legendary coach that lead his team to 20 straight winning seasons, five Super Bowl appearances and two Lombardi trophies talked about streaking into the playoff. He put emphasis on playing your best football when it counted most.

Romo would, apparently, disagree with Landry. The current Cowboys QB has posted a December record  8–13. But he feels like people that pay attention to that sort of thing are just silly.

John Machota of DallasNews.com quotes Romo on the subject:

“The problem with December sometimes is I don’t know how many times you’re out of the playoffs, in the playoffs,” Romo said. “That stuff plays a role. Sometimes you’re sitting starters. Sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you’ve got Philly, Baltimore and the Giants to finish the year.

“You need to make it over 15 years is what you need to do, not four or five years. It’s just silly. Any stat you can make over a short period of time. That’s four games. Stats are just stuff, in that regard, they come and go with whatever’s in vogue recently.”

See? Stop worrying about how the Cowboys perform in December, you silly ol’ fan.

Who really owns the Dallas Cowboys? Jerry Jones does, of course! And he does not care how far into the ground he has to grind the once-proud franchise in order to prove it is his team and he will run it his way.

And so, if you are that lifelong fan that refers to the Dallas Cowboys as “my team,” you will just have to come to the stark realization these are not your Daddy’s Cowboys. They are not yours, either.

These Cowboys belong to Jerry “Blankety-Blank” Jones…and Andy Reid…and Eli Manning…and the cold, lonely howl of a lost December.

Peas in a pod

DATELINE: Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas— Silverandblueblood.com was invited to join  local print and television media for an exclusive event sponsored by Crown Royal. Just five days after Super Bowl XLV was played in Cowboys Stadium, legendary coach and Metroplex icon Jimmy Johnson lead two fearless flag football teams onto the turf of the world’s most magnificent football stadium.

Dubbed the Crown Royal Jimmy Bowl, the game was played between two contest winners and their hand-picked group of fortunate friends. The teams received pep talks and tips from the great “Jimmeh” himself.

Sand Spurs

The game was entertaining, but was not close. The Sand Spurs whipped Team America, 31–12. I am not sure if Jimmy was the winning coach, or if he both won and lost the game, since he was the inspirational leader of both teams.

After the game, I joined the other media in a Jimmy Johnson press conference, where the coach answered questions ranging from whether the Super Bowl should be played in Arlington again to how far the Cowboys are from the Packers’ level in terms of football talent. As always, Jimmy’s answers were crisp and laden with hot sports opinions.

Here is what Jimmy Johnson thinks about…

Super Bowl XLV

It was a great venue. This is an unbelievable stadium. I thought we had a great game. Probably 150 million people watched the Super Bowl here [162.9 million saw all or part, 111 million on average]. It was a great success. I know there was some controversy on some different things, but to me they were very minor. I know Fox television loved it, loved the ratings and loved the game.

Now, that is good company promotion. See the subtlety?

Whether the NFL should bring the Super Bowl back to Cowboys Stadium

Jimmy Johnson Press Conference

Without question. I know people are going to say the weather was bad, but the weather was bad throughout the country. From my understanding, it was the worst weather Dallas has had in 15 years. It caused so many problems you really couldn’t control. I know for myself, just being a fan, I’d love to see the Super Bowl come back to Dallas.

Yeah!

The interview with Jerry Jones before the Super Bowl

It went very well. Obviously I’ve been with Jerry before the stadium opened at the George Strait concert and the [Manny] Pacquiao fight. Jerry and I spent some time at his owner’s meeting party Thursday night. Jerry was great. He’s always been great to me. Dallas should be proud of him. If it weren’t for Jerry Jones, you’d never have the Super Bowl here.

Jimmy knows where the bread needs buttering. One of his most impressive abilities is his knack for knowing what to say and when to say it. The next topic is just one good reason it makes sense for Jimmy to love Jerry right now.

His name being touted for inclusion in the Cowboys Ring of Honor

Anybody that knows me, I’m not much for individual awards, especially in the ultimate team game. Obviously, I’d be honored, but it’s not a big thing to me. More than anything else, I’m happy for the players and happy for the team.

