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As a die hard fan on this special night, this is the most embarrassing game I’ve ever watched in my entire life. We’re talking about a chance to control our playoff aspirations and close out the final game ever at Texas Stadium with a win. It did not happen, the Cowboys are a complete failure and big disappointment.

This team has ALOT of issues to address this offseason. I’m officially writing off this team, they plain suck. Its mind blowing to imagine that this bumbling squad still has a shot at a wildcard spot. After tonight, I don’t see them winning in Philly. No heart, no killer instinct, these guys have nothing inside to overcome the stupidity made by their key players.

The bumbling starts with Romo, I’m sold on him not being able to win in huge games. Tonight’s game was basically a playoff type game with alot on the line, and Romo put the Cowboys behind early, and the offense never dug out of his hole. When Romo stinks so goes the rest of the team. I’ll say it again, Romo is no where near Aikman’s caliber, and not even better than Danny White, so that’s a big problem for Dallas. If your QB is not better than a Danny White caliber forget getting to the Superbowl, seriously. Do not try to sugar coat or throw stats at this argument, Romo is a huge disappointment and he is what he is - not good enough.

For Wade, I expect him and his entire staff to get the boot after we lose to the Eagles next week. Wade has failed to get this team fired up, and Garrett has failed to be innovative, get them both the hell outta here and start over. This team takes losses like this and implodes, show me something this whole year that gives you hope, and I’ll reconsider my stance, but the reality is that the Cowboys do not have what it takes to win anything the rest of the way, let alone the playoffs. (We need Jim Mora to speak at the podium tonight, he’ll tell you)

The Cowboys now will rely on others to lose in order for them to sneak into the playoffs, what a joke of a team, seriously. I love this team, but they have the wrong pieces in place right now.

Jerry Jones has to be beyond disappointed and completely embarrassed. This was a slap in his face and the faces of the fans, the players stunk it up in the worst way.

The media circus is in full effect, and the drama in Dallas has been kicked up another notch. This being said, the Cowboys better win today, or its going to get really ugly, really fast. This mess started with Jerry Jones making some questionable comments about Barber, and then we have all this drama with Romo, Witten, and the wide receivers. Then Newman calling out the coaching staff, and now word that Witten was Werder’s source in regards to the love triangle between Romo, Witten, and Owens. Its a mess from the very top to the bottom - a mess.

Its complete mayhem in Dallas and a loss in a key game against the Giants could absolutely make this team implode. A win is needed bigtime in order to get the team back in wildcard contention, but more importantly for the sake of stabilizing the team as a whole. The locker room antics are wide open to the media, its ridiculous what is going on in Dallas. This is another indictment of bad coaching and ability to manage these players.

This sort of locker room drama would not have happened under Parcells, and its getting out of control right now in Dallas. Phillips seems to be oblivious to what’s going on, he was asked if the locker divided, in which he basically said no. Just the fact that the head coach is being asked these types of questions is just not a good thing.

Let’s see how the team responds today against the Giants.

The Cowboys future was almost shut the week going in the Redskins game, but the Cowboys have been able to put together two relatively successful games. The offense remains suspect at times, but the defense seems to be gaining some momentum. The Cowboys are far from being a lock for the playoffs, but we still control our own destiny. Its simple math. Run the table and you’re in.

The Cowboys should be able to defeat the Seahawks as they did last week against the 49ers. They are the same type of team, so the Cowboys need to keep the pressure on defense on the pedal and not relent. A victory against the Seahawks gives us a small step towards the playoffs and would take us to 8-4

After the Seahawks comes our dreaded Decemeber meltdown jinx. Can we break this jinx this year? If this is a team bound for the playoffs they will absolutely have to win in Decemeber. Its said that the Cowboys need to split December by going 2-2. That’s the worst case scenario and wrong type of thinking. The Cowboys need to be thinking about running the table. 10-6 may not get Dallas into the playoffs with the way the NFC South is playing, that division could send 3 teams into the playoffs.

I’ve been trying to see why our defense has not been able to be a force and shutdown people. When you have a marquee player like DeMarcus Ware, your defense gets instanst credibility to some extent, but that’s where it ends in Dallas.

