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Please, let Cowboys win — Phillips deserves it

Let this old story die; Dallas wins because of coach, not in spite of him

Image: PhillipsJonathan Daniel / Getty Images
Since the start of the 2007 season, Wade Phillips has won more games than any coach other than Bill Belichick.

Phillips’ authority was undermined from the start. As if that weren’t enough, Jones also gave Phillips a fractious roster last season featuring troublemakers such as Terrell Owens, Tank Johnson and “Pacman” Jones. Predictably, the locker room was drama-filled and poisonous as another December nosedive played out. It was no coincidence all three players were among those gone this season.

Phillips’ acceptance of the myriad special conditions and humiliations that come with working for Jones is often hoisted up as proof of Phillips’ spinelessness. The possibility that it could instead be a sign of Phillips’ pragmatism or strength of character doesn’t get much consideration.

Did you know Phillips has a 32-16 record with the Cowboys, winning more games since the start of the 2007 season than any coach other than the Patriots’ Bill Belichick? A Dallas victory Sunday would give Phillips his second NFC East title in three seasons. In addition to having the sort of asbestos personality needed to co-exist with Jones, Phillips has weathered the Cowboys’ overheated fan base’s clamoring and his fickle, often-confrontational treatment by a Dallas-Fort Worth media that has often led the calls for his head.

The only pro coaching gig that’s more freighted is manager of the Yankees.

Phillips will be back if the Cowboys keep winning.

Already, Romo has credited Phillips’ “even keel” for the Cowboys’ ability to evolve into a team nobody wants to play right now.

That hasn’t been enough to smother the old storylines, either.

Time to root like hell for a new story.

Let the damn Cowboys win something already.

Johnette Howard is a New York-based writer who has worked for Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, and Newsday. She is the author of, "The Rivals: Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova" (Broadway Books).

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