From the DMN blog:

Add LB Kevin Burnett, who plays in nickel and dime situations and leads the team in special teams tackles, to the Cowboys' lengthy injury list.

Burnett is sitting out practice and has a protective boot on his left foot. We'll let you know when we know more about his injury.

What the...? Another injury? I guess we'll have to wait until Wade gives the press conference to know what the extent of the injury is. Bobby Carpenter anyone?

Hat tip to Philosopher for posting in the comments.

Jason Cole has a great article over at Yahoo Sports on the Roy Williams trade. We've heard Deion Sanders bash the deal, we've heard other TV personalities say the Cowboys panicked. But what about other coaches/owners in the league? You know, the guys who actually have to contend with the Cowboys on Sundays. How about this:

"That makes them a much more dangerous team and they were already a great one," said Giants owner John Mara, a day after his defending Super Bowl champions were run over in Cleveland. "He's a great player and he makes them much tougher to defend. They gave up a lot for him, but he makes them better."

[snip]

"I'm sure that when other defensive coordinators heard that Romo was out, they thought, ‘Oh, we can just blitz and dare Johnson to beat us deep,' " an assistant coach from another team said. "Now, you can't do that because you're going to have to respect both sides of the formation."

[snip]

"They weren't easy to defend before this," another assistant coach said. "Personally, I thought (Patrick) Crayton and the other kid (Miles Austin) were pretty good. But Williams is in a different league than those guys. With (Crayton and Austin), you'd take your chances. With Williams, he's going to hurt you. I shouldn't say this, but this group could be a better offense than when they had (Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith).

"Yeah, you could say it's overkill and there won't be enough passes to go around, but good luck defending them. There's going to be somebody running free all the time."

Todd Archer guesses that when the Cowboys and RW2 get the five-year extension finalized, the average salary will be in the $9 million range. 

All they have done is agreed to the parameters on a five-year extension. The Cowboys and agent Ben Dogra will get to the nitty-gritty here pretty soon. If you're looking for a roundabout figure - $9 million per year average is a guess when you look at deals signed by some other top-flight receivers lately.

Could Tony Romo actually play on Sunday? 

In his weekly stop with The Ticket's Dunham & Miller, Wade Phillips said Romo would throw in practice today and his status could be re-evaluated. At least that is what I think Phillips said while dodging most of the questions, supplying non-answers. He's really good at that.

Eh, I'm not buying it - yet.

Hat tip kevdog for the post. 

JJT loves him some Jerry. There's no doubt about one thing, Jerry will do everything in his power to get the Cowboys to the Super Bowl.

TO loves him some RW2.

Great news. The Cowboys already have the parameters in place for a five-year extension for new WR Roy Williams. 

Cowboys VP Stephen Jones told reporters at Valley Ranch today that the parameters are in place for a five-year extension for WR Roy Williams, who is in the final season of his deal.

"We don't have the details yet," Jones said. "We've got the parameters set. And we should have something done, hopefully for sure by tomorrow."

Nice. That was my biggest concern. I thought the Cowboys overpaid maybe a little for Roy, but not by much. But if they didn't get a new deal worked out, then it was going to be a big issue. No worries on that front now, we should always trust the Jones' on the issue of getting contracts done.

And yes, I'm very excited to see what RW2 (I guess the original Roy is RW1) can do beside T.O. That is one potent passing attack if you include Jason Witten and move Patrick Crayton to the slot, plus you still have an improving Miles Austin in the mix. Now the question is can the offensive line protect Brad Johnson long enough to make those weapons work.

I'll tell you this much, I'm excited to see what will happen on Sunday. By all indications RW2 will be at practice on Wednesday and should play a limited role on Sunday.

There's more on RW2 here. 

And Nick Eatman has a nice article here. Jerry says he's coveted Roy for years.

"We've been trying to trade for Roy Williams for two years," Jones said. "Two straight drafts, I tried to make a trade with Detroit and couldn't get it done. At the league owners meetings (last year), I tried to talk to Detroit about trading for him. He's certainly someone we've pursued the last few years."

