SPORTSDAY

This quote in Todd Archer's story captures the combination of ego and insecurity that seems to be contagious with the Cowboys.

"Man, I've never seen anything like it," linebacker Bradie James said. "We come in here, and I guess everybody expects us to be some kind of superheroes, which in essence we kind of are, but man ... I come in here on Monday, and I'm trying to enjoy my win, and people are, like, beating us up.

"So it's really tough, man. Right now, we know with us having so many expectations the only people we can make happy are in this locker room, and that's really it."

First of all, many Cowboys care way too much what the media thinks, which tends to happen when the head coach whines about the tone of the newspaper coverage during a team meeting.

It's stretching just a bit to call a bunch of Cowboys who never won a playoff game superheroes. But it's perfectly reasonable to expect a team that has 13 returning Pro Bowlers from a 13-3 team and made a handful of off-season roster upgrades to go to the Super Bowl and play up to that standard during the regular season.

It's understandable that the Cowboys will have off weeks, and it's swell that they survived this one with an ugly win over the 0-5 Bengals. Wade Phillips wondered whether they'd get any credit for the victory. They sure do -- in the standings.

They hit the standard of just good enough, and a team that considers itself great shouldn't expect a lot of pats on the back for doing that.

A few players cited Wade Phillips' philosophy of, "The main thing is the main thing," while discussing the sloppy win over Cincinnati.

In other words, win the game and worry about the details later. But Phillips assures us that the Cowboys do a mighty fine job of paying attention to detail on a daily basis.

"We have the best walkthrough team I've ever been around in that they pay attention to everything," he boasted. "There's complete focus on that. Nobody even talks. They go out for 30 minutes every day that you don't see them and they go through the plays and the defenses and the things that are going on they concentrate on those things. And that's part of teaching and learning and that's part of our philosophy on how to get things done."

Wade Phillips was able to provide some concrete information on two injured starters. LG Kyle Kosier (foot) will not be available this week. SS Roy Williams (forearm) might return to practice, but he won't play against the Cardinals.

With the cameras rolling at his press conference today, Wade Phillips made sure to mention that he does utter a stern word to his team from time to time.

He just doesn't think doing so publicly does the Cowboys any good. He'd apparently much rather be ridiculously defensive any time there's a tough question asked about the Cowboys' performance. Wouldn't want to hurt the players' feelings, you know.

ESPN.com's Matt Mosley believes these Cowboys are a bunch of thin-skinned guys who take after their coach, wanting to be considered Super Bowl contenders but not held to that standard. OK, so maybe the coach being soft and hypersensitive could be seen as a problem.

But rest assured that the assistant coaches really let the players have it from time to time -- and not just when they were showing off for the Hard Knocks cameras.

"I'm a soft guy. No kidding," Wade said today during an informal chat with about 10 of his favorite scribes. "The [assistants] are the guys who are tough on [the players]. You ask them when they come out of meetings. They know what they need to work on in no uncertain terms."

Just make sure you ask them off the record. Wouldn't want anybody's feelings to get hurt by making that info public, you know.

Superstar columnist/blogger Tim Cowlishaw counts four.

Don't be fooled by his five sacks in five games, a few of which have come during garbage time. DeMarcus Ware isn't pleased with his play this season.

"I ain't even thinking about that, man," Ware said when asked about his streak of eight straight games with a sack. "I need to get more pressure on the quarterback."

Every team the Cowboys play tweaks its blocking scheme to account for Ware. Sometimes it's with a running back chipping him or a tight end staying in to help against him. The Bengals opted to slide the offensive line his way in pass protection, essentially forcing him to rely exclusively on his outside move.

Ware won't use the extra attention as an excuse. The NFL's most dominant pass rushers get to the quarterback no matter what, and that's the standard he's holding himself to.

"I've just got to find a way to get there," he said.

Wade Phillips said he didn't see T.O. crying on the bench after his clutch touchdown against the Bengals.

"I don't know anything about that," said Phillips, who emphasized that he did enjoy watching T.O. run 57 yards into the end zone.

Phillips seemed skeptical that tears really flowed, but he declined an offer from Steve Dennis of Ch. 11 to watch video of the bench boo-hooing. Phillips also isn't sure whether T.O. has allergies that might have acted up on him.

But the coach did report that T.O.'s frame of mind seemed fine when they chatted today.

(Photo:Louis DeLuca/DMN)

Heck if Dr. Wade Phillips knows. Or perhaps he just doesn't want that information to be public.

Newman sat out Sunday's game after popping up on the injury report Friday afternoon as questionable (groin). Did he aggravate the injury he originally suffered the first week of training camp?

"I don't know," Phillips said. "You'd have to ask him."

Phillips also claimed not to know what kind of medical test Newman underwent today. The official word on Newman is that the Cowboys are "re-evaluating" his injury.

(Photo: Vernon Bryant/DMN)

There certainly isn't anybody hanging their head in the Valley Ranch locker room after the Cowboys' unimpressive win over the Bengals. But there are players who aren't happy with the Cowboys' performance.