I almost believe Jmmy here. He is not without his ego and his pride. If he was, the Jerry–Jimmy clash would never have happened. That whole flap was the result of two massive egos, two alpha males, vying for supremacy.

Jimmy likely did not coach long enough in the NFL to warrant a Hall of Fame bid. He does deserve inclusion in the Ring of Honor, which is absolutely essential if he is ever to get any Hall of Fame consideration. He did, after all, win two Super Bowls and he built one of the great dynasties in NFL history in a very short period of time.

Charles Haley not being selected to the Hall of Fame

I was really, really disappointed. Charles Haley deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Charles Haley was instrumental in us winning three Super Bowls. That’s why I felt he was deserving.

Charles Haley is the only player in the history of the world (so far) to have five Super Bowl rings.

The controversy over seating issues during the Super Bowl

That’s part of the Super Bowl. More than anything else, I thought they were trying to accommodate as many people as wanted to be here. Both Green Bay and Pittsburgh are national teams…. A lot of people wanted to see this game.

About Jason Garrett as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys

Jason is a very passionate coach, very intelligent. He’s prepared himself well for this opportunity. He came down to the [Florida] Keys a couple of years ago and spent some time with me, just getting ready for the time he was to become a head coach. He’s prepared himself well. I see where he’s hiring Mike Woicik, my strength coach, who has six Super Bowl rings. Jason’s doing it the right way. I think they’ll be a drastically improved team over what they were a year ago.

About Rob Ryan for Cowboys’ defensive coordinator

I like him. I told Jerry I thought it was a great move. I’ve been impressed with what he’s done with defensive teams with both the Raiders and Cleveland. He’s got a lot of passion for the game. I think he’s a good mix for Jason Garrett. I think Ryan’s going to do an outstanding job with the defense.

About Jason Garrett acting as his own offensive coordinator

I’ve said this many times, and Jason knows it: Myself, I like the head coach to have his hand in all three phases. He can have his hand in all three phases and still be involved with one phase, but I still think if you’re actually doing the game plan, the play-calling, etc., I think it takes away from the other two phases. I prefer the head coach to be a delegator. But, of course, I like it that way because that’s the way I did it.

Some are so good; for instance, Norv Turner is such a great play caller, it would be a shame to take him away from calling plays for that offense. But if you are going to be successful that way, you have got to be really good with your assistant coaches, as far as the special teams coach and the other phase, the offense or defense.

I am with Jimmy on this. I like a head coach to be able to keep the big picture always in mind, during weekly preparation and on game day.

The size of the gap in talent between the current Cowboys roster and Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers

Talent wise, I think the consensus is that the Cowboys were talented last year. I thought they were a sloppy team. They had too many penalties. They had too many crucial turnovers. That’s why they lost some of their close games. Obviously, you always need more talent. You try to improve your team every year, but I don’t question the talent on this football team.

I love the way football people take shots at Wade Phillips’ coaching without taking shots at Wade Phillips’ coaching. Name no names. But the finger is clearly pointed at Wade.

You can listen to the audio of this interview using the player at the end of this article. Be warned: The first couple of minutes sound like we are doing the interview in Kabul. Something that looked like a riding lawnmower was going in the background. My three questions begin at around the 5:45 mark.

When the New Orleans Saints bolted to 17 points in just their first 15 offensive plays, the rude guests looked as if they would gobble up their hosts, the Dallas Cowboys, without so much as a “thank you,” belch contentedly, and maybe even take a nap somewhere around the fourth quarter.

But these Cowboys are no body’s turkeys, not since they fired the mascot-masquerading-as-a-head coach, Wade Phillips, and promoted the no-nonsense, never-say-die Jason Garrett.

These Cowboys bite back.

These Cowboys managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, taking an unexpected, almost unbelievable, 27-23 lead late in the fourth quarter.

After falling behind by 17, these Cowboys outscored the Saints 27-6.

These Cowboys, under the leadership of the 1994 Thanksgiving Day hero, the backup quarterback who forever etched his name in Cowboys’ holiday lore right alongside that of Clint Longley, were ready to score an unlikely upset victory over last year’s Super Bowl champions and Drew Brees, a quarterback drawing constant comparisons to Joe Montana for crying out loud.

