DMN Dallas Cowboys beat writers Cavin Watkins and Albert Breer answered questions about the team on Monday, Jan. 14.

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gpaq: Bill Parcells' tough approach failed. Wade Phillips' Camp Cupcake failed. What's next?

Calvin Watkins: You will get more cupcake stuff in 2008. Phillips isn't going to change how he does things because that's how he's always done it. At some point, the players have to take the responsibility for these type of losses.

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Greg in DC: While I don't buy the talk that Romo has been struggling because he has Jessica Simpson on the mind or that his Mexico vacation affected his preparation, I do think it's fair to wonder whether the added media scrutinty didn't contribute to his jumpy, flustered fourth-quarter demeanor. Thoughts?

Albert Breer: Maybe, the scrutiny had something to do with it. I doubt it. But I will say that if it did, there are problems here. If your quarterback is allowing his ability to lead a team to the Super Bowl be affected by what people like us say, then you just aren't going to be winning big in the NFL.

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From e-mail: What did you think of the Cowboys' offensive game plan yesterday? Did you feel like they unnecessarily tried to become more of a grind-it-out, ball control team when all year they have been at their best by attacking teams through the air with big plays?

Jason

Albert Breer: I've heard this both ways. The offense they became yesterday was one we should've seen more last year. The trouble, I think, is you just can't become something you haven't been by snapping your fingers. This isn't a team that had played that way deep into the fourth quarter in the past. It was almost like the offense wore itself out and that group, and not the Giants' defense, looked dog-tired in the second half. And it showed up front.

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From e-mail: Did Jerry Jones jump the gun by giving Tony Romo elite quarterback money?

John

Calvin Watkins: Nope. Romo is the best quarterback the Cowboys have had in years. Romo avoids sacks, has a good arm and is very smart. Giving Romo $67.5 million isn't a bad thing because he is the future. Jerry made the right call.

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deanv: If this were an indvidual sport, I would say the Cowboys choked. Can, and did, a team choke?

Albert Breer: Choke? I don't know about that. Here's what I do believe: Coaches like Parcells and Belichick and Gruden – to cite three – generally handle pressure well. And why? Because there's so much pressure put on them during the week, and in training camp, and in the offseason, that Sunday feels like a piece of cake. I felt like this team tightened up late. It bought into what was said about it, and with all that perceived greatness on the line late, the whole thing came up like last night's dinner.

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From e-mail: Where do you rank this Cowboy loss all-time? To me, it is No. 1. To have the No. 1 seed, 12 Pro Bowlers, the comeback player of the year and lose at home is ridiculous.

Cliff

Calvin Watkins: I'm not sure if its the worst in team history. That loss in Seattle was pretty bad. But yeah, to have the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage, only to lose, is very bad. It is one of the worst losses in Cowboys history.

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jar: Who especially messed up on the O-line?

Albert Breer: I think it's easy to blame the tackles, and Colombo and Adams didn' t set the world on fire. But a lot of times, the ends getting to the QB can be a function of the pocket collapsing and flushing the passer out. I will say that after allowing eight pressures, two sacks, and committing three false starts and a costly personal foul, this was the worst day of the year for a very good line. I'll have to check the tape out for more on it, though.

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dodgecowboy: To what do you attribute the sharp drop-off in the offense's productivity, particularly Romo, from the first half of the season to the last half?

Calvin Watkins: The Cowboys peaked before December. And there was no sense of urgency to continue to play at a high level in the last month of the season. Romo hurt his thumb and the loss of Terrell Owens for the Carolina game didn't help.

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Mark R: What is the deal? How can our secondary (especially Reeves) get picked apart by NY while we can't take advantage of a secondary starting its backups? It's not like Manning wasn't pressured, too.

Albert Breer: Mark, you might not have Reeves to kick around anymore – he's an unrestricted free agent. I do think part of it was a season-long problem: The coaches play the corners so far off the line that there's room to take advantage underneath. A quarterback and receivers that can adjust and play with the patience to take advantage, and find holes in the constant zone coverage they're facing, can make hay against that group. Meanwhile, the Giants – especially late in the game – were unafraid to roll corners up, play man, and bring heat. By doing that, they showed that the Cowboys, with T.O. and Witten in check, have trouble going elsewhere to beat you.