I’ve come to the conclusion that our draft picks, mainly from the Parcells era, have been busts, or just marginal at best. We’ll look at the players Parcells drafted who still remain on the team:

2003:

CB Terence Newman - probably one of the better players drafted, but may have peaked already, age and injuries are becoming more frequent. Still a good starter, not the shutdown player he was a few yrs ago.

LB Bradie James - let’s face it, he’s just ok, he’s not a playmaker. He’s had an up and down career, but not much of a force to be honest. He’s not going to get better.

2004:

This was the worst draft class, no one remains on the team, Bruce Thornton was a bust, Nate Jones and Jacques Reeves were horrible, and Patrick Crayton remains the only player from that draft class, and his status on the team is not too high right now. No defensive players remain from 2004.

2005:
Here’s where we get into the meat of our defense. The rule is 3yrs later, and guess what, we missed on most of these guys.

LB DeMarcus Ware - by far the best player on the team, and top 3 defensive player in the NFL without a doubt, ’nuff said.

DE Marcus Spears - ok, here we go…Spears is a starter on this defense and he’s a bust, he’s the training camp sweetheart, countless compliments and all this crap, then when the season gets here, its the same old story, he just disappears, he’s an official bust.

LB Kevin Burnett - a 2nd rounder, a bust. Too many injuries, dating back to before he signed his contract, how lame was that? and not much impact on the team, he’ll be gone after this season.

DE Chris Canty - 4th rounder, thought to have been a steal on draft day…3yrs later, he’s a bust too. He’s not blowing people up with his size? lame. He’s not making plays or pressuring the QB. He’s playing to his draft status, he’s a 4th rounder alright, his steal status has been retracted.

NT Jay Ratliff - 7th rounder, who’s playing like a 1st rounder. Besides Ware, Ratliff is the other guy on defense you can count on every game. So, that’s it…two good players on defense right now, this year, 2008…

2006:

This was the class of defensive backups. We didn’t pull any defensive starters from Parcells’ last draft class.

LB Bobby Carpenter - who knows what the heck happened here? He was great at Ohio, but did Parcells stunt his growth and damage him forever? We’ll never know. What we do know is that he can’t beat out marginal players like James and Ayodele last year, so what does that say?

DE Jason Hatcher - I still have love for Hatcher, he’s my player, and he does make plays when he’s in there. To this day, I don’t know why they don’t start Hatcher over Spears…who cares if Spears was a first rounder, get over it, he’s a bust, take the mistake like a man, and start Hatcher. For now, Hatcher is a backup, but he could start on many teams in this league.

DB Pat Watkins - a supposed 5th round steal..not anymore, he’s just a minimal 5th rounder type of player. Our hopes of him being a ballhawk with his size never manifested into anything. He’s a backup too.

Wade’s draft classes are on pace to being just as useless as Parcells’

2007:

Looks like the kicker, Nick Folk, will be the highlight of this draft class, how pathetic is that?

LB Anthony Spencer - he’s still at a TBD stage, but if his injuries keep coming up, he’ll be another Kevin Burnett and we don’t need another one of those roster spots down the drain. Has potential, but not making plays as of yet.

The rest of this draft class is a colassal mess, we already dropped a 3rd rounder on James Marten, Isaiah Stanback is a complete waste of a roster spot, Deon Anderson is not big enough to be a fullback, we should have drafted Owen Schmitt, but we didn’t, and now we’re here with a solid special teamer, but just an average FB.

DBs Courtney Brown and Allen Ball are Nate Jones and Jacques Reeves clones, and that’s just not going to get us anywhere except for more deep passes their ways for easy TDs. No good

2008:

TBD, we won’t know into another season or two.

As you can tell, the core of our defense is made up of marginal players. Forget their draft status, alot of these guys simply do not have the playmaking pedigree that Ware and Ratliff posess. Its weak stuff man, I think when we look at the coaching coupled with the players we have starting on defense, the recipe for a Super Bowl defense is not there, it just is not going to be there. We’ve had the two best 3-4 gurus in the NFL take on this defense and they were unable to muster any sort of dominant play. The reason is the players. We missed on alot of defensive players.

Not much to say about this game, it was a known thing that we would lose this game, but to get totally whipped was embarrassing to say the least. The Giants are clearly the class of the NFC, and are the team to beat. The Cowboys now drop to 5-4, and keepers of the NFC East basement.