These Cowboys were hungry.

But then, the team that snatched victory from defeat’s jaws had it snatched right back on the 15-yard line. A play that should have salted the game away for the home team instead gave the visitors one more chance to spoil everyone’s dinner. Poor, unfortunate Roy Williams, a favorite target of disappointed fans and underwhelmed media types ever since Jerry Jones gave up too much to get him from the Detroit Lions, was speeding toward the end zone, having snatched a short pass on a quick crossing pattern and then out-running defenders for more than 50 yards.

Roy would not make it to pay dirt. Instead, he would be caught, have the ball wrestled from his hands, and find himself standing on the sideline with that failed, sheepish grin on his face, watching Drew Brees take his Saints 85 yards in just 68 seconds to reclaim the lead, 30-27.

All the Saints would need is for kicker David Buehler to miss a 59-yard field goal attempt and they could breathe a sigh of relief and dream of turkey and all the trimmings. Buehler missed. His leg was more than strong enough, but he pulled the ball ever so slightly.

The Saints celebrated their own Thanksgiving Day miracle, but did not celebrate a massacre.

It is safe to surmise that, if this game had been played just three weeks ago, these Dallas Cowboys would have given up on a game where they fell behind by 17 points in barely more than half of a quarter. It would not have been surprising to see them humiliated before a snickering nation of Cowboys-hating, turkey leg-wielding, kinfolk-tolerating football fans, loosening their belts to accommodate their swollen bellies and enjoying the demise of America’s former team almost as much as Grandma’s pecan pie.

Thanksgiving Day was a miracle for Cowboys nation.

This is not a fan base given to accepting moral victories. We prefer Lombardi trophies, thank you very much. But, Landry is dead, Jimmy Johnson only talks Cowboys and doesn’t coach them, and Wade Phillips—despite his own misgivings about the hollow numbers he put up while taking up space where a coach is supposed to stand on the Cowboys’ sideline—was no Landry or Johnson. He was, instead, the man whose lack of perspective, inability to lead, and laissez-faire approach to team management almost completely destroyed a team.

The miracle this Thanksgiving was not on the final scoreboard, unfortunately. That, although much closer than most thought, ended up about the way folks figured it would, with the Cowboys on the short end. The miracle, my friend, was in the fight. Make no mistake, there were mistakes made by the Cowboys, both by players and by their head coach. But they fought. They scrapped. They stood toe-to-toe with the team that most recently hoisted that coveted Lombardi trophy.

When the final gun sounded, the Saints were heaving a sigh of relief rather than waking from a dreamy nap. Considering where this Cowboys team found itself at the end of the Phillips era (with a 1-7 record and in complete disarray), that was a miracle.

For that, all Cowboys fans can be thankful.

Bryan McCann is an undrafted free agent rookie cornerback who got himself cut by the Dallas Cowboys, cut by the Baltimore Ravens, and then then signed to the Cowboys’ practice squad. He is also set to win NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after having won NFC Defensive Player of the Week just a week ago.

While Wade Phillips was coach, McCann found himself buried in the depth chart and inactive on game day. His penchant for big plays at crucial moments was unknown and untapped. But then, nobody was making plays for Wade this season.

Instead, the players were making mistakes, the coaching was making a mess, and the head coach was making excuses. Like some sick spoof of a certain burger joint, Wade Phillips’ Dallas Cowboys were serving up heaping helpings of Unhappy Meals.

They were the McCan’ts. And the fans weren’t loving it.

It took a half season of putrid play and a midway record of 1-7 to awaken the proud but stubborn owner/general manager Jerry Jones to the fact that he was in danger of selling a product nobody was buying anymore. With 80,000 seats to fill and a billion dollar note to pay, Jones did what he said he would absolutely, positively not do. He canned Wade Phillips mid-season.

It was a painful thing for Mr. Jones. Never had he looked more beleaguered, more defeated than he did the day he announced he had fired Phillips. .

But this is the season of thanksgiving, the time to remember the blessings in our lives. It is also a good time to understand that sometimes blessings come disguised as crotch-kicks.