"A win is a win, which is good, but you can't be satisfied with the way that we won," OLB DeMarcus Ware said. "There's a lot of stuff that we need to work on, me being one of them. But it feels good to win. It's better to go into the week with a win, so you can just go into the next week."

DE Marcus Spears' assessment of the game was a little more harsh.

"Substandard," he said of the Cowboys' showing. "We made too many mistakes on both sides of the ball, but at the end of the day, we were able to overcome it. Sometimes it's going to be like that, but we want to play better than that."

There are others, such as Bradie James, who refuse to publicly "apologize for a win." He acknowledged there are areas in which the Cowboys need to improve, but he didn't want to go into specifics because he's concerned about his answers getting "distorted in the media."

(Photo: G.J. McCarthy/DMN)

Terrell Owens' 57-yard touchdown reception is the subject of this week's Motion Pictures, brought to you be the DMN photo staff. Click the image, and get your popcorn!

Does anyone out there still think the Cowboys are the class of the NFC. Heck, the NFC East? How can you after watching a rather dominant 3-0 start morph into a weird 4-1.

Forget what the standings say. Just rank them on your gut. I'll take Washington, New York at 1-2. Should the Cowboys automatically go third just because they beat the Eagles in Week 2?

The Redskins' victory over the Cowboys was interesting. But Jim Zorn and Co. absolutely took it to the Eagles yesterday and now have two straight division road wins. Don't put Washington in Tampa just yet, but watch out.

I hate to do this, especially because of one of the previous occupiers of this blog space thought Bill Belichick invented football, but the Cowboys' reaction to questions following their 31-22 win against Cincinnati had me wondering: WWNED

What would New England do?

Now, the Patriots don't hold the patent on success in the NFL, but they have had a good run here and seemed to have figured something out. I remember covering their 34-17 win against Cleveland last year and the team acting as if it lost by 17.

Here's a quote from DeSoto's Ellis Hobbs: "It's kind of a bittersweet feeling. We hold ourselves accountable to a higher level. Winning is just not enough for us. Playing well and winning is what we try to do."

At the end of last year Wade Phillips was almost like Kevin Bacon at the end of Animal House - Remain calm, all is well - at least publicly despite the team's play not being as good as it was earlier in the season.

And after Sunday's win, the reaction from a lot of players sounded the same.

What's the level of worry out there among you guys?

Redskins CB Shawn Springs, who roughed up T.O. during the first half of the Cowboys' loss to Washington, explained in Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback how defenses should handle the Original 81.

"I've checked T.O. so many times over the years, and I've learned a lot. Once he gets his speed up, he's very hard to stop. But he's not as explosive coming off the line as some other guys are. He doesn't think anyone can cover him one-on-one, but in our game-planning last week, [defensive coordinator Greg] Blache said, 'We ain't gonna double T.O.' He was giving him to me, one-on-one. He told me, 'I need you this week. We're gonna load up the box [to stop the run], and you got T.O.'

"I loved it. The little waterbug receivers, I can't stay with them. My game is the bigger guys. With T.O., you cannot let him free-release off the line. He will kill you if he gets off the line. Another thing is, you can't play a guy the same way every time. I might stab him one-handed with my inside hand, maybe come back with my other hand [in the five-yard bump zone]. I just try to jam him the first two or three yards. Sometimes he'll bull-rush me. Sometimes he'll try to get away from me. Whatever I do, I try to make some contact with him. That's important. Then I just run with him downfield. There's contact, but it's not interference, it's just two guys going to make a play. And the officials usually let us play.

"Most teams usually come into the game and say, 'We're not gonna let T.O. beat us,' and they do whatever they have to do to try to stop him. But Dallas has so many other ways to beat you. The way to play them is to try to put one guy on T.O., be a little physical, and try to neutralize him.''

Despite T.O.'s size and strength, he struggles to get off the line of scrimmage against press coverage. It's on Jason Garrett to figure out ways to help T.O. A hint: It's hard to jam a guy after he goes in motion.

(Photo: Michael Mulvey/DMN)

Well, sort of. Troy Aikman and Boomer Esiason debated the old Romo vs. Eli Manning question on New York radio this morning.

I'm here. Start asking questions after clicking the window below. I'll start answering at 10:30.

NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders, who cashed a bunch of Jerry Jones' checks back in the day, officially declared that he was hopping off the Cowboys' bandwagon after watching them struggle to beat the winless Bengals.

"I've officially jumped off," Prime Time said. "Because lost in the T.O. shenanigans last week was a badly called game by the offensive coordinator by the offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, and the defensive coordinator, Brian Stewart. Badly called game. This week, a little more balance. But I'm officially off."

Sanders, who is tight with T.O., has apparently lost faith in Tony Romo.

"You make a good game out of it with the Bengals, so I'm off the bandwagon," he said. "Romo is being Romo. At least twice a game, he does what he does."

See, Tony, it isn't just the local media that holds the Cowboys to high standards.

Actually, I'm not sure whether that's the case. I wanted to ask T.O. about it but didn't get the chance.

