Dallas Cowboys’ dreams rest on Phillips, Garrett, Romo
Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News

You will find out everything you need to know about Wade Phillips, Jason Garrett and Tony Romo during the next three weeks.

At New York. San Diego. At New Orleans.

It’s time for the Cowboys’ triumvirate to show us they can make Dallas an elite team again.

Phillips has a .580 winning percentage and one losing season in eight seasons as a head coach. Still, last December, he presided over the most gutless performance in franchise history against Philadelphia. He was also in charge of the 2007 team that became the first No. 1 seed in the NFC to lose in the divisional round since the postseason expanded in 1990.

Did I mention that team had a record 12 Pro Bowl players?

Phillips gained some trust with last month’s road win over the Eagles, and he will gain more with a win over the Giants on Sunday. Get the Cowboys mentally and physically prepared this week, and it bodes well for Phillips getting Dallas prepared to end its wretched 12-year stretch without a playoff win.

Garrett, once the NFL’s hottest assistant coach, faces a different kind of pressure as he tries to remain relevant.

Too many times this season, the offense has been all or nothing as he tries to find the right balance between running and passing.

Yes, the Cowboys have some gaudy offensive numbers, but they’re averaging only 23.2 points. Thirteen teams average more.

Clearly, there’s a disconnect.

All you need to know is Garrett must figure out a way to effectively get the ball to Miles Austin and Felix Jones over the next three weeks because those are his two biggest playmakers.

To do so, Garrett must be at his creative best. Motion. Shifting. Play selection. Whatever it takes to make Jones and Austin the epicenter of the offense, Garrett needs to make it happen.

Romo also needs to make it happen.

There’s no better place to end his national reputation as a big-game choker and improve his 5-8 December record than with a superb performance in the nation’s largest media market.

Romo, playing some of the best football of his career, has only four interceptions in the last nine games. He’s making plays to win games instead of lose them.

Still, he needs a signature win in December. For now, beating New York would provide that.

No one is saying the Cowboys need to sweep the next three games because that’s not happening after what New Orleans did to New England, but the Cowboys can certainly win the next two games.

For us to view them as serious contenders in the NFC, they must.

Uh huh. That’s right.

There’s no reason the Cowboys shouldn’t go to Giants Stadium and end New York’s season. The Giants, losers of five of six games, are waiting to be put out of their misery.

Seriously.

Eli Manning’s foot injury has compromised him. Their front seven no longer dominates. And Brandon Jacobs is just a loudmouth instead of the NFL’s most punishing runner.

It won’t be easy. Nothing worth having ever is, but a loss drops the Giants three games behind Dallas with four to play. That’s why New York will play with desperation.

Win this game and the Cowboys won’t have to spend the next week talking about their awful record in December. Fans won’t be saying, “Here we go again.” And Romo and Phillips won’t have to answer tough questions about their inability to perform in football’s toughest month.

This team has a good vibe to it. Listen to the players, and they all seem to be embracing the moment. They’re not running from their failures in December as they’ve done in the past, they’re confronting it.

This is good.

For the first time in years, the Cowboys seem ready to play their best football when it matters most.

Phillips, Garrett and Romo must lead the way.

Cowboys fans: Felix Jones is going to be exciting to watch
Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News

Felix Jones is the most electric runner the Cowboys have had since Tony Dorsett. He’s the most exciting player the Cowboys have had since Deion Sanders.

Here’s why: You can feel the anticipation and excitement in the stadium every time Jones touches the ball because you never know when he’s about to do something spectacular.

Obviously, Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher was superb.

But he was a grinder, a battering ram. His genius was in the subtle cuts he made to make defenders miss and his unquestioned toughness, which why we all remember the Giants game. But you could miss a couple of plays with Smith on the field without feeling like you were going to miss something you might not see again.

Herschel Walker was terrific for a couple of seasons.

He did it with power and speed because he couldn’t make me miss in the open field. But if he hit the hole and found a seam, you couldn’t catch him when he was in his prime.

That’s how Walker wound up with an 84-yard touchdown run and an 84-yard touchdown catch in the same game.

Dorsett’s speed was breathtaking. So were his moves. He could make anyone look bad, and if you missed him in space, he was gone.