In Mr. Jones’ case, for instance, there are several examples of this truth…

First, Wade Phillips’ miserable 2010 failure and his admitted inability to get the team to play to their capability seemed like the worst possible scenario for Jones, when in fact it forced him to rid himself of a man who would never be leader enough to take this team to the Promised Land. It is also provided him a no-obligation, no-risk opportunity to see if Jason Garrett could be everything Jones had hoped he could be when he made him the (wink, wink) head coach-in-waiting.

If Garrett fails miserably, Jones can begin the courting process of Cowher, Gruden, Dungy, or whichever of the glamorous coaches he believes in. If, however, Garrett succeeds, then Jones is validated and, potentially, has his man for years to come.

Second, Franchise quarterback Tony Romo cracks his collar bone right in the middle of the most disappointing campaign in franchise history. What seems like a season-ender as far as any hope of fielding a competitive team and keeping fans interested goes, proves instead to be an opportunity to show that Jon Kitna is more than a caretaker as a backup quarterback.

The guy can play.

What’s more, Kitna is a leader on a team that desperately needs leadership.

Third, 2010 draft pick Akwasi Owusu-Ansah is lost for the season with a high ankle sprain. There goes the depth in an already razor-thin defensive backfield and there goes the kick return game.

But then, here comes McCann. The undrafted guy does more in three weeks than the drafted guy had done in half a season, and maybe more than the drafted guy will do in a career.

So, when Jones’ Cowboys line up against the Super Bowl defending champions, the New Orleans Saints, on Thanksgiving Day, Jerry will have plenty for which to be thankful, regardless of the outcome of that game.

He can be thankful that the Hamburglar is no longer coaching his team. He can be thankful that McCan’ts is out of business, boarded up, and won’t be serving 80,000 fans another lukewarm turkey. He can give thanks that a redhead whose name is not Ronald and is nobody’s clown has his 3-7 team believing…

“Yes, we McCann!”

Jerry Jones can be thankful for Garrett, Kitna, McCann…all those blessings in disguise.

And so can we.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

You heard it here first, folks. Jerry Jones needs to remove his interim head coach Jason Garrett and he needs to do it now.

“But he had a great first week!”

I know.

“But he has already changed the culture around the Dallas Cowboys for the better!”

Yep.

“But he won his first game as head coach! He beat the New York Giants, the team everyone was calling the best team in the NFC, and he did it at the new Meadowlands in convincing style.”

You got me there.

“Then what are you talking about? This is crazy talk.”

Maybe. But I stand by it. Hear me out.

If you check the archives of my website, you will find that I have almost exclusively reserved my criticism of this team’s leadership for two people: Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips. Jones for his ego, which constantly interferes with his good sense. Phillips for his lack of leadership ability.

My criticism of Jason Garrett, however, has been sparse. At times, I have questioned his game planning or inability (or unwillingness) to make in-game adjustments. I have always, however, believed in him as a leader. I have always believed in him as the single best candidate to be the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Forget the re-treads. Forget the “big names.” Forget Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden and company.

The next head coach needs to be three things. First, he needs to be a bona fide, stand-up, take-charge leader. Second, he needs to be able to manage Jerry Jones. (Managing Jones is not the same as being Jones’ puppet, Wade.) Third, he needs to be a football man, to understand the NFL game and what it takes to win in this league.

There is no question that Cowher and Gruden exceed the first and third requirements. We have no idea, however, how they will do with number two, who happens to be number one in the Cowboys pecking order. It matters not how great a leader or football man you are, if you cannot manage the Jones ego, you have no shot at long-term success in Dallas.

Which means Jason Garrett is a better candidate for this job than any of the big names you can throw out there.

Moreover, this is not the time for another Bill Parcells type interlude in team history. The last thing this organization needs is another three to five year stint from a head coach. Stability is wanting around here. It is difficult to imagine that any of the Super Bowl ring-wearing free agent coaches out there would stick around for more than five years.

The next coach Jerry Jones hires needs to be the last coach he hires. Look around the league. Even in this environment of constant churning and turnover, the best franchises, the ones that remain competitive year after year, still have stability at the head coach position. The six-time Super Bowl winning Pittsburgh Steelers have had exactly three coaches in the past 50 years. The team of the 2000s, the New England Patriots, continue to contend for championships with Bill Belichick, who is in his 11th year as head coach of that team.

