The Most Talented Group Of 'Boys Does Not Make a Team: The 2008 Dallas Cowboys

Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Roy Williams, Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, Marion Barber, Zach Thomas, DeMarcus Ware, and Terrance Newman.

Wade Phillips and Jason Garret.

Jerry Jones.

The list of personalities in this organization is incredible. The bankroll is immense. The expectations are sky-high. The drama rivals that of a weekday afternoon soap opera.

All of that equals to nothing. Nine wins and an early trip home for one of the most disappointing teams in recent NFL history.

The 2008 Dallas Cowboys were the sexy pick entering this year. Everyone was looking for an easy Super Bowl favorite, and on paper, the Cowboys were it.

Unfortunately the talent on paper does not always translate to the field.

It's no secret that Jerry Jones will do all he can to get big names down to Dallas, no matter their past or current situations. This was made evident when he traded for a player who was suspended at the time of the trade, and gave up multiple draft picks for a receiver on an 0-5 football team.

But Jerry Jones does not stop at players, he'll pay his coaches big bucks as well.

After a 14-2 2006 campaign in San Diego, the front office decided to clean house by firing Marty Schottenheimer for once again failing in the playoffs.

Jerry Jones went after the well-known defensive coordinator Wade Phillips to be his head coach, and as Jerry always does, he got his man.

Jones looked like a genius the following year as Wade Phillips led his Cowboys' team to a 13-3 regular season record. But, just like the man Phillips used to coach under, his team came up short in the playoffs.

The monumental collapse of the 2007 Cowboys would wind up to be no match for that of the 2008 version of "America's Team."

After jumping out to a quick start in '08, the Cowboys looked to be on their way. The offense was clicking on all cylinders and the defense was playing lights-out football.

Then, in an overtime loss to Arizona, Tony Romo's pinkie made headlines that rivaled Tom Brady's foot in years prior.

Romo missed three games while nursing his broken pinkie back to health, and during that stretch he watched the 'Boys go through two different quarterbacks and an unenviable 1-2 run.

During that time, Jerry Jones went out and acquired malcontent Roy Williams from the hapless Detroit Lions, giving Tony Romo another target and the Cowboys some new drama.

Now sitting at 4-2, the Cowboys were still in decent shape but looked to be in some trouble. Romo was out and the defense had just barely been able to pull out a 13-9 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A win where the Dallas offense set a franchise record for the least yardage put up in a win.

But after a bye week, Romo returned and the ship in Dallas seemed on the right path to the playoffs and were full steam ahead towards a trip to Tampa in early February.

Sitting at 8-4, the Cowboys were poised to make a playoff run. The only thing in their way was not opposing teams, not injuries nor was it even themselves.

The month of December.

Tony Romo entered the month of December with a losing record for his career in said month. This 2008 December would turn out no differently.

After losing a couple games back to back, Ed Werder shook the entire state of Texas with his ESPN report that their had been a rift created in the Dallas locker room. He cited numerous quotes from anonymous players saying that Cowboys players were at odds with one another and coaches alike.

Not to be outdone, Terrell Owens decided to inject his own drama into the story.

He felt as though Tony Romo and good friend and roommate Jason Witten were creating secret plays for one another in order to get Witten more touches during games. Owens accused Romo and Witten of intentionally keeping Owens and fellow receivers Patrick Crayton and Roy Williams out of the gameplan.

It's evident now that the "D'"in "Big D" really simply stands for, "Drama."

Dallas was in meltdown mode and their seemed to be no end in sight. The players were attacking one another and when they weren't at each others throats they were accusing offensive coordinator Jason Garret of running a predictable offense and calling bad plays.

Help came in Week 16 against a slumping New York Giants team on Sunday Night Football. In that game, the Cowboys saw the emergence of rookie running back Tashard Choice and convincingly beat the defending world champion Giants 20-8.

And, for at least one week, all was right in Dallas.

Entering a win-and-in situation in Philadelphia was their only obstacle to ending their regular season on a high-note and entering the playoffs. Beating a division rival, at home no less, to enter the playoffs would have given Dallas an immense amount of confidence and momentum.

Unfortunately for Dallas, late-season letdowns by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears gave the Philadelphia Eagles an opportunity to enter the playoffs.

Both teams were now looking at a win-and-in situation. Both were in the same spot, had the same opportunity, and needed to come out with the same urgency and fight as the other team across from them.

