By Dave Goldberg

updated 12:19 a.m. ET Oct. 17, 2008

If the Dallas Cowboys go on to win the title that their owner, players and ardent fans assumed would be theirs for the taking, one man might be the answer:

Brad Johnson, the 40-year-old backup quarterback.

Not necessarily on the field, where he will be a temporary replacement while Tony Romo recovers from a broken finger. In fact, if Romo plays in St. Louis on Sunday, a possibility, it could be a bad thing. Putting Johnson in the huddle might give him authority on a team where egos — from the owner’s on down — can create chaos with what is supposed to be the most talent in the NFL.

“As long as the Cowboys keep believing they are something special, they never will be,” the sage Cris Collinsworth said this week on Showtime’s “Inside The NFL.”

Blame it on the Joneses.

Owner Jerry Jones, of course. Plus Adam Jones, the former “Pacman,” and Tommy Jones, the off-duty cop and bodyguard with whom Adam had an altercation that caused commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend him indefinitely.

The suspension was hardly a surprise.

The over-under on Pacman behaving after a 17-month suspension for various forms of misbehavior was probably six to eight games. He made it to five, although he played a sixth after getting into a fight with Tommy Jones, who was supposed to be there to save Adam from himself.

The on-field ramifications are serious because Terence Newman, the team’s best cover cornerback, could be out for a month or longer after surgery for a sports hernia. That left Adam as by far the best remaining Cowboy at that position.

Slideshow The '12th' man Check out some wild and crazy NFL fans supporting their teams. NBCSports.com

But that’s only a symptom of a malaise that begins with an owner who is also a general manager and part-time coach; who plays catch with his injured quarterback at practice; and who can’t resist bringing in troubled players. Or big names who don’t have off-field baggage, such as the newly acquired Roy Williams. He gives Dallas a top receiver, but risks alienating the top receiver it already has — Terrell Owens, who is liable to break into public tears (real or feigned) if the ball heads toward Williams more often than toward him.

In other words, Jerry Jones is closer in style as an owner to Dan “The Fan” Snyder in Washington and Al Davis in Oakland than he is to Robert Kraft in New England. He’s much more charming and accessible than Snyder, and more accessible than Davis. And remember that the Cowboys had three straight 5-11 seasons before Bill Parcells arrived in 2003.

Kraft knows what he doesn’t know and cedes all power over football to Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli, who have built a team that has won three Super Bowls this decade and been to a fourth after a 16-0 regular season.

The best players on the current Cowboys were assembled for the most part by Parcells and Jeff Ireland, who is now helping the Tuna rebuild the Dolphins. They include Romo, Marion Barber, DeMarcus Ware, Jason Witten and complementary players such as Miles Austin, who will probably get less playing time with the arrival of Williams.

And although Parcells hasn’t said so publicly, one reason he left after the 2006 season was the owner’s habit of bringing in players Parcells didn’t want, notably Owens.

With the more docile Wade Phillips installed, Jerry Jones had the freedom to bring in Pacman and Tank Johnson, whose problems with the law led to his release by Chicago.

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“The promise of a good ending will always get my attention, and so many times will get my effort,” Jerry Jones said this week. An admirable attitude, but better exercised by teams with a track record for dealing with problems.

A decade ago, for example, the Giants took a chance on Kerry Collins, whose drinking nearly cost him a promising career. They sent him to Dr. Joel Goldberg, a psychologist with an excellent track record, and wound up with a quarterback who served them well for a half-decade and, at 35, is now thriving with unbeaten Tennessee.

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