Its safe to say that we all drank the same homer koolaid and thought we would be Super Bowl contenders in the preseason; however, reality coupled with injuries has taken its toll. This season is a wash, unless we run the table and get some help. I don’t see it happening and here’s why:

Yes, we need Romo to come back, but when he was in there, the offensive line did not protect him for anything. To think Romo’s return will save our season is just being naive bigtime. Romo will help out, but the improvements must come across the board and softy Wade Phillips is not the type of coach that’s going to rally this team together. These guys are lost and are quitting on each other. This was evident in today’s game. The defense actually looked ok for the first few series, but as the offense continued to act stupid out there, the defense saw no use to keep up the hard work and they quit too. Jacobs ran all over these guys, and we saw more half assed tackling, and lack of pressure. This is the most disappointing team since the Switzer years, where we have alot of talent and nothing to show for it. We suck, and will continue to play crappy.

Anyone who is trying to be positive is just trying to be optimistic for the sake of being optimistic, but let’s get real ok? What have you seen while Romo was playing, and what have you seen in recent weeks to think we’re a contender, we’re not, we are clearly a team is complete disarray. Can the Cowboys go 5-2 after the bye week? I wish I could say I know we can, but I cannot say that right now. Is it possible? of course, but not likely considering the history of this season. We’re on track for a 7-9 or 9-7 team at best, and no playoffs.

There just isn’t much positive to say about these Cowboys right now. Jerry better not be handing out contract extensions this bye week either because no one deserves crap right now.

This was definitely a must win, the Cowboys had to win one of two next games, and the Cowboys avoided a last minute surge from the Bucs to take the win at home. Wade probably saved his job here, it was do or die.

Much of the talk leading up to the game centered itself around the supposed demotion of Brian Stewart. Several reports and comments on the matter still leave the change on defense in question; however, it did look like Phillips was making calls from the sideline, and the defense stiffened up throughout the game. There were some nice blitz packages that were actually effective. Jerry gave the gameball to Phillips:

Jerry stood in the Cowboys’ locker room in Irving today and gave Phillips the game ball.

That might have been a first for Jerry. He couldn’t recall for sure, but handing the game ball to his head coach after a win is certainly rare.

“Wade Phillips did his job today,” said Jerry, who praised Phillips “gutsy” calls and shrewd psychological moves. “Today was a big victory for this team. It gives us a chance to stay in the hunt of where we want to be at the end of the year. (DMNBlog)

This was an ugly win, I’ll take it. We are now 5-3 going to NY, and we’re still in the hunt in the NFC despite all the distractions and horrid play from previous weeks. I hope this game is a preview of things to come from the defense because it was good.

It’s gameday, and the Cowboys’ season is at a crossroads. No one really knows what’s going to happen against the Bucs, there are so many scenarios for a team that is just a pathetic shell of its former self. While the most diehard fan wants to remain optimistic you know inside that this team is in trouble.

Let’s just be real here, the Cowboys have not played a solid game outside of week 1, the rest of the games have been sloppy, and fortunate in most wins, we could easily be 1-6 right now. Has Wade lost the locker room? That is my biggest concern, and I think we’ll have our answer within the first couple of drives on defense and offense. We’ll know early on what path this game will go.

The Bucs are playing well right now, and Jeff Garcia has had some success against the Cowboys, so it’ll make for an interesting game. Garcia is 3-2 against the Cowboys; and, for the most part, the wins were in dominating fashion, while the two loses were relatively close games. Coincidentally, I think the game will follow the same path. The Bucs will either dominant us or we pull out a close win at the end.

The Madden Forecast calls it, Cowboys 24 Bucs 13

How we win:

- Pocket protection

- Run blocking

- Execution

- Sack/Hurry Garcia

- Get Owens in favorable matchups

- Playaction / Draws

- Staying power on defense

How we lose:

- Fall behind early

- Turnovers

- Quick 3 & outs

- Lack of pressure

- Sloppy tackling

- Bad pass/run blocking

- Sloppy special teams coverage

This is do or die for the Cowboys, each game getting closer to the bye week has been a must win, and this game could save or cost Wade’s job, its as simple as that. Jerry has laid out the ground work for his dismissal based on his semi-scathing comments on Wade’s approach with the defense as the Head Coach.

