Thinking out loud... Or is it writing out loud? It's a noisy keyboard...

Retaining Wade Phillips is the right call.

In the dawn of the previous year and during the course of the season, Jerry swallowed his ego and made some moves that were uncharacteristic of him, cleaning the locker room (Owens, AJones, Tank Johnson and Ellis) and signing a few Free Agents that screamed "Wade guys" (Brooking, Olshansky and Sensabaugh) on Defense were the 2 biggest moves in my mind. The moves paid big dividends and the Defense became a Playoff caliber kind.

That's the reason behind him being at the head of the Franchise that we follow. Sadly the Offense failed the Defense and now the focus needs to be placed over there.

It's the only call that makes sense, if you think it through.

Is the redheaded a genius or a dork? Neither, he's a scapegoat.

The people against him are willing to point at him being predictable and whatever... But if your hands are tied behind your back, what can you really do?

What do we know of the Offense after 18 games? Romo is capable of taking better care of the ball. Witten is still Witten. Austin is a number 1. Crayton is a really good option in the slot. We want to see more of that Felix Jones fellow. And the OLine makes the Offense predictable.

The guys up front can't pass protect consistently. We heard in the offseason about being Romo friendly... After the season, guess what am I making from those comments? They wanted him releasing the ball faster. How much bombs (attempts for more than 20 yards, 20 yards in the air, not YAC) did he threw? Around 10? And how many times was he sacked? That, right there, is being Romo friendly.

The guys up front can't make certain types of run blocks and aren't consistent in those that they can. We all know now about the OLine not being a power blocking one, about how they're better on the move and about how anything other than proper execution can be the difference between a long run, a short gain or a tackle for a loss in the kind of plays that they can do.

You want an Offense that is less predictable? It all starts up front, you just have to play with what you have and the Cowboys are predictable because that's the best that they can be.

What to do about the OLine?

Kosier won't be a Cowboy next year, that's the easy choice, but who's going to take his place? The Cowboys don't know and they should act accordingly. Hope isn't a plan, and as such, they can't trust that Brewster is going to take his place without hiccups, or that Holland will suddenly emerge from his suckitude.

And that's where things become complicated, how many players will the Cowboys want to replace from the starting lineup? 2? 3? We know that Free can play in this League, but where? Kosier and one of the Tackles may be on their way off the team, that makes 2 possible new starters. And if the Front Office gets their way, we could very well talk about 3 new starters.

But who's going to back up the new starter(s)? It isn't just a matter of finding starters, if you find them, who's going to play the backup position? That's why we, the draft a bunch of OLineman proponents, want several OLineman drafted and at least 2 as high as possible.

The Safeties can't make plays.

I didn't liked to see Sensabaugh miss that barely over his shoulder TD, but I've seen some guys commenting that the Safeties suck... Well, that's certainly not true, they probably did what they were told, and that's exactly what you want when you're playing the kind of QB that Favre still is, a play action expert that can fool Safeties that are spying him.

You want your Safeties looking at their man, Wade Phillips likes his Safeties looking at their asignment, that's the diference between allowing many plays in a season and allowing few in the next.

The level of play from the Safeties improved leaps, you don't become a top Defense in points allowed with a couple of bad safeties.

Now, if the Cowboys find a Safety that can cover his man AND make plays on the ball...

If someone makes an offer, would you bite?

I'm talking about Tashard Choice or Orlando Scandrick, if someone brings a proposal to the Cowboys about a high 2nd Rounder for one of them, would you jump? Talent at RB is easier to find, but talent at CB is rare, especially guys that can play the slot, but it's harder to find Franchise OTs... A high 2nd Rounder would give the Cowboys ammunition to trade up to the mid 10s and Draft one of the talented LT prospects out there.

Tashard Choice / Orlando Scandrick + 1st Round -----> Brian Bulaga?

I don't know if I would jump for it, but I do know that I would give it a long hard thought.

What do you guys think?