An open letter to Jerry Jones. . .

Mr. Jones, my silence ends. I've been purposely quiet awaiting the decision by Bill Parcells. He's made the decision now, so my slience ends.

There was no need in talking about which direction this team needed to take without knowing whether there was going to be a change at head coach or not. We now know there will be a change there, so some serious discussion can now begin. Anything prior to this would have just been pure speculation. And even now, not knowing who you will choose as the next head coach, most of this will be speculation, also. But we do have some facts we can discuss regarding players.

I do want to say I think the way Parcells announced his leaving was pretty ball-less. After controlling the press for four seasons at Valley Ranch, the least he could have done is face the crowd one last time. An email for an announcement was pretty weaslish, if you ask me. At least he had enough balls to call you 20 minutes ahead of time, Mr. Jones.

And I know, all these delusions of Parcells working as GM and all that for the Cowboys aren't going to happen. Parcells is headed back to the northeast. We might see him at one of the teams up that way at some point as an advisor, or GM, or whatever, but his days in the Texas heat are over.

Now, to discussions of things we do know.

I've seen several statements regarding Tony Romo. Many are convinced that he's the quarterback of the future. No doubt, he did play well in several games. But here are some stats I'm sure you've looked at that tell a somewhat different story. These are games Tony Romo started against playoff contenders and his quarterback rating in those games.

Colts 89.5
Giants 58.1
Saints 58.8
Eagles 45.5
Seahawks 89.6

Average 68.3

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playe...le?statsId=6624

Of course, you know that the Cowboys lost three of those games. Against playoff contenders, Tony Romo did not play well. Yes, I know he finished the season with a 95.1, but he also finished the season on a downward spiral. His rating for his first five full games was 112.2. His rating for his last five games of the regular season was 77.6. I wouldn't be counting my chickens before the eggs hatch on this one, folks. I have high hopes for Romo, but there is no way I could say I'm convinced he's the quarterback of the future. At best, I'm presuming him to be the starter going into training camp at this point. And the next head coach could change that immediately. Unless you're more convinced than I think you are, Mr. Jones.

Mr, Jones, the concensus of opinion I hear is that Drew Bledsoe will be hanging up his helmet which means there's going to be at least one quarterback hired. I'm for grabbing a good QB in the draft and getting him plenty of time in practice and post season. Maybe a veteran QB also to act as immediate backup for Romo, or to compete for the starting position if Romo can't get his head together after the way this past season ended. For the record, I was never real comfortable playing over half the season with only two QBs on the active roster.

You, Mr. Jones, are now the center of attention. Everything else comes in a distant second. You're going to decide on who gets the honor of being the man to come in and try to clean up the mess that Bill Parcells has left. No, I don't think there's a big player mess, but there's definitely a coaching mess. The chances are extremely high of it happening, but if I had my choice, I'd like to see Jimmy Johnson as head coach, Dave Wanstadt as defensive coordinator and Norv Turner as offensive coordinator. Throw Avezzano into the mix there, too. We need a good special teams coach and he is that. Others can call all this living in the past if they want to, but these are guys that have a proven track record and have worked together successfully for you in the past. I see no reason why they couldn't do it again. This is highly improbable, but is not beyond the realm of reason. If you, Mr. Jones, are indeed serious about seeing the Cowboys return to the top of the NFL, you have the money to get it done and I sincerely believe this is the easiest way to get there. I don't think the Cowboys will be in the Superbowl in 2008, but I believe they can be there by the time the new stadium is open and the seats will be full. And last I heard, that is something that you want, Mr. Jones.

I believe there will be some personnel changes on the offensive line. There needs to be changes. They didn't get the job done in games that mattered. Whoever becomes your next head coach, and offensive coordinator, one of their first decisions y'all have to make is what to do about Terrell Owens. In my opinion, you send him packing. This morning's newspaper articles have us listening to him saying how glad he is that Parcells is gone, and how much better the Cowboys would have been had he (TO) been the focus of the offense. It's always all about TO. It's never TO's fault. I think anyone that perfect should be shared and not selfishly kept by the Cowboys. You should let him go to another team so they can share in that perfection and you can show your true benevolence to the league. No, I will not bring up dropped passes or distractions in this letter. Period.

Resign Terry Glenn and Crayton, Mr. Jones. Pick up another good wide receiver in free agency or a 2nd rounder in the draft. some of the younger guys like Hurd, etc. will begin to step up this coming season to fill in the other gaps.

At running back, there needs to be a change. Julius Jones has had enough time to prove whether he's going to be "the man" and it's clear to me that he isn't. Marion Barber isn't an "every down" back but is definitely the red-zone guy. I think Jones needs to be shopped around and a running back needs to be drafted. Someone with some heart and the ability to get past the first defensive guy on most runs. You know the kind I'm talking about, Mr. Jones. You've got his name on the ring of honor at your stadium.