Yes, we’ve read that Jerry Jones will keep Wade Phillips onboard as the Head Coach for the rest of the season; but, we all know that anything can change quick in Dallas. The coaching market is not doing to well, and firing coaches midseason is en vogue right now, and Wade will need to pull out a win over the next two games to have a remote chance at staying aboard.

With quick changes in San Fran, Oakland, and St. Louis, its well within the realm that Jerry will follow suit to jumpstart this way underachieving unit, two more devastating losses and you can call it over.

Supposedly, Wade will take command of the defense, something he should have been doing since he was hired. If we get blownout, there needs to be serious consideration at making a move, otherwise we’re in for a high 2nd round pick and the Lions will have a sweet pair of high 1st rounders.

We’ll see what happens

Looks like the seat got hot, and Phillips is getting up and making some moves, Defensive Coordinator, Brian Stewart has been removed from that position…or is this something being mandated by Jerry Jones? Fact is, Jerry brought in Wade to run his version of the 3-4 which was said to be aggressive and in your face, much like the Chargers defenses he ran. We have not seen an ounce of this is Dallas, nothing.

So, whether the removal of Brian Stewart was Wade’s or Jerry’s idea, something had to change. We should have never reached this point. I thought this team was going to be molded around Wade as the HC/DC and Garrett as the AHC/OC; a two headed coaching attack. Instead for whatever reason, Phillips handed over the scheme to Stewart and he sucked at it, and that’s been cleaned up for our younger readers.

Ed Werder of ESPN broke the news of Stewart’s demotion:

…reports Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Brian Stewart has been relieved of his duties. Head coach Wade Phillips will handle the play-calling in place of Stewart.

This is one step in the right direction, I expect to see an instant difference on the defensive attacks, if not, then get Wade out of here next, that’s it.

Looks like others are thinking like me in regards to what is going to happen next with Wade Phillips. I blogged about this yesterday during the 3rd quarter of the game. I layed out the scenario in which Wade will be given until the bye week at the lastest; at which point, Jason Garrett would be handed over the team as the Interim Head Coach.

DMN Blog had very similar thoughts on this scenario, which further reinforces my thinking as well:

But Jerry might be forced to make a move, especially if the Cowboys lose their next two games (a likely scenario) and enter the bye week with a losing record. Dallas would be in Save Our Season mode at that point.

Maybe it makes sense to give Garrett a trial period for the last half of the season. If he can’t right the ship, Jerry can make a run at Bill Cowher or another big-name coach this winter.

For now, Wade Phillips is still at the wheel, and the league’s most talented team appears to be headed for a fiery crash. (DMN)

That’s pretty close to what I said yesterday, so there are obviously more writers and fans thinking the same thing…Wade Phillips’ days in Dallas are numbered, as in 14 days to be exact.

I’m going to add more into the scenario I layed out yesterday. I think Jerry Jones thought ahead and brought in the people he did to supplement Wade’s staff. Prime example would be Dave Campo. Dave Campo knows Jerry, and he’s a defensive mind, he’s been a successful defensive coordinator in the NFL. Judd Garrett was also hired as the Assistant Director or Pro Scouting, let’s not forget that part. That being said, if Wade Phillips is indeed canned by the bye week, which I believe will indeed happen, then you’ll be saying good bye to Brian Stewart as well. There is no way we keep the horrible Phillips understudy in training on board as our defensive coordinator. Campo will likely take over as DC.

Both Garrett and Campo will be judged on how they handle the team on the interim basis. If all goes well, and I mean a complete turnaround into the playoffs, then Garrett will remain as head coach, and Campo will remain on as DC. Furthermore, with Campo on board, we could make a transition back to the 4-3 if we wish. The 3-4 has been a complete utter failure under Parcells and Phillips, who were supposedly 3-4 gurus, so if neither could get it going, then why keep running it? Some defensive systems are cyclical, and I think the 3-4 has run its course in Dallas.

Now, I know we’re getting ahead of ourselves, but I thought it would be interesting to see the potential makeup of the staff in the coming weeks. Jerry is not dumb, and clearly has his contingencies well in place.