OK, so what's next?

I don't know about you, but I've written this season off. I don't for a moment believe that the Cowboys will be able to regroup from the Pittsburgh loss and win three games in a row against playoff contenders. Oh yes, you can rattle off all the mathematical ways it can happen, but we're talking heart here and desire to win. It's simply not going to happen.

So now, we're looking at the draft and trades. What are the areas that need to be dealt with? I can see several that I believe should get serious attention.

First of all, there are several players on the team that shouldn't be, in my opinion.

Stanback has proven himself to be brittle. Too many injuries, too often. I don't know what they've paid him but there's no way he's made enough plays to justify the amount. The only play I can recall him making this season was in yesterday's Pittsburgh game. He was a project when they drafted him. He's still a project. The Cowboys need players, not projects. Replace him with someone who can tie his shoes and get on the field to play.

Terrence Newman has also proven himself to be brittle. Again, too many injuries, too often. I don't know how long it's been since he was considered to be 100% well. Find a replacement.

Anthony Henry should be moved to safety.

Roy Williams (safety). The Cowboys need to trade him or cut him. If they don't, they're going to stick him out there in pass coverage again, and we know what we get when that happens. The best I can tell, the only thing he's ever truly been good at was horsecollaring, and that's no longer allowed.

Flozell Adams has been in the league for 11 seasons, all with the Cowboys. A four time pro bowler and 2nd team All Pro, he signed a new six year contract with the Cowboys, to the tune of $42 million, including $15 million in guaranteed money and about $13 million in signing bonus. He is generally the most penalized player on the team. Now, the argument is he protects Romo. The midseason games this year didn't seem to prove that. The line didn't protect anyone with Kozier gone. When he returned, the line got better. It looked to me that Kozier was much more important than Adams. His perpetual movement before the snap penalties changed games, took away momentum and yardage and caused all the other bad things that go with that. Remember, we're not talking about some rookie here. We're talking an eleven year veteran that hasn't learned the fundamentals. We have no reasonable expectation of him going another four years (to fill out his contract) without making more of those just plain stupid penalties. If he hasn't learned by now, it's not going to happen. Trade him to someone. Find a replacement. I'm tired of wasting money on people who are hurting the team or who can't be depended on to play from week to week.

Pacman Jones - Just say no. The only reasonable expectation you can have with this guy is that he's going to screw up and get banned from the league. I firmly believe that he's on his last rope with the NFL commissioner and that his next stunt will be his last in the NFL. And I also firmly believe that Pacman Jones will screw up. I don't believe it's a matter of "whether", only "when". Why waste the time, manpower and resources to train a guy that's not going to be available to play. Replace him.

Backup quarterback. Depending on these worn out, non-mobile has beens has not worked. Do something different. Look for talent, even if it doesn't come with lots of experience.

Starting quarterback. Two and a half seasons should be enough for Tony Romo to settle his ass down and stop throwing so many interceptions. He has gone wayyyyyy past the "acceptable mistake" mark. Great quarterbacks don't do that. If he's going to be great, it has to end.

Special teams. A new special teams coach is in order. Coverage and blocking need serious work. Folk is a keeper.

Offensive coaching. Playcalling is predictable and isn't even coming close to using the maximum talent available on the team. Jason Garrett needs to get creative. Presuming he's still here, of course.

Defensive coaching. Defensive playcalling needs some major work, too. It's hard to know exactly what they need since it's changed every frigging week, it seems and they only had one game that they truly dominated a good team. And they only did that for three quarters. I'm talking about the Pittsburgh game, of course. Some players need to be shifted around, such as Henry to safety. Some need to just move on, such as Pacman Jones and Terrence Newman.

Head coach. Phillips will probably be fired at the end of the season. Talk has it that Jason Garrett is the heir apparent. Jason Garrett has not performed well enough to be considered for a head coach position. Right now, if I were to be picking a new head coach for the Cowboys, it would have to be Bill Cowher. And give the man the authority to get the job done. This means Jerry Jones lets the man do that job without interfering with decisions, playcalling or players. If another puppet coach is installed, expect more of the same.

Strength and conditioning coaches. Fire the whole bunch. If they've been there longer than a month, fire them. The Cowboys have entered December every year for 12 straight years, out of condition and low of strength. They don't have enough steam left to finish games. So they wind up having a drop off in wins each December. I have no idea if these are the same coaches they've had every year or whether it was a new bunch each year, but regardless, they aren't getting the job done, so they need to be replaced. Then go find out who the strength and conditioning coaches are for Pittsburgh or New England and steal them. Either group should be adequate to get that job turned around.

I'm sure I can think of other things, and as I do, I'll try to mention them. But this should keep a couple people busy for a weekend.

Rod