Landry set a high standard, and Jimmy revived it. It's a similar and much older problem to the one often lamented of Denver QBs: The problem with having a guy like Elway is that after he retires every one of his successors will inevitably be compared to him, and the comparison will always be unfavorable.

But the problem I have with the Cowboys is one I regard as systemic, going all the way back to when Switzer took over and couldn't get Michael Irvin to stop doing coke long enough to threepeat (though Tagliabue had a hardon of his own for the '9ers and wanted them to win in '94. ) There's no discipline in Dallas anymore, hasn't been for a while, and it shows on the field. I'm disgusted with them because I expect more, know they're capable of more, but they don't get their... stuff... together long enough to produce. They do just enough, or what they think is enough, on the practice field, in camp, in the weight room, in the film room and on Sunday, to make the playoffs and think they can get to the Super Bowl if they start showing up THEN. Of course, by that time they face consistently high level talent every week, from teams that have been working their butts off as a unit for half a year or more focused on one goal: Win it all.

If the coordinators aren't instilling discipline you replace them with someone who will. If you do that and nothing changes, it's likely the head coach so you replace him. If you do THAT and nothing changes, time to start looking at the front office, maybe the GM, but since Jerry IS the GM in Dallas, well, we can take a shortcut to the last possibility: The owner. Unfortunately, owners can't be fired; you have to wait for them to sell the team or die. Stuff like this is why I think Matt Millen got a raw deal in Detroit; the Lions were awful before Millen and they still are, so you have to wonder how much of their record under him was his fault. I don't want Dallas to end up like the Lions, or the Raiders, or (and this fits best) the Titans.

And when you say things like "the tackling is poor" or "Romo makes bad decisions" or "the line has too many penalties" what you're really saying is "this team is undisciplined. " All the talent in the world won't make up for that, and it has to come from the top. When the owner is playing musical coaches and chasing guys like TO, Keyshawn and (at one point) Pac-Man, you can pretty much hang up any hope of that kind of discipline magically materializing. The undisciplined players will get worse and it will rub off to a certain degree on the others. I don't think Romo is a bad guy or even a bad quarterback, but I do think he lets himself get distracted by the glamor too much simply because everyone around him does so and there's no one there rapping him on the knuckles and saying, "HEY!!! Pay attention.... " And I honestly don't think there ever will be while Jerry's in charge, not unless someone else comes along with the same degree of trust from and influence over him that Jimmy had.

EDIT: Ultimately, the game that may make the difference between whether there are three Mannings or two in the Hall is, in fact, one with Dallas, but not in the regular season. It's a prime example though; Dallas swept them in the regular season and had a bye and home field throughout the playoffs, but they lost to a wildcard team on their own turf. Were they the better team? In terms of talent, unquestionably, but overall... they played down to the Giants, who played UP to the level of their opponents all the way through that years Super Bowl, which is why they won it. Dallas has to learn to earn; when they do that, they can hang with any team in the League, and dominate most.