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David: If Phillips isn't going to be the bad guy, is there anyone in the locker room who will hold other players accountable?

Calvin Watkins: Greg Ellis maybe. Terence Newman. Bradie James. The leaders have to speak out more on this team and for some reason, they didn't do that toward the end of the season. It's easy to be a leader when you challenge you're teammates and produce on the field.

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From e-mail: Which is most accurate? The Cowboys lost or the Giants won?

Jim

Albert Breer: Both. The Cowboys fell to pieces in the second half, and that's on them. But credit the Giants for coming in on a high, credit Eli Manning for controlling the game and converting the chances he had, and give that nicked-up defense a boatload of credit for making it happen three times in the second half.

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bwomble: What changes does Dallas need to make to end these December collapses?

Albert Breer: I think it's about philosophy. I don't believe in on/off switches. I believe the best teams emerge after Thanksgiving. Yes, there are exceptions. But usually, the Super Bowl champion rolled through December and into the playoffs. And what's playing your best in December about? It's about constantly improving as the season wears on. To me, the hard-driving coaches, generally, are the ones who get that kind of improvement over the course of the year.

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packerfan: Which assistants will leave for other jobs?

Calvin Watkins: Tony Sparano could leave for Miami. Jason Garrett is being chased by several teams. Todd Bowles, Kacy Rodgers and Paul Pasqualoni could all leave for other jobs. Expect some major assistant coaching changes in the off-season.

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JonahFalcon: Wade Phillips is now 0-4 in the playoffs. The Chargers exchanged Marty Schottenheimer for Norv Turner due to the inability to win in the playoffs (and it is paying off so far). Is there a parallel to be drawn?

Albert Breer: I was talking to a guy I know in the press box at the end of the third quarter last night, and I said, "Y'know what, this feels exactly like the Patriots-Chargers game last year." We were both there, and he agreed. It did. I do feel like the problems are different. I think with Marty, the issues have been some questionable in-game decision-making being magnified under the playoff spotlight. With Wade, I feel like there wasn't enough pressure from within and, as such, maybe his teams struggle to handle the external pressure of playoff football. I do know this: His defense blew that Chargers-Patriots game last year, when Marlon McCree could've fallen down after an interception and ended the game, but instead went for extra yardage and fumbled it away. That was a discipline issue. I'm not sure similar problems didn't bite the Cowboys yesterday.

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Timothy: From what you have observed in covering this team, do the players and coaches have the mental fortitude to bounce back from this loss?

Calvin Watkins: This same group of players did after the bad loss to Seattle in the playoff game last year, winning 13 games in 2007. Doing it again, after such a terrible loss, is questionable.

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kansascowboy: What are the chances of getting a new special teams coach? The special teams (minus McBriar and Folk individually) may have been the worst part of the game from start to finish.

Albert Breer: Let's see if Bruce DeHaven's available ... I'm kidding. Special teams need to be addressed, no question. You have a deep and talented roster, two very good specialists in Folk and McBriar, a couple of top-notch coverage guys in Davis and Watkins (and rising guys like Courtney Brown), you should be better than the Cowboys were on the kick units this year.

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Ken: If you take away the 52-yard TD by Toomer on the first drive, the Giants had almost no offense. The Cowboys aided them with shoddy tackling and stupid penalties. How does this happen in a divisional playoff game? Who's responsible?

Calvin Watkins: The players are responsible. The bottom line is you have to win games no matter what the other team is doing, especially in the postseason. Right now, this loss is on the players because the coaches didn't miss a single tackle or assignment.

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Matt: Will Roy Williams still be a Cowboy next year?

Albert Breer: I believe he will be. If the Cowboys cut him, they'd have to take a $6.66 million cap hit. And even if he was tradeable – which I don't believe he is – they'd still have to swallow that charge. They do have cap room, but I just don't see the sense in cutting ties yet. Next year, though, will be critical to determining his future in Dallas.

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From e-mail: Should Patrick Crayton be sent packing for his ridiculous juvenile mouthing and not being able to back up his mouthing by dropping easily catchable balls that could have saved the game?

