National Football League

Cowboys need to get act together

Published Nov. 11, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Every week, the experts of FOX NFL Sunday will candidly reveal their observations and make their opinions known as they prepare for football's top-rated pregame telecast — seen each Sunday at noon ET/9 a.m. PT. We'll share some of the highlights from Curt, Terry, Howie, Jimmy and Michael grabbed from their weekly conference call with insider John Czarnecki.

This week, Czar probes the FOX NFL Sunday crew on the Cowboys, the Vikings and their dicey coaching situations.

Czar: What do you think of the Cowboys replacing Wade Phillips with Jason Garrett?

Jimmy Johnson: I like Jason, and Jerry Jones really wants it to work. It had to be done. It was embarrassing the way they played the last couple of games. They had sunk so low. They quit on the field. Plus, I don’t think people were wrong when they said this was a talented team. They absolutely turned it down on the field the last couple of weeks and the reason for that was the way they practiced.

Michael Strahan: Wade is such a nice man. He was always considered a players’ coach. I’ve come around in this business to the thinking that you can’t be too nice and also be successful as a head coach. I believe if the players aren’t going through some hardships in practice that will make them dig a little deeper during the season, then I think it is easy for them to turn it down. They forget how hard it really is. You have to have a coach that you have some fear of. I mean, last Sunday’s game against the Packers was just atrocious.

Howie Long: I think Jason is a great potential fit for Jerry. I have to agree with Jimmy that Jerry indeed wants this to work. Jerry had a good vision when he didn’t allow Jason to get away and signed him to that rich contract, one of the richest ever for an assistant coach. He comes from a football family. His father was a coach and a scout and his brother works on the Dallas staff, too. I think he will draw on his experiences as a player and coach and some of that he will take from what he learned playing under Jimmy. He definitely knows the organization and I also think he’s a guy who doesn’t want to be in the spotlight. Nobody squeezes more out of brand than Jerry, but the biggest thing he needs to do is control and limit the distractions to the football team. What I mean by that is to quit selling tickets to watch Friday practices, stick to one site for training camp. Some of what they do turns into a circus. Just focus on becoming a winner. He will sell all the tickets he needs if this team simply wins.

MS: What I remember about Jason when he played with me on the Giants is that he was one of the most trusted teammates you could have. He was a respected player in the locker room. I can remember that when players talked to him, you could tell that he was really listening and cared what you were saying. I think that is important as a coach, too. I think he will do well. I do.

JJ: It will be interesting to see Pam Oliver’s interview with Jerry on our Sunday show and see what he really thinks needs to be done.

MS: Howie, do you think Jerry Jones realizes the extra pressure he puts on his players? Or does he look at it like they are professionals and they should be able to handle anything?

HL: He wants both out of his team. And he can’t have both. I know as a player I wanted my time so that I could focus on what I needed to do. So, if you want me to perform and prepare and be ready to play to my fullest on Sunday, you don’t need fans on the sidelines during practices. You have to do away with the distractions.

MS: The thing about training camp is that you pack up the clothes you need and that’s all and you lock in on what you want to get accomplished. I mean, I always got into a routine. I can’t imagine having to do it twice every summer. When I first saw it, I know I would have hated walking out of the locker room past glass partitions with fans right on the other side. That would have gotten me in trouble because I was a nasty fellow coming out onto the field. My mind was somewhere else.

HL: I think we have all been impressed about how Jerry bought the Cowboys and how quickly he paid his debt off. But my thing now is don’t grind away on the nickel, or the five cents you’re going to make opening up your practice on a Friday, moving the training camp from here to there. Just focus on the one thing that will really sell the tickets you need and that’s winning. This team has had enough talent to win, no doubt, over the last three or four seasons.

JJ: But a lot of people are saying that we overestimated the Cowboys’ talent.

MS: I don’t think that’s true.

HL: It will haunt Jerry forever if this team didn’t win a championship. I do think it’s a good move on Jason’s part to put the pads back on for practices. When I played, we never took them off on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

MS: I was asked the other day if I was ever scared on the football field and I said only two times and they were both individuals on two of the toughest teams in the day with two tough head coaches. One was Tom Coughlin down in Jacksonville with Leon Searcy, and the other was Jimmy Johnson and Erik Williams in Dallas. Not that I was really scared, but I knew I was going to feel like crap the next week if I did get beat up.

JJ: That’s why I drafted Erik from a small college, Central State in Ohio. He was like a defensive player playing offensive tackle. He was a mean guy in college; a really tough player.

HL: You knew right away from the first impact. When I got whacked I knew I better get myself together or I’m going to be embarrassed. And that’s the last thing you’d ever want.

MS: Exactly. Those two teams and two coaches were always the toughest for me to deal with. I will also say this about the Cowboys. When we beat them that year to go to the Super Bowl, they were the only team we were really worried about. It wasn’t Tampa Bay or Brett Favre in Green Bay, it was the Cowboys. Their offensive line was big and strong. They were the only team that scared us. Once we beat them, we were comfortable that we could beat anybody else. I do think that their offensive line has regressed from that season. You can have all the great skill set players in the world, but if you can’t protect them what good are they?

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Czar: It’s pretty obvious that the Vikings aren’t playing for their coach, Brad Childress. How can it be as bad as all these stories you hear out of that locker room?

JJ: They don’t respect him and that’s why they don’t mind talking about him. All these unidentified sources and this and that, they have no respect for him at all. A lot of players may not like their head coach, but they generally respect him.

MS: There were guys on the Giants, who didn’t like Coughlin, but they always respected him and there was always a little fear of him.

Curt Menefee: Everyone says that winning is always the best deodorant. But in Minnesota, most of the players didn’t like Childress from Day 1 and it was buried. You didn’t hear all this because they were winning. But once you start losing, then all this stuff comes out.

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Czar: What do you think of the Pittsburgh-New England matchup?

JJ: The Steelers are just so much more physical than the Patriots.

HL: If I’m Pittsburgh, I’m a little bit concerned. When you talk about the best team in the AFC, the Steelers have always been in the conversation. They seem to be struggling now even though Ben (Roethlisberger) has played like five games now. I thought they would be more in sync now than they look. To me, Baltimore seems to be evolving more on offense although they are not the same team defensively that we remember. Ed Reed coming back has been a real boon for them. I do have concerns about where the Steelers fit. I am surprised that they have been struggling to score points. I thought they would be further along.

MS: Ben is amazing at how easily he shrugs off tackles. I mean, it’s hard for even a big guy to bring him down because he is so big. He always seems to have the opportunity to still make a play with guys hanging on him. He is one quarterback who is really fun to watch.