And you think Roy is excited?

"I'm more happy to be a Dallas Cowboy than when I got my first bike," Williams said. "To go from 0-5 to 4-2, you can't get any better than that."

For anybody thinking this might be a problem with T.O., at least this early in the transaction, can put that to rest.

Not only did Jerry Jones say that Terrell Owens was "ecstatic" to find out the news, but apparently T.O. was the first to call Roy Williams and congratulate him on the trade.

And Roy seems to know the deal.

"He's the No. 1 guy. I'll be the No. 2 or No. 3 and wherever I fit in. Defenses won't know what to do."

On the other hand, we got the bad news of Pacman Jones' suspension today. I will not argue that Roger Goodell was too harsh. Everybody knew the deal going in and Pacman just blew it. Case closed for me. Whatever he got from Goodell is fine with me. Now the question is will Jerry keep him around for the minimum four-game suspension or will he go ahead and cut ties? Personally, I wouldn't mind a bit if he cut him even though we desperately need him in a very thin secondary.

Anthony Henry and Mike Jenkins will now be the starters on the outside - I assume - and Oralndo Scandrick will come in on the nickel. What happens in the dime? My guess is Alan Ball is about to get some real reps.

Here's an article about Pacman - and RW2 - and here's another about Pacman. 

By the way, Jerry Jones was smart to not suspend Pacman himself. Because the NFL has now suspended Pacman, we get a fifth round pick back from the Titans.

And for those wondering just where our 2009 draft stands, the DMN blog has the details.

ROUND ONE (0)
To Detroit for Roy Williams
ROUND TWO (1)
Dallas
ROUND THREE (1)
To Detroit for Roy Williams
Cleveland (Acquired in 2008 Draft Day trade: for Detroit 2008 R4 pick)
ROUND FOUR (2)
Dallas
Detroit (Acquired in 2008 Draft Day trade: for Dallas 2008 R3 pick)
ROUND 5 (2)
Dallas
Tennessee (As a result of Adam Jones 2nd suspension)
ROUND 6 (1)
To Detroit for Roy Williams (Tennessee contingency canceled as a result of Adam Jones 2nd suspension)
Miami (Acquired in 2008 Ferguson Trade)
ROUND 7 (2)
Dallas
Detroit (Acquired in Roy Williams trade)

More bad news on the way? We should find out today according to many sources.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's pending decision on disciplinary actions against Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones is expected to weigh a potential violation of probation in which Jones was prohibited from alcohol-related incidents, according to league and law enforcement sources.

When Goodell reinstated Jones from suspension prior to the season opener, sources say one of the commissioner's conditions for Jones to remain an active player was that he remain in compliance with all aspects of his three-year probation when he pleaded no contest in February to a felony in Fayette County, Georgia.

How about some good news? This won't be Brad Johnson's first rodeo. At least he has experience and hey, he actually has won a Super Bowl.  Bad Brad is ready to go.

"Obviously, it's unfortunate for Tony to have to go through something like this," Johnson said. "He'll recover quick, he has a great attitude about it. At this time, it's really just important for the offense especially to just kind of catch on to my snap count, and the way we manage the huddle. I'm excited about the opportunity, worked hard to get here."

"We play two different games. There are a lot of different ways to win in this league," Johnson said. "We see it every week with different quarterbacks and different types of strengths, from the way they manage the game to the way they throw the ball, the velocity of the ball, different schemes. I've been in six different systems and pretty much won in most of those systems. I don't think too much will change from that."

More Brad here. I like the name Bad Brad, but I think it loses out to Checkdown Johnson. Here's the story on the last time Brad was a starting QB for a team. 

Back to the bad news, our luck has definitely run out in regards to injuries. Mat McBriar is going on IR, Felix Jones 2-4 weeks, Anthony Spencer probably out at least one week, Sam Hurd likely done for the year, and of course Tony Romo. We're also waiting on the return of Roy Williams, Pat Watkins and Kyle Kosier. Who will be the new punter?