Douglas

Calvin Watkins: Crayton is here to stay for four years, thanks to that $13.5 million deal he signed last month. Crayton has talked smack all year and it finally caught up to him. He dropped two passes and wasn't a factor in the offense. If you're going to talk smack, you have to back it up.

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Drew B: Do you think T.O.'s post-game tears were genuine?

Calvin Watkins: Yeah. He was pretty upset because he really likes Romo and feels bad for him. To see Owens crying was quite surprising. Many people think the tears were phony, but I don't think so. He does need to keep his emotions in check, and it doesn't make him look good with the general public when he cries like that. But the tears were genuine.

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Jason L: On the Cowboys last offensive play, do you think Jason Garrett made a mistake by keeping in Jason Witten to block? With the game on the line, isn't Witten the guy you want to throw the ball to?

Albert Breer: On fourth-and-11, you need to give your receivers time to get open, and that becomes a function of protection. I think it was pretty obvious that the blocking up front wasn't happening with five guys, so you need help there, and Witten was the right guy to bring it, and prevent Osi Umenyiora from blowing up Colombo. Bottom line, if you're as great an offense as you say you are, there should be more than one guy in the pattern capable of making that play. And I'd also question whether throwing to Glenn – a guy who had about 30 snaps under his belt all year – with everything on the line was the most prudent decision there. Especially in a deep middle that was well covered. Even if he'd gotten to the ball, there'd have been contact, and who knows how 83 would've reacted.

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clark: Jerry has the dubious distinction of being the GM of a team that has gone 11 years without a playoff win. Where does he go from here? It's obvious this team needs an upgrade at third corner to counter the multiple receiver sets that have become so common. What's next? Youth at receiver, O-line, safety?

Calvin Watkins: Draft a wide receiver for the future and get another pass rusher. He has to make a decision on whether to sign Ken Hamlin at free safety. Drafting a corner is another must.

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From e-mail: If you are the GM and VP of operations, how are you getting the Cowboys to the Super Bowl next season?

Robbie

Albert Breer: I'm evaluating every piece of this team. I'm probably adding a receiver and getting help in the secondary. I think the roster's healthy. And beyond that, the way I see it, having two first-round picks will give the Cowboys tremendous flexibility in how they approach free agency. They have leverage in that they probably won't go in absolutely, positively "needing" someone, since there's a solid core in place and two first-round picks with which to address problems.

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BostonCowboyFan: I'm trying to look for some positives moving forward to next year. Can you help me out?

Calvin Watkins: The team went 13-3 and will send 12 players to the Pro Bowl. This is a good team, but how it bounces back is a big question. Dallas has the quarterback and running back for the future. The outside linebackers are Pro Bowlers and you have an excellent kicker and punter. The O-line is in good shape, and even if you let Flo Adams go at left tackle, you have some young players who can take his spot.

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Ray Scott: Why didn't Romo go under center instead of staying in the shotgun when it was clear the timing was off from the poor snaps from center the entire second half?

Albert Breer: Ray, I doubt his timing was off, and the shotgun was to make it easier to deal with the pass rush. The line was clearly struggling in protection, and when you're throwing the ball in an effort to come back, and the rushers can pin their ears back, that problem gets worse. So you put your quarterback in the shotgun, so he can read the field quicker, get rid of the ball quicker, and so he's naturally more separated from defenders. If the snap's a little off, so be it. To blame the shotgun snaps, none of which were fumbled, is grasping at straws.

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From e-mail: Interesting to note that the offesnive line, and the offense in general, didn't play well in the second half. What happened to the famed second-half adjustments?

Clark

Calvin Watkins: You have to give the Giants some credit for blitzing from different spots. The line calls were questionable at times, but the Giants did lead the NFL in sacks with 53.

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oldtimer: Will Terry Glenn be back next season?

Calvin Watkins: Doubtful. Glenn needs another surgery on his knee.

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Elija: With Jeff Ireland gone, who will lead the draft?

Albert Breer: Elija, assistant director of college scouting Tom Ciskowski will do it. He's been in that spot for six years.