I think there will be some changes with the defense. Not nearly as much as on offense. I think coaching and play calling improvement will do more for the defense than just player changes. Putting the right guys in the right place at the right time will improve this defense without any player changes at all. I do think that if you can make an improvement at a position without it giving away the farm, then changing players would be in order, but I think good coaching of the present personnel will improve this defense considerably. As far as the 4-3 vs 3-4 controversy, I think good coaching and good execution will make either scheme work.

The Cowboys have a fairly good special teams group right now. Getting Avezzano back would improve it immediately. Avezzano had the uncanny ability to find guys that could be had for very little money that could get the job done as kicker. He definitely knew how to get the most out of kickers and did it repeatedly. I have no problem with keeping Gramatica as kicker. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a younger guy as kicker either, but Gramatica was at least predictable in a good way. Obviously the punting game is in good shape with McBriar at the helm. Miles Austin did a good job for the most part.

Regardless of all of the above, one thing that has to be gotten under control is this December meltdown thing that has just completed its 11th consecutive year. Mr. Jones, eleven years in a row of a losing record in your final 5 games of the season is enough. If it's conditioning, get it done. If it's coaching, get it done. If it's a mental thing, get a handle on it and get it done. Enough is enough. You are professionals and right now, for the month of December, you are a bunch of professional losers. Fix it. This next season. Get it done.

The retirement of Bill Parcells has probably moved any chance, if there was even one to begin with, of the Cowboys going to the Superbowl to 2009 at the earliest. This next season is going to be a rebuilding year with new coaches, etc. Getting the coaching staff I've mentioned above would cut down on some of that, but even with that experienced group, I don't see them coming in, not knowing the personnel and having to make some changes at some positions, and getting there in 2008. At the earliest, it would be 2009. More likely is 2010. The new stadium is anticipated to be open for play in 2009, just in time for the Cowboys to make their Superbowl run.

Mr. Jones, you are the one who will ultimately benefit or lose from his decision. The Cowboys are in their longest period of playoff win drought in franchise history. You can build a mansion around an outhouse and it's still an outhouse. Building that beautiful stadium to house a franchise that loses to the Detroit Lions, a 1-14 team, won't be enough to keep folks spending their hard earned money there. It's all about the almighty dollar. You give us a winning franchise, Mr. Jones, and we give you our money. Give us losers or teams that choke every December and you leave a bad taste in our mouth and we don't give you our money. You are the one that has to choose which one tastes worse to you, a little crow when you go to Jimmy Johnson to hire him back, or the crow when you look at your financial report at the end of the year after another losing season.

We've waited for eleven seasons for you to fix this team. How much longer do you expect us to wait? How much longer can you expect us to say "America's Team" without snickering? Which is worse, Mr. Jones, admitting you were wrong when you fired Jimmy Johnson, or watching your franchise fall further into mediocrity, with the ensuing drop in revenue? How much longer do you think you can ride on those Superbowl championships from the 90's?

This time, the change is not your choice, Mr. Jones. For the first time in history, a head coach for the Dallas Cowboys has left without you firing him, Mr. Jones. I don't know how that affects your ego and frankly don't care. What I do care about is seeing you do what's right for this team. I think hiring anyone that has shown he couldn't get the job done for other franchises as head coach isn't the answer. This leaves out Mariucci, Phillips, and some others. I think hiring anyone that has never coached in the NFL isn't the answer. This leaves out all the college coaches. I think any coach you consider has to have shown he can get a team to the Superbowl or at least been an assistant head coach or coordinator on one of those teams. This narrows the list considerably. Now we're down to Jimmy Johnson, Lovie Smith, Bill Cowher, Jeff Fisher, possibly a few others. Fisher and Smith are probably impossible to sign. Cowher is doubtful.

Eat the crow, Mr. Jones. Pay the money and eat the crow. We'll all be happier for it. Including you.

On behalf of Cowboy fans everywhere, thank you, in advance.

I've Had It!

Enough is enough! We can now look to a chance it'll be an even dozen next season. The Cowboys have not had a winning record in their last 5 games in any season since 1995. That's an 11 year span, folks. There's a problem, obviously. But there's been four different head coaches over that period of time. Obviously players have come and gone during that time. Just at quarterback, we're talking seven starters, and that doesn't count Hensen. Some years, we blamed the offense. Other years we blamed the defense. Still in other years, we blamed the lack of a good kicking game. Quarterback has been a point of contention. So has running back. And offensive line. And defensive secondary. And pass rush. I think the only one I haven't seen blamed is the towel boy.