The team will workout former Jets punter Ben Graham and Sam Paulescu tomorrow to see who can take over.

Back to the good news, from JJT. 

Repeat after me, Tony Romo's broken right pinkie doesn't signal the end of the Dallas Cowboys' season.

Actually, it's just what this team needs.

What the...OK, I guess it's good news to JJT, but I'm not buying it. Brad may get us through the next few weeks but a healthy Tony Romo is always preferable.

Back to the bad news, guess who is complaining again? Yup, it's Greg Ellis.

"I'm just disappointed in this organization right now," Ellis said. "From the whole deal of it. Things just aren't going real good.

"We're not a complete power right now. ... We've got the personnel, we've got the people in place. But right now, I have to say we're not giving ourselves the best chance to do what we need to do on the field to be at our best in those football games."

[snip]

Ellis, who has two of the Cowboys' 15 sacks this season, would like to rush the passer more.

"That's all I can elaborate on that," he said. "But, like I said, a lot of things are going on that's not giving us a chance."

More Greg here where Rick Herrin claims:

[Ellis] said the Cowboys are not a happy football team. He said the locker room is fractured. He said the organization is not doing its best to win football games from the ownership all the way down to the players.

I missed the beginning of the press conference because Wade started early. But I was told he said Sam Hurd is having surgery on his ankle, Anthony Spencer is week-to-week with a hamstring, Mat McBriar has a bad ankle bruise, and Felix Jones is getting an MRI but they think he will be OK. But Mickey said on The Ticket it could be two weeks for El Gato.

Summary of Wade Phillips' press conference today.

We put up 24 points on offense but we turned the ball over some, we had too much pressure on our QB, I'm not happy about that. I think we're going to pull together, Brad Johnson will be playing QB this week, we have complete confidence in him, the team will rally. Everybody will do their job, we'll demand that. Brad is ready to play.

We'll have to change some things for Brad, we need to protect the passer better no matter who is back there. Tony got sacked early in game twice, then not again until OT. The rest of the time, he moved around some, and was able to do some things. Both QB's got hit a lot. Tony did some good things in the game, especially in coming back. Sam Hurd had already hurt his ankle, but had to go back in game because we were in the hurry-up, and made a tremendous block on Barber's TD and Terrell had a great block on that play too.

Tony hurt his finger on the first play of the last series. The short pass to Terrell right after that he couldn't get it there, even the last one he had a chance to Terrell but he couldn't grip the ball. He probably should have come out but he thought he just sprained it. No surgery will be involved; it's just got to heal. It's a fracture. He's week-to-week depending on how quickly he heals. No we won't look at another QB right now, that's the reason we brought Brooks in. We haven't discussed how we'll run practices yet.

Bollinger may get a few snaps with the first team this week, he's a sharp guy and knows the offense but he might get some snaps. But we got to get Brad ready.

We don't know what Mat McBriar's status is yet for this game.

Sometimes adversity brings a team together. Injuries and the way we are playing is causing adversity. That's what we're harping on, everybody needs to step up and needs to do better.

Flozell Adams had a stinger. He had one earlier in season, he came back and practiced that week, we're hoping the same thing this time.

The number one thing with a new QB, is the team believing in the QB. Our team believes in him, he has a great pedigree having won the Super Bowl, his demeanor, his work ethic, he's always trying to do things well in practice. The team will rally around him.

When our back is against the wall we play more determined, we need that the whole game. In Philly the defense had to stop them twice, we came back agaisnt Washington and at Arizona. We need that kind of determination, to feel like we're behind at the start of the game, we need to play that way for the whole game.

We scored 24 points on the road, we did some stuff offensively. We're one of the better teams in scoring and moving the ball. We'll need to emphasize the running game going forward. I think we'll still be effective.

Special teams was disappointing, we spent time last week on it, changed practices for it, then first play of the game is disheartening, but we'll spend more time on it. There's no magic potion, we got to get everybody to buy in with effort. If I thought our defensive starters were the best ones for special teams I would put them in.