As it turned out, the Cowboys were unaware of the last part.

The Cowboys were flat. They were unenthused. They were sloppy. But most of all, they didn't seem to care.

The lack of effort showed as a hungry Philadelphia team took it to the limping Cowboys. The result was a 38-point trouncing of Philadelphia's hated rivals and a ticket to wild-card weekend for the Eagles.

Dallas was left to ponder what exactly had gone wrong.

The talent was there. There was no lack of firepower on an offense that fielded anywhere between 8-10 Pro Bowl players at a time. They had a young superstar at quarterback, a hall-of-fame receiver and a superstar to play on the other side of him. They had a Pro Bowl bruiser in the backfield complimented with a first-round rookie sensation and a fifth-round surprise back.

So, what went wrong for the Dallas Cowboys?

First and foremost: Jerry Jones.

Jerry Jones wears many hats for the Dallas Cowboys, but no one knows exactly which one he's going to put on at any given time.

Along with owning the team, he is also the head of their football operations and acts as GM of the team. Some would also accuse him of attempting to play coach, taking away Wade Phillips' right to shape the team in the way he'd like.

Terrell Owens is also another easy scapegoat for this team, but this year as opposed to others, I feel T.O. merely got in trouble for telling the truth. Now, did Romo and Witten create secret plays? I won't say that definitively one way or the other, but for the most part T.O. simply said how he felt.

Tony Romo is another person who must be looked at simply because he plays the quarterback position on such a media-friendly team. He deserves blame. A lot of the blame. He will give games away with his turnovers and cannot be counted on in the fourth quarter. Whether it's the fourth quarter of a game, or the fourth quarter of a season, Romo is simply not up to the task.

But when all is said and done, I feel that you must start at the top of this organization with the man who makes it go and that is Jerry Jones.

Jones brings in troubled players into a locker room that already has enough trouble containing the egos it has now. He shows no regard for the team itself and obviously does not understand team chemistry.

He did a great job in the late '80s and early '90s of bringing in top name players, but those players found ways to work together for Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer. Troy Aikman, Emitt Smith, and even Michael Irvin with his off-the-field issues were for the most part, class acts. They found ways to work together and it paid off on the field.

Jerry Jones has completely undermined Wade Phillips at every turn. Phillips is a man who likes to connect with his players and have a relationship with them and in turn earns their trust and respect. However, Jones does not allow that to happen by bringing in players who need a babysitter more than they need a coach.

Jones showed no confidence for Phillips when he agreed to give Jason Garret a contract that was way too close to that of Phillips'. The head coach is the head coach for a reason and that is to take control of a football team and to do everything in his power to help them win. Making him look across the table to see his eventual replacement is not a way to help a coach command respect from a team.

Staying with Jason Garret, let me be the first to say that he would not make a good head coach. It appears plainly obvious that he was the product of a surprise element last year, and also was able to feed off of Tony Sparano to make his offense go. This year, while running the offense by himself he has been anything but creative and the offense has obviously suffered because of it, even while adding more weapons.

The Dallas Cowboys are made up of several talented players who go out every Sunday with only their own well-being in mind. They have no veteran leaders for the team to rally around and are left scrambling for any sort of leadership.

Tony Romo cannot be a leader because he is not vocal, nor does he lead by example. While Romo is obviously a gifted athlete, he refuses to lay his body on the line when he is called upon to do so, rather he will throw a duck to avoid a hit.

The Dallas Cowboys get wins off talent alone. They have no heart, they have no determination to simply win a football game, no matter how ugly or how unstat-friendly. When the game is over, these players are worried simply about what will show up on paper. How many catches, how many touchdowns, how many yards.

The Dallas Cowboys are no longer "America's Team."

In fact, they are no longer a team at all.

They're a talented bunch of individuals, not a talented team.

When they take the field there are 11 players, not one team.

The only solution to this problem unfortunately results in pushing out a good guy in Wade Phillips. He will find a job as a coordinator, but the Cowboys need a demanding head coach. They need a coach who will clean house and bring in role players determined to simply get their team a victory, regardless of stats.

However, the problem will never really be able to be resolved because the one man who deserves to be fired is the one making the entire disaster train go. He's the only one who has the power to change the Dallas Cowboys, this bunch goes as he goes.

Jerry Jones, you are the problem with the Dallas Cowboys.