Jerry Jones has a chance to hire the man the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons wanted. He has a chance to hire the man Troy Aikman says has been preparing himself for this opportunity since the early nineties. He has a chance to hire the man Jimmy Johnson says will change the culture of his team for the better. He has a chance to hire the man one Giants’ official said could be anything he wanted to be, including president of the United States.

Those who know Garrett the best, those who have worked with him, watched him develop, believe in him most. That seems to include the one man whose privilege it is to unilaterally select the next man to guide this football team.

So, fire him, Jerry. Do it now. Remove Jason Garrett as interim head coach and give him the job permanently. Rip that term “interim” off the plaque on the door. End the speculation.  Make whatever phone call you have to make to satisfy that Rooney rule and then hire the man best equipped to give you one last glorious moment before that great stadium in sky calls your name.

[picappgallerysingle id="10098297"]Jerry Jones was finally backed into a corner. He was reluctant to do it, but in the wake of the worst three-game skid in Cowboys’ history, he cut the head off the listless, poisonous snake and fired head coach Wade Phillips.

I am not calling Phillips a snake. I am saying that the culture of excuse-making and defensive posturing he cultivated was a poisonous environment. Accountability was missing. Motivation was absent. Direction was nonexistent.

Jason Garrett’s offense has not contributed much of value this year, either. One could conclude that his play-calling has been suspect at best, that his in-game adjustments have been either missing or useless. The question still remains: Does he have the stuff to be a successful head coach in this league?

We are all about to find out.

Here are five suggestions for Mr. Garrett as he takes the helm this week: Five moves he can make to send a message to his team.

Number one: Cut Igor Olshansky.

I already wrote about this guy in a previous article. His open criticism of Garrett on a Dallas radio station, coupled with his celebration of a couple of individual plays at the end of an embarrassing shellacking by the New York Giants is enough to show him as a cancer on this team. Send him packing and open competition this week to find his replacement.

Number Two: Turn the offensive play-calling over to Wade Wilson.

Jason should work with Wilson to generate a game-plan during the week, implement the game plan, and then let Wilson execute it on game day.

As head coach, he retains the right to interject his own plays or decisions during the course of a game, but a head coach needs to see the big picture. Wade never wandered over to the offensive side of the ball and often touted his defense’s play in a loss. A head coach is not just about a unit; he is responsible for a team.

Number Three: Bench Mike Jenkins, for at least a quarter this Sunday.

Jenkins has been a penalty-generating machine. He has been burned in coverage again and again. And he played matador on a goal line play Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers, electing not to stick his head in and try to help stop a runner who was waltzing into the end zone.

Jenkins was a Pro Bowl player a year ago, but he has regressed. Make him earn his way back into the starting lineup. Make him prove he wants the job.

Number Four: Make it clear that individual celebrations of small accomplishments that don’t really contribute to team success are no longer welcome and will be fined at his discretion.

Support that point by benching Marion Barber, whose play is declining and whose fiery celebration of three-yard scampers is just plain ridiculous. Start Tashard Choice. See if he is a part of the future of this team or not.

Number Five: Make Dez Bryant a focal point of your offensive game plan.

Miles Austin had a miraculous, breakout year last season, but has been plagued with dropped balls and the inability to get open on routes this year. Bryant makes some mistakes (see the goofy muffed punt in the fourth quarter last Sunday), but he plays with fire in his belly, he breaks tackles, and he makes catches even when the coverage is tight.

Now is not the time for bandaids on open wounds. Now is not the time for coddling millionaire players who cannot wait for the final gun to sound so they can cash another of Jerry’s checks.

This is the time for the bold to be bold, for leaders to lead. Jason Garrett must prove in the course of the next eight games that he is the kind of take-charge, no-excuses leader this team needs. If he fails, he will not return as the coach of this team.

The ball is in your hands, Jason. Time for a Hail Mary.

Good luck.