Spencer's injury didn't matter at the end on the punt block. The punt block was inexplicable, the guy rushed it but we didn't touch him. You can't block our punts with the get-off time we have if you just get in the way. The guy who recovered the punt, we jammed him a little so he couldn't block it. The guy who blocked it went straight in without being touched. We used the same blocking rules we do on every punt, then he runs right in and blocks it. We did change the inside guys, but not responsibility. We missed tackles on the kickoff return. We worked on it all week, Sam Hurd, the outside guy is supposed to crease inside, and he did, but we didn't fill outside. Every damn play we worked on that in practice and we didn't get it done.

We got frustration from everybody. We got to do something about it. In the meeting rooms, the walk-thrus, the practices. Our team will react the right way. Just because of the heart and determination we have in dire situations that I've seen, we need that in just the regular situations.

I think Romo's absence adds to the adversity. But they should know after this morning's meeting where we are. I don't want to go into what was said, but I think they'll react in the right way.

We practice pretty hard, I don't think the situation of not practicing hard is the problem. We practiced what we see in game. The kickoff return, we over-practiced that. The punt block we practice everyday.

I'm responsible for the mistakes. If didn't get it done, I need to get it done. They're accountable to me and to each other. There were other mistakes made, some don't change the game, but we need to be accountable for that too. Not one guy on just one play. Everybody needs to look at themselves and get better.

The offensive line was having problems with their speed, and them playing at home. With the silent count they got off the ball quick. We got sacked early but avoided them after that and made plays. Romo still had 300-yards passing, 3 TDs, we had 24 points, sometimes you win those games.

We started poorly offensively and the defense played great, then it switched around. Being inconsistent during games is frustrating. But inconsistency happens to all teams, there are some good things we're doing.

There is no substitute for hard work. The players feel bad about the game. Our team feels bad about this.

Warner is a great QB, a proven QB, one of the top offenses right now. The real key play was the third and 17, we shut them out until then but we didn't make that play. We also missed plays offensively, three times we had the ball in their territory, and we didn't score any points. Those kinds of things make a difference. The fumbled shotgun snap after the onside kick was snapped a little wide and early, it was a hard snap.

Their good play comes out when their back is to the wall, they have it then and they show what they can do. You realize what you can do. We need to play like our backs to the wall all the time. Even though we're 4-2, our backs are to the wall.

The pass defense wasn't good enough to win. Third downs hurt us. Warner made some great throws, he got hit throwing the ball three times and still completed passes. The 37-yader to Fitzgerald he got hit on that, those plays ended up hurting us. Warner is on a roll this year and this was probably his worst game.

I don't know the answers to our play at cornerback. Newman not playing is part of it. Pac has done pretty well overall. When we double players in-and-out we want to stop them, but Fitzgerald made the play in the endzone. We tried to double him, but we didn't do a good enough job.

A tale of two seasons. I don't know what's happened, but ever since they won at Lambeau Field, the Dallas Cowboys haven't been the same football team.

The Cowboys are playing very mediocre football right now, and that might be a generous observation. This is not what was expected, by the fans or by the players. Don't kid yourself with the excuse that the expectations were too high. The expectations were that way because they deserved to be. Dallas was a powerhouse last year in the regular season and lost in the playoffs by four points to the eventual Super Bowl champions. They re-signed all their key personnel, added a few free agents and had what was considered a superb draft. Every element was in place for them to be among the elite of the NFL. Right now, they aren't among the elite. They are in the next level below that, with the arrow pointing down instead of up.

Yes, they're 4-2, but they're a weak 4-2. They aren't losing big to anybody, and in both games they've lost (Washington, Arizona) they've been in the game right up to the end. And both those teams appear to be playoff contenders. But it's the pure talent they have, the amount of weapons they possess on offense, which is keeping them in those game. They are playing poorly for good portions of games, and bringing themselves back when they are desperate. Even in the win over the Bengals that formula held true. Against good teams (Wash, Ariz), their desperation only served up heart-breaking losses. Against the Bengals, it served up an ugly win. In the last three games only sheer talent has kept the games close; while uninspired play, questionable coaching and a general malaise have brought them down to the level of merely average.