Jones brings back those memories because he has tremendous speed and just enough wiggle to make guys miss.

He turned a 12-yard pass into a 42-yard gain against Tennessee because he made two guys miss before making the kind of cut usually only seen in video games to get outside. Jones’ gift is that he can make a hard cut and seemingly be back at top speed within a step or two.

He averaged 8.9 yards on only 30 carries last year with runs of 33 and 60 yards. He also returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.

Jones is going to be one of the league’s most exciting players this season – and for years to come.

Jacque Taylor Column .

Smoaky

Jacque Taylor Column

Dallas Cowboys’ defense will shine with Phillips in charge
09:09 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News | jjtaylor@dallasnews.com

SAN ANTONIO – The middle man is gone, having been unceremoniously fired shortly after last season ended.

Brian Stewart, the Cowboys’ biggest scapegoat not named Terrell Owens, is coaching defensive backs in Philadelphia this season.

Whatever happens this year, we can’t blame it on Stewart.

This defense, for better or worse, is all about Wade Phillips. He’s going to receive the credit. Or the blame.

Phillips’ performance this season will either earn him a new contract, since he’s entering the last year of his three-year contract, or Jerry will spend the off-season hiring his seventh head coach

This ranks among Jerry Jones’ best off-season ideas, because removing ambiguity is always a good idea, as is making folks accountable.

When Jerry hired Chan Gailey in 1998, he inserted a clause into the coach’s contract requiring him to call the offensive plays. Jerry should’ve taken the same approach with Phillips, insisting that he control every aspect of the defense.

After all, Jerry picked Phillips instead of Norv Turner to coach the Cowboys for one reason: He wanted Phillips’ defensive expertise since the Cowboys had spent four seasons under Bill Parcells acquiring players designed to succeed in the 3-4 defense.

Well, Jerry hasn’t really been getting the best from Phillips. Truth be told, Phillips hasn’t done that much coaching the last two seasons.

Like most head coaches, he’s been so busy being the team’s CEO that he hasn’t been running meetings or putting together game plans and practice schedules.

That’s not a knock on Phillips. That’s the life most head coaches live, which is why coordinators exist.

After last season’s profound disappointment, Jerry decided he needed considerably more of Phillips’ attention on the defense.

Phillips will call every defensive play this season. He’ll receive input from others, as you would expect, but the final decision belongs to him.

More important, the players will get the benefit of his knowledge. Whatever intangibles Phillips lacks as a head coach, you’ve never heard anyone say he isn’t a terrific defensive coordinator.

And you won’t.

He’s aggressive and creative. He understands how to put players in position to maximize their skills, and he’s excellent at teaching technique.

“A lot of people might not know this, but the head coach doesn’t really interact that much with the players because he has so many other things to do,” Bradie James said. “We had a meeting from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Monday night, and he was there the whole time. I’ve never seen that since I’ve been here.

“Now we don’t have to ask someone what Wade thinks about us doing things a certain way or making a change in the defense. We can just ask him. It’s his defense. The middle man is gone. I’ve learned so much since he took over the defense.”

With Phillips more involved, the Cowboys’ defense should be better than last year’s unit, which ranked 20th in points allowed per game despite leading the league with 59 sacks.

There’s not much difference between defensive end Igor Olshansky and Chris Canty, who left for the Giants. Keith Brooking should be a better player than Zach Thomas at inside linebacker, and the secondary should be significantly improved.

“I just think experience helps,” Phillips said of running the defense. “I’ve been on a lot of good teams and been around a lot of good players. I’m getting a little more involved in some of the nuances of the defense and some of the drills we’re running and working with players to make them better.”

Wade will tell you he doesn’t like talking about himself. Still, he’s occasionally referred to himself as Mr. Fix It, and he certainly doesn’t mind telling you his teams have consistently ranked among the best in the league at pressuring the quarterback.

Like any successful coach, he has an ego.

He believes spending more time with the defense will make it better – even if he doesn’t want to say it.

Jacque Taylor Column

I mentioned the personality of this team has already changed, and it’s a little early to tell what that “personality” might be, but it’s definitely on par with what Jacque wrote in the Dallas Morning News.

Smoaky