I was six years old when my Uncle Daryle began drilling me on Dallas Cowboys’ names and numbers. Whenever our families would get together, usually on holidays or random summer trips to visit them in San Antonio, the Dallas Cowboys would ultimately become a topic of discussion. The tales of gridiron heroics had me dreaming of one day wearing a star on my helmet, of playing the world’s greatest game for the world’s greatest team.

If it wasn’t Uncle Daryle, it was Uncle Gary, both of them uncles by marriage, and neither of them around anymore. They were better Cowboys fans than they were husbands, so they got themselves kicked to the curb, but before they did, they helped burn the storied Dallas Cowboys’ star into my medulla.

I have rarely missed a game since. From the Hail Mary heroics of Roger Staubach and Drew Pearson to the unbelievable Thanksgiving Day play of the one-hit wonder, the Mad Bomber, Clint Longley, to the Tony Dorsett Monday night 99-yard dash into the history books to the three Super Bowl wins of the Triplets and their compadres, I have been there, cheering my lungs out, sweating bullets, bleeding silver and blue.

I have been there through the bad times, too.

I remember those heart-wrenching Super Bowl losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the ’70s. I remember. I remember the circus-catching, high-flying Lynn Swann and the frying pans-for-hands Jackie Smith and the roles they each played in determining “the team of the ’70s.” I remember 1-15 in 1989. I was in shock with the rest of Cowboys Nation when Jerry Jones failed to check his ego and fired Jimmy Johnson after he had won a second consecutive Super Bowl!

Through thick and thin, come Hell or high water, up or down, I have cheered for my team. I have never wavered even once in my loyalty. Nor will I now.

Yet, I wonder if it isn’t time that a true-blue Dallas Cowboys fan cheered for his team’s failure.

Hear me out before you write me off or chunk me under the nearest bus. Roughly 99.9 percent of us can agree on this fact: Jerry Jones and his massive ego have played in indisputable role in this team’s 15-year failure to return to glory. He thinks himself a better football mind than he is. He cannot abide a strong leader in the locker room, sucking up the air and the glory he desires for himself. Witness the Jimmy Johnson firing, the Bill Parcells exit, and the hiring of puppet-coaches like Chan Gailey, Dave Campo, and now the finest puppet of them all, Wade Phillips.

The only thing that has ever forced Jones’ hand, the only thing that has ever made him bite the bullet and seek out a real head football coach, is desperation. Even now, when his team, a preseason Super Bowl favorite, sits at 1-5, he remains unmoved. He stubbornly insists that Wade Phillips is exactly the man he wants on that sideline.

So, what will move Jones to consider making the wholesale changes necessary to mold this collection of undisciplined, underachieving over-hyped prima donnas into a real football team? Abject failure. Total implosion. A half-empty billion-dollar football palace. That…and nothing else.

Jones has been too successful in his lifetime. The mold is cast. He believes in his own invincibility. He actually swallows those heaping spoonfuls of bull hockey he tries to feed the fans and media. He is in grave danger of becoming Al Davis, whose past glories have helped to rot his brain, ruin his perspective and mire his club in perpetual disarray.

If the Cowboys are to ever rise to glory again, it will be under the leadership of a new head coach. Therefore, they must fail enough to force the stubborn owner into making that change.

It is a quandary, is it not? While you watch the Cowboys line up against a very beatable Jacksonville Jaguars team, your natural instinct will be to cheer your Boys on to victory. But should you? Should I?

Or is it time for real Dallas Cowboys fans to lower the team flag, raise the white flag, and cheer for failure until it forces the hand of the man who has the gun to his own franchise’s head?

In recent days, former Dallas Cowboys greats have weighed in on the state of the current team. During an ESPN Chalk Talk before Monday Night’s game, five-time Super Bowl winner Charles Haley and legendary running back Tony Dorsett minced no words in their assessment of the group currently wearing the star they so proudly wore all those years ago.

Tony Dorsett tried to check himself, but, ultimately, whatever truth serum they had injected into him took over.

“It’s really hard to say what I really want to say,” said Tony. “They’re a bunch of underachievers. Coming into the season on paper these guys are one of the best teams in the league. They are talent-wise. For some reason when you start earning your money that’s when it starts falling apart. They start making silly mistakes. They’re not concentrating. They’re having awful turnovers and penalties. That comes from practice.