I'm not quite sure how to feel about an owner going over to a frustrated player and delivering a pep talk during the middle of the game. But Jerry's pep talk to T.O. in the middle of the third quarter definitely didn't hurt matters.

"I was just telling him how important he is to this team winning," Jerry said after the game, "and that his big-play ability could be the difference."

Darn if T.O. didn't prove Jerry right by turning a crossing route into a 57-yard TD.

(Photo: Vernon Bryant/DMN)

One week after Felix Jones didn't get a catch or carry, the Cowboys coaches made to give him a chance to make an impact against the Bengals.

And Felix proved, once again, that he needs to be a significant part of the game plan each week.

The first-round pick needs 10-12 offensive touches per week. He got that today, carrying nine times for 96 yards and a TD and catching one pass for 7 yards.

It isn't just the number of touches that are important for the electrifying rookie. It's when and how he gets those touches.

Wade Phillips mentioned this week that they like to mix Jones in during drives, maximizing the change-of-pace effect. Since the Cowboys actually sustained some drives this week, the coaching staff was able to carry out that plan, which focuses on getting the rookie the ball in space.

A perfect example was Jones' first carry of the game: He turned the right corner after taking a pitch on fourth-and-4 and went untouched for 33 yards into the end zone on the 10th play of a drive that featured four Barber runs.

"It's going to be a little bit random at times," offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said of when Jones gets into the game. "It's not always going to be perfectly clean. But the biggest thing is to get him out there and give him some opportunities. He's a great complement to what we're doing with Marion."

(Photo: Vernon Bryant/DMN)

It took almost the entire day, but linebacker DeMarcus Ware registered a sack for the eighth straight game. Ware's sack came on a second-and-10 play with 1:44 remaining. He's now tied for third in Cowboys' history and only three sacks away from tying the all-time record set by Harvey Martin. He had 11 sacks in 11 consecutive games.

Ware said the Bengals' offensive line used slide protection most of the game. That meant Ware had to fight through multiple blockers. He still finished with five tackles and one quarterback pressure.

"It's hard to get pressure when they know who's coming," Ware said. "They just slide over."

Overall, Ware thought the defense played just OK.

"At the end of the day, when it's time to make plays, the defense is there," Ware said. "But I think the thing is we've got to make more plays at the beginning instead of the end. So there's not even a chance of them coming back or getting ahead of us or anything."

(Photo: Louis DeLuca/DMN)

By Adam "Pacman" Jones' count, he should have had three interceptions today. He didn't pick off any passes, and he has a big problem with that.

Per Cowboys secondary rules, he owes 30 push-ups, 10 for each should-be pick. But he figures his time on the practice field would be better spent doing something else.

"Man, I don't know what's wrong with my hands," Pacman said. "I'll be on the JUGGS [football-throwing] machine this week. Those push-ups aren't working, so I need to go to the JUGGS."

It's rather refreshing to hear a player identify a weakness and map out a plan to work on it.

(Photo: Louis DeLuca/DMN)

Nose tackle Tank Johnson forced a fourth-quarter fumble that stopped Cincinnati's momentum after the Bengals recovered an onside kick. But Johnson was down afterward and said, "I played the worst game of my life."

Personally, I think Johnson might be too hard on himself. You can judge nose tackles by how the opposing team ran the football. The Bengals had just 61 rushing yards on 23 carries.

Johnson had one tackle and was penalized for being offside in the third quarter. He also had to fight through major ankle pain. Johnson said his ankle is "tore up," but he plans on playing next week in Arizona.

"I'm going to keep playing, but I can't play like I played today or I'm going to hurt us," Johnson said.

Ok, time to let everybody know who played well and who didn't.

Stock up

1. Marion Barber. They discovered that Barber can run the ball a little bit. He rushed 23 times for 84 yards.

2. Adam Jones. Seems to be the only corner getting his hands on some balls. He was credited with two pass defensed.

3. DeMarcus Ware. Played well again and picked up another sack.

4. Jay Ratliff. The Cowboys are glad they took care of Ratliff last season by giving him a long-term contract.

5. Kevin Burnett. A strong performance on special teams.

(Photo: G.J. McCarthy/DMN)

Tony Romo is not a bus driver, to use a Bill Parcells term. He's more of a NASCAR kind of guy who would rather live with the occasional fiery mistakes than take his foot off the gas.

Romo had two such screw-ups today, throwing a pick to extend his INT streak to eight games and losing a fumble after scrambling for a first down. Those turnovers led to a couple field goals, and the damage would have been much worse if the Cowboys' defense didn't come through after the Bengals got great field position.

Romo's response, to paraphrase: So what?

"I am pretty sure we won the ballgame," he said when asked whether he was concerned with his turnovers. "If you never turn the ball over as a quarterback, you are probably not going to be that good. Everyone strives for no turnovers, but there's no way you are going to make plays sometimes if you don't trust it and just let it go."

It's tough to be too harsh in regards to Romo as long as his TD-to-turnover ratio stays in the 2-to-1 range. But one of his turnovers pl