Hell, yesterday, someone was blaming yesterday's game on the referees. The Cowboys gave up 39 points to the 2nd (after this game) worst team in the NFL and this person was blaming it on the referees. I agree. The refs should have demanded that Parcells just throw in the towel so everyone could just go home. How dare those referees for not being more forceful.

This December thing this year just killed the season. They won 2 and dropped 3 of them. Two out of the 3 they dropped were critical playoff position games. The Cowboys gave up the NFC East and the 3rd seed in the playoffs in one game. They gave up a potential 2nd seed in another. It was theirs to claim in both instances.

Coming into December, the team was on an upward ride headed towards the playoffs. They finished in a death spiral, still headed for one playoff game, but it's doubtful you could find anyone that would take even odds that the Cowboys will win that first playoff game.

So, with all this finger pointing in so many directions, with so many possibilities, what is the problem? And what is it going to take to fix it? I've given this thing some thought over the past few weeks and I can find justification to blame almost all facets of the team this year for their failure to achieve what most of us believe was high potential. Much higher than what they did achieve, anyway. But you can find justification in previous years also, but it wasn't the same players/coaches/etc. in those previous years. So fixing one player this offseason, or 5 or 6 players might not do it. In fact, they've patched several areas on the team in different years. But for 11 straight seasons, we're right back where we started. Losing in December.

Is this a conditioning issue? If so, why are we 11 seasons into it, with four different coaching staffs, and still don't have it corrected. Is there something else? Something we're not seeing? The only constant in this equation, that I'm aware of, is Jerry Jones. And I can't imagine what Jerry could be doing to affect player performance that wouldn't have gotten leaked to the press by now. So I'm not going with the Jerry theory. I truly thinks he wants a winning team more than anyone else. And I think he has, for the most part, done what he believed each year would make it a better team. I think he's going to be doing some of that doing shortly, too. After this season, heads are going to roll. And it might start with the head coach. But that's another article.

Regardless of who is coaching next season, they need to start dealing with this December thing. You're looking at a minimum of 25% of your regular season. No coach would head into the season spotting his opponents 4 games. Historically, that's what the Cowboys have been doing. They've been laying down in December and the record shows it. And the lack of playoff contention shows it.

If this is still America's Team, and much argument could be had that it isn't, the December thing must be corrected. This is an embarassment. Remember that feeling from yesterday when you realized the Lions were going to beat the Cowboys? That's what I'm talking about, but it's an 11 continuous year old feeling. I mentioned several times that the Cowboys have not had a good December in years. I, myself, didn't realize how long or how bad it had been. If you're looking for consistency in the Cowboys, there's a place to look. The Cowboys have consistently sucked in December since 1995.

Do I have the solution for this? I can tell you flat out I don't. I can't even identify the problem. But it's the same problem, year after year after year. Without identifying the specific problem, I don't know how one could go about fixing it. But someone needs to get a handle on this. This sucks the life out of the team and is just hell on fans. I know not everyone is the fan I am, coming back every year only to be letdown at the end of the season. But lining up for another dose of it again the next year. That's me. I'll be back there next year, with hope and aspirations that it'll be better. Based on history, it won't be. Unless it's corrected.

To those that might possibly read this that can actually effect a change in the Cowboys organization, be aware that not every fan is going to be like me. Not every one of them is going to return to the trough every year for more of the putrid feed you've been serving us for the past 11 years. Some of those fans are going to find other teams to root for, or another sport. Those fans won't spend money on your merchandise and tickets. And that will make your cash register smaller. And that will mean you have less money to spend in places you really need to spend money. The formula is really quite simple.

Win Games = More Money, Lose Games = Less Money

So why are we in an 11th year where we basically give the rest of the league a month of games? And when is it going to get fixed? Is 11 years long enough for this to happen? 12? Or are we looking at a 20 year hiatus for the Cowboys in December? Can I hang in there as a fan for 20 straight years of losing Decembers? I don't know. I do know I'm over halfway there now.

This is nuts. Get it fixed. I don't care who's coaching the team. I'm not in love with Parcells, Gailey, Campo, Switzer, Landry or Jimmy Johnson. I don't care if you hire the whole Philadelphia Eagle team and coaching staff, stick them into Cowboys uniforms and start winning games. Just get it done. 11 years of this crap is enough. I bit the cheese this year, got my hopes up, knowing full well that December was coming. And sure enough, what happens? We get scrambled like an egg at IHOP.

I'll be back here next season, hopeful and exhuberant that will be the season it all comes together. I will be supportive, but realistic. When you do well, I'll say so, when you suck, I'll say so. But as December approaches, I will get apprehensive. And if you drop 3 out of your last 5 games next year, you won't catch me by surprise like I've let you do for 11 straight years.

Now, if you want to blindside me, go 5-0 next December. I'll probably pass out from the shock of it.