What's Wrong with the Dallas Cowboys?

As Troy Aikman sat in the booth announcing another Dallas Cowboy lackluster performance, somewhere in his mind he must be upset.

After all, Tony Romo is now the franchise quarterback and Terrell Owens is the franchise receiver.

As a result, the Cowboys are a free-falling franchise.

The glory days of Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith are all gone, and now the Cowboys get to look at an ugly reflection that would rival Ron Jeremy's mug.

A talented QB who makes more mistakes than a first-day intern, a receiver whose narcissism and arrogance supersedes all around him, and a head coach softer than a Tempur-Pedic mattress.

Yep, ladies and gents: That is your 2008 Dallas Cowboys.

Just when it seemed that things couldn't get worse, Pacman causes another stir and Tony Romo breaks his finger on his throwing hand in a frustrating loss to the upstart Arizona Cardinals without Anquan Boldin.

Terrell Owens looks like Charles Rogers and the defense can't sustain any flow in a game. They may have held the Cardinals to 17 offensive points, but they couldn't sustain any momentum in the second half, allowing Arizona to have drives of 60, 89, and 43 yards, scoring 17 points.

What was that about Cowboy defense?

With the exception of Ken Hamlin and DeMarcus Ware, the defense looks like it is ten steps behind each play. The locker room and team morale appears to be dangerously low, and Mr. No Team Order a.k.a Terrell Owens doesn't seem to care.

To watch his expressions on the sideline is like watching a high school kid angry about not getting enough attention. He is mad about not getting enough attention, and doesn't care about Tony Romo, Wade Phillips, or anyone else.

Let's see how he feels about Brad Johnson getting him the ball.

Brad is a savvy veteran who will tell Owens to shut it, and that's what he needs. Is it possible the Cowboys will be better off without Tony Romo?

The Cowboys were expected by many to be undefeated at this point, and their two losses to the likes of Arizona and Washington—and nearly to Philadelphia—hardly look like the play of an elite team primed to win the Big One.

What's wrong with the Dallas Cowboys? What isn't wrong with the Cowboys, I wonder? Here are three potential reasons for the problems affecting big D:

3. Leadership (Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips, the Jason Garrett Effect)

Let's start with an old adage.

"A group or team reflects the attitude of its leader." The Dallas Cowboys are being led by an unproven, un-battle-tested softie by the name of Wade Phillips.

When Wade was first hired, many analysts felt that he would not be strong enough to keep that team together in the locker room. With T.O and Pacman on the same team, a disciplinarian like Tom Coughlin was believed to be the fit for a Dallas team that boasted more personalities than the Surreal Life.

Those predictions have so far been accurate. Jerry Jones has shown his lack of confidence in Phillips by forking over all kinds of money to offensive coordinator Jason Garrett to probably succeed Phillips if he fails.

With Garrett lurking behind and the under-performance of the Cowboys so far, Phillips has to be sweating his you-know-what off. The Cowboys look desperate and out-of-sync, and as the incomparable LaDainian Tomlinson once said, "maybe they get that from their head coach." Perhaps.

2. Defensive Lapses and Injuries

I, for one, believed that the Cowboys' defense would be good with Adam Jones, Tank Johnson, Ken Hamlin, Roy Williams, and DeMarcus Ware, to name a few. I even drafted them for my fantasy league. Let's just say watching them play hasn't fulfilled any fantasies.

Or wins.

Roy Williams is now injured and wasn't very effective anyway, Pacman is being abused, Terence Newman has been injured, and Tank Johnson isn't even close to what he was in Chicago. All of that has meant a very inconsistent, undependable defense that gives out first downs like string balloons.

Now that Johnson is injured too, the run defense isn't quite as stout. Pacman's defensive lapses just seem to reflect a bigger problem, and that is focus and effort.

Sometimes it seems as though the Cowboys defense is practicing in games. Kurt Warner picked them apart, Jason Campbell and Clinton Portis wove through them, and Donovan McNabb made Clam Chowder out of them.

With Eli Manning and Jeff Garcia coming to town, they better have McNabb's mom feed them Chunky soup. Or channel Bronco Nagurski.

1. Team Chemistry

We knew this would be a problem, and the 2008 Cowboys haven't disappointed, with T.O. already complaining about getting the ball, Pacman beating on his own bodyguard and Roy Williams complaining about his role in the defense.

With Wade Phillips already blowing up in a news conference about Pacman, it shows his obvious frustration with what's going on. A win in Arizona would've calmed the waters in Dallas, but now Phillips can expect a media blitz concerning the Cowboys.

Now that Tony Romo is injured, 75-year-old Brad Johnson will assume the starting role. As if losing weren't bad enough, now the Cowboys have to explain how everything will be fine without Tony Romo. Yeah, fine like Margaret Cho.

With Adam acting reckless, T.O acting like a frickin' baby, Romo out four weeks, the defense looking like the Ohio State University, and chemistry falling apart, the Dallas Cowboys are in serious boo.

The Dallas Cowboys should be on Soap TV for all that goes on in Texas. Acquiring Jones was something that appeared to Jerry Jones as more risk, higher reward.

So far that hasn't been the case, as Pacman has more bathroom fights than interceptions, and has looked lost in the defensive backfield. His lapses have caused safeties to try and vouch for him, and that hasn't worked.

At 4-2, Dallas is in real trouble. Philadelphia is breathing down their backs, Washington and the N.Y. Giants are right there and the Cowboys no longer have their starter, Tony Romeo and Juliet. Or Jessica Simpson.

Talk about problems. In the words of Jay-Z, "I got 99 problems but a chick ain't one."

Unfortunately for Dallas, it's everything else. Who needs girl problems when your whole team is in disarray?

Let's hope Jessica sticks by her fallen star.