“Then you look at it from a leadership area. You know, when I played ball, it was understood that if you didn’t do your job, somebody else was going to come on the field for you. These guys get paid a lot of money to do their jobs and they’re not doing them in a consistent manner. If a guy’s not doing his job, call him out. Get in somebody’s face, man. This thing can be corrected very easily … Sometimes you’ve got to put some fear into these guys’ hearts to play to their potential.”

Think that is a shot at Wade Phillips and his “leadership” style? Me, too.

Charles Haley, never one to worry too much what you think of what he says, was more to the point: “A bunch of guys on this team think they’re stars, and they don’t want to do the dirty work.”

If the current players have an ounce of pride, it has to sting to hear the men whose shoes they now strive to fill calling them out.

And now this. On KTCK, the Ticket, this morning, Troy Aikman was doing his weekly show with Dunham and Miller, aka The Musers. Troy said that NFL people around the league agreed on the fact that the Cowboys have some of the best talent in the league. He insisted that they may well be the most talented team in the NFL, and certainly, along with Green Bay, the most talented in the NFC.

“At this point,” said Aikman, “You have to call what this team has done a major underachievement.”

Troy went on to talk about a conversation he had with Chicago bears head coach Lovey Smith. They were discussing Tommie Harris, whose play the past couple of years has not been up to the standard he had set for himself earlier in his career. Troy said he commented, after watching Harris on film, that he appeared to be playing hard.

“Yeah,” said Lovey, “But we don’t pay these guys to play hard. We pay them to make plays.”

Troy then compared that statement to Cowboys’ coach Wade Phillips complimenting his team for “playing hard” after the ridiculous loss to the New York Giants.

“That,” said Troy, “tells you everything you need to know.”

And that tells me everything I need to know. Hall of fame players know what I know: Wade Phillips is a ridiculous excuse for a head coach in the NFL.

What I do not get is how Jerry Jones does not get what everybody else in the football world gets. As Jones continues to stick by his hand puppet, expect this team to continue to find creative ways to lose football games…and expect more outbursts from frustrated former players and coaches.

"Yo! Ice Cream Man. Over here!"

The Dallas Cowboys beat the Giants Sunday. If you do not believe me, just ask head coach Wade Phillips. He will delight in telling you all of the good things his team did that day. He will outline all of the ways his team won.

It was, after all, a record-setting day for Tony Romo and a record-tying day for Jason Witten. The defense played well…well, if you don’t count that ridiculous 74-yard Brandon Jacobs “scamper” (if a play that lasts long enough for you to order and receive a Papa John’s pizza can be called a scamper) on a simple swing pass. Special teams were special except for that one little breakdown on the 78-yard punt return for a TD. You know, the one where every Cowboy on the field and half the ones on the sideline had their hands on him, but couldn’t get him to the ground.

Being a Dallas Cowboys fan these days can create enough mixed emotions to cause internal bleeding. On the one hand, of course, you want your team to succeed. You want them to bury the Ghost of Christmases Past and finally show up for December football.

On the other hand, however, you are desperate – desperate - to be rid of a head coach that just doesn’t get it…and never will. Wade Phillips will always have an excuse. He will always take consolation in statistics. He will always defend himself. He will never accept responsibility. He will never demand excellence of his players. He will never command respect.

He will, however, remain the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys if Jerry Jones can find the least excuse to keep him around.

So, as a Cowboys fan, you want success in December, sure. You want your team to finally get a playoff win after thirteen embarrassing years of mediocrity, underachievement, excuses, and disappointment.

But is it worth it?

A conundrum is what it is. Does any football fan want to hear the coach of his favorite team whine like a middle school girl to a room full of media types?

“I coach them the way I want to coach them,” Phillips said in response to a question about whether he ever gets as angry with his players as he does reporters, “And you can report the way you want to report.”

We will, Wade. We will call it like we see it. And what we see is a team that lost an important divisional game because of mental breakdowns and give-ups on four huge plays Sunday. What we see is a team that went into the game against the Giants with sole possession of first place in the NFC East, and came out tied with the Eagles. What we see is the Giants nipping at your heels, a season sweep of your Cowboys in their hip pockets.

