FIVE AND ONE

Long time readers know that the JYB is a Dallas Cowboys haven. Both Chris and myself are avid, maybe occassionally rabid, Cowboy fans.

The past few seasons have been tough. Five-win flops, poor coaching, highly questionable talent and a flamboyantly arrogant owner have made the Boys' recent history a long, hard slog. It never felt like the team was a team, or had any leaders other than Emmitt Smith. The team hasn't had a bona fide coach since the strange exit of Jimmy Johnson.

This season, though, the Boys are off to their best start in nearly a decade. The last time they started off like this, they won the big one. It's tempting, therefore, to start thinking playoffs again.

That would be a mistake. The Cowboys have yet to play a team with a winning record this year (though the Eagles would have a winning record if they'd beaten the Boys a couple of weeks back). The Cowboys have an embarassing loss on their record, to the Vick-less Atlanta Falcons, which should remind them that they're mortal and can lose even to an inferior team. They are just a couple of injuries away from oblivion--they're not deep in most positions, and haven't been for years. And the Cowboys just aren't far enough removed from their recent failures yet.

But with all that, there are still reasons for optimism. The NFL, thanks to the doctrine of parity and the salary cap and the end of the golden age of quarterbacks, is now a league of extraordinary coaches. You can probably number on one hand all of the league's current active and productive superstar players--Brett Favre and Jerry Rice come to mind, but few others--but if you think long and hard you can find a greater number of superstar coaches. At the top of the list is probably Jon Gruden, who built the Oakland Raiders and then used the Tampa Bay Bucs to destroy them in the Super Bowl. Behind him, Dick Vermeil, who built the Rams into the speedy juggernaut that they usually are and now heads the astounding Kansas City Chiefs. Behind him, Mike Holmgren, who built the Green Bay Packers and has turned the Seattle Seahawks into an actual NFL team that wins actual games, and behind him a slew of other terrific coaches, from Indy's Tony Dungee to Denver's Mike Shanahan to Dallas' Bill Parcells.

I only put Parcells at the end of the list because he has yet to actually turn the Cowboys into a winner. He has been a winner everywhere else he has coached, and he has this team believing in him and in themselves. But they aren't true winners yet. Sure, they're 5-1 now, but their next few weeks are brutal--the Bucs, the Redskins (who are terrible, but the rivalry usually produces a good matchup), the Bills (who aren't good but beat the Skins), the Patriots, the Panthers and the Dolphins. They end with a run against division opponents and then should take care of New Orleans to finish the season. That's an ugly gauntlet to run for a young, inexperienced and untested team. If Dallas finishes 9-7 or better, and especially if they make the playoffs, Parcells will be the main reason for it. He acquired WR Terry Glenn, who caught three TDs against Detroit on Sunday, and has formerly erratic QB Quincy Carter looking confident and throwing accurately for the first time in his pro career. And he has kept in place a defense that was already pretty solid.

In a league of superstar coaches and parity in player talent, it pays to have a genius stalking your sideline. The Cowboys have that, for the first time in a long time, in Bill Parcells. Whether they end up winners this year or not, they'll be winners again soon.