This game against Arizona was on the path to disaster right from the start.

The Cowboys special teams in the game were awful. From the opening play of the game, when they allowed a kickoff return for a TD, to the closing play of the game, when they allowed perhaps the easiest punt block in the history of the NFL, it was shameful. Why in the world would a coach change the blocking assignments in overtime on a punt from your own goal line? The insanity of that is beyond my comprehension. The Cowboys probably won't fire Bruce Read, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't. Then again, if they fired everybody who was responsible for the bad play in this game, then Nick Eatman and JJT would have to run things at the Ranch tomorrow.

Our vaunted offensive line, that big bad behemoth that was supposed to be a road-grader on the run, and a granite wall for the pass, has become a Swiss-cheese sampler plate. Flozell Adams was the doorman at the Ritz, waving in defenders with alacrity. If he was hurt, then our coaches are idiots for not taking him out of the game. Marc Colombo was only saved by the fact that Flozell was so bad, he actually looked semi-competent in comparison. By the way, that was not a compliment. Andre Gurode looked like he played half the game in a coma. Hudson Houck, we've praised you to high heaven, but this in on you, too.

The offensive line was bad, but this doesn't take away from Tony Romo's evening. If you couldn't see it before, you have to see it now, something's just not right with our QB. You can't put the ball on the turf with that kind of regularity. It's as if he's lost those spidey-senses he once had that told him when danger was near. Something is wrong with his game, and he needs to figure it out quick. And please, don't tell me to look at his stats, the long TD's to Crayton and Barber were hardly the work of Romo. The only real drive he put together was the one right after halftime. Look, I love Romo, I still believe in the kid, but he's off his game right now. Yes, the offensive line was absolutely part of the issue, but there were other plays where they had no part of the mistakes. This has been going on for the past three games.

I can't really complain about the defense in this game. While they only got one sack on Kurt Warner, they did apply much more pressure than they have in recent games. They knocked him around quite a bit. They also didn't allow the Cardinals to run the ball. On the downside, they gave up a third and 17 on a screen pass that was probably the biggest momentum-turning play in the game. And once Larry Fitzgerald got loose in the second half, he did some damage. Anthony Henry's play as a corner certainly looks to be on the decline. But overall, they only gave up 17 points to the Cardinals offense, and that should have been enough for the Cowboys to win the game. They even came up with a couple of turnovers. So while they weren't lockdown, they actually played pretty well against an offense that has been very good this season.

It's hard to pinpoint what has caused this decline in play from the Cowboys. But when a whole team looks to be in a funk over a couple of weeks, thoughts immediately turn to the coaching staff. Wade Phillips has to figure out a way to turn this around. The season is still long and Dallas has plenty of time to right the ship but they should start thinking about doing it quickly. The NFC East is a beast this year and dropping games along the way could be hazardous to their playoff health.

I'm not in a panic but I'm absolutely concerned. A team this talented should not be playing this way. I don't care about expectations; I care about what I'm seeing on the playing field. And right now, that's very average, and that's giving them every benefit of the doubt.

A list of injuries from the game.

QB Tony Romo (sprained right pinky finger)
RB Felix Jones (strained left hamstring)
P Mat McBriar (bruised right ankle)
LT Flozell Adams (stinger)
SS Keith Davis (cut left thumb)
OLB Anthony Spencer (strained left hamstring)

A generic recap.

Cardinals 30 - Cowboys 24

I've got nothing for you.

We stunk.

We came back.

We stunk in overtime.

We lost.

It's possible I'll write something later tonight, but don't count on it.

P.S. Losing doesn't mean you can start dropping profanity bombs. So don't do it.

New open thread for the Cowboys/Cardinals game.

New open thread for the Cowboys/Cardinals game.

New open thread for the Cowboys/Cardinals game.