What we see is the calendar, Wade. It reads, “December.” What we see is another late-season loss. What we see is you down-playing the loss, defending your team and demanding nothing (well, nothing except the respect you so desperately want from the media).

What we see is a light at the end of a thirteen-year long tunnel and we hope it is an oncoming train…and that it carries you away…far, far away, to a place where Decembers don’t matter, where early season wins are just as important as playoff victories, where stat sheets are equal to scoreboards, where reporters never badger beleaguered coaches, and where “ifs and buts” really are candy and nuts.

It is a wonderful place where all of your dreams can come true, Wade. It is just too bad that Dallas Cowboys fans will be forced to endure one more nightmare just so you can dream.

Head Cheerleader

Wade Phillips has his Dallas Cowboys sitting rather pretty: They are 8-3 after eleven games and leading the NFC East by one game over the Philadelphia Eagles. After a slow start, their defense has come on strong, proving themselves to be among the best in the league. The offense has sputtered here and there, but has found a spark with Miles Austin as the featured receiver and a stout three-headed running game.

All of that is good. It may not be good enough for Phillips to keep his job with the Cowboys come the 2010 season. His boss, owner and general manager of the Cowboys Jerry Jones, said when asked whether it was important for Phillips’ team to finally post a successful December campaign and finish well, answered:

“I don’t know that it’s any more so for Wade than it is for anybody else on this team. You’re in coaching and then there’s a lot of pressure to win, so that’s there. But what we do here and how we get into these playoffs and get in with an advantage, have a game here [Cowboys Stadium], get a bye, all of those are things that look good for Wade.”

Granted, Jones did not out-and-out admit that if the Cowboys fold like a cheap lawn chair Wade is canned. He did, however, seem to send a less-than-subtle message that goes something like this: “Hey, Wade. You like pretending to be the coach of the Dallas Cowboys? Win a playoff game or playtime is over for you.”

Confronted with Jones’ comments at his daily press conference, Phillips tried to laugh it off at first, but then, more than a little irritated, he gave this response, according to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News:

“If you want to go on records, I don’t know what the determining factor is, I’ve never known. I didn’t know when I was in Buffalo and we were 29-19 in three years that I was going to get fired. I thought I did a heck of a job.

“All I do is try to do the best I can as a coach. I work hard at that. I don’t think I get a lot of respect for that, but that’s the way it goes.”

I know. Sounds like a Rodney Dangerfield quote. “I tell you, I get no respect. My only friend is a dog. I told my wife a man needs at least two friends. She bought me another dog.”

Wade’s insistence on always defending himself – every move, every decision, every loss, every little controversy – gets annoying and sounds like nothing more than a good deal of whining. He feels he never got a fair shake anywhere.

Nobody loves me. Everybody hates me. I am going to eat worms.

People say Wade Phillips is a nice guy. I guess. Nice guys are a dime a dozen.

Great NFL head coaches are few and very far between. Wade does have a nice record as a head coach. He has a nice 30-13 record with the Cowboys. Obviously, he is as good a defensive tactician as there is in the game. But that step between great coordinator and greatness as the main man is a treacherous one. Just ask Cam Cameron, or Butch Johnson, or Charlie Weis, or…

Wade Phillips is good. He is not great. The reason he is not great is that he lacks the leadership skills to be great.

Bill Parcells defends himself at a press conference and the questioner looks and feels silly. Jimmy Johnson would deflect tough questions with a stare that seemed to ask, “Did your mother have any children that lived?”

Phillips, on the other hand, defends himself and it’s like he yanked his own arm off to fend off bloodthirsty sharks. It becomes a feeding frenzy.

It seems that everyone Wade Phillips meets has a stronger constitution than he does. That doesn’t bode well for a man who would lead a band of hardened warriors through treacherous battles, devastating setbacks, debilitating injuries, nay-saying critics, and on to glory.

I think Jerry’s message could be summed up as follows:

Stop whining. Start winning the games that matter most; i.e., late-season, deal-sealing and playoff games. Or…start packing.