The Shocker in the Desert.. Sign of Parity or Just Another Cowboys' Choke?

It's been a crazy season in the NFL so far. It all started in the 1st Quarter of Week 1 when Tom Brady went down and took the juggernaut Patriots with him. Since then it has been a week to week roller coaster of ups and downs for just about every team in the league. Sure, the defending champion Giants are undefeated, as are the surprise Titans, but it's been a free for all with just about everyone else..

The Redskins? They won back to back road games at Philly and Dallas then promptly lost at home to an 0-4 Rams team. Green Bay started the year looking like it would be smooth sailing without Favre only to lose 3 strait before bouncing back on Sunday. Jacksonville, my pick as the best team in the AFC, couldn't take care of business at home against Buffalo and Pittsburgh but managed road wins at 2 of the toughest venues in the NFL, winning in Indianapolis and at Denver. But perhaps the greatest example of the ups and downs in this year's NFL are the Dallas Cowboys.

They were pretty much everyone's pick to represent the NFC in the Superbowl and appeared to be the best team in football after Brady went down but looked erratic in a home loss to the Redskins and then fell apart in crunch time once again Sunday at Arizona.

It was a special teams nightmare for the Cowboys, who allowed a 93 yard kickoff return for a TD on the first play of the game and a blocked punt for a TD in OT on the last play of the game. It was an unbelievable finish for the Cowboys and perhaps evoked memories of a previous Special Teams gaffe when Tony Romo fumbled the hold in a playoff game at Seattle in Jan. of 2007. It just seems like no matter how much talent they have, this team just can't get the job done when it matters. Add in the circus-like cast of characters from T.O. to Pac-Man to Tank Johnson. Dallas has made a living out of taking chances on troubled individuals and it has repeatedly come back to haunt them. More importantly, with this many volatile personalities in the locker room, can this team possibly co-exist for an entire season with this many bumps in the road? Anything is possible, but things sure didn't look good for them Sunday in Phoenix.

He Looked Like a Ghost!!! I Swear!!

Cowboy fans can't be happy with this news. Look who is at it again. It's our good friend Adam "Don't call me Pac-Man" Jones. Police were called to an altercation on Tuesday night between Jones and one of his bodyguards at an upscale hotel in downtown Dallas. No charges were filed but it is the latest in a line of numerous altercations involving Jones and the Police. The truly ironic part is that it took place mere hours before a scheduled meeting with Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday morning.

It's just the latest in a string of strange events involving Cowboy players in recent years ranging from the alleged suicide attempt by T.O. in 2006 to the Jessica Simpson scandal during last year's playoffs. The Cowboys have the talent to be an amazing team but it's hard to imagine them reaching their potential with all the distractions surrounding this cast of characters.