Wearing a gray pin-striped suit, Cowboys coach Wade Phillips walked around the locker room aimlessly after the game. In his postgame news conference, he couldn't explain how a team that seemed headed to a Super Bowl in late November collapsed at the worst possible time.
"Well, we didn't score as many points certainly," he said. "That's what it comes down to. We didn't get turnovers to help score points. We didn't help get the field position that would help us to score points, so it's all team-related."
I watched Phillips wander into the training room and lean on his mammoth left tackle, Flozell Adams. He sort of collapsed into Adams, who looked a bit startled. Phillips was greeted outside by his wife and daughter, who appeared to be crying.
He loaded up his Lincoln Navigator, but then realized he didn't have the keys. In one last moment of indignity, Phillips walked around the tunnel asking if anyone had his keys.
Moments earlier, owner Jerry Jones was asked whether Phillips would be his head coach next season.
"No. No. No," Jones said. "I said nothing that we did in the playoffs would affect the status of his job. It's not an issue. He's our head coach."
Jones would be put in a tough situation if offensive coordinator Jason Garrett is offered a head coaching job, but I don't think he's willing to fire Phillips after a 13-3 season. Phillips changed the culture of the locker room, and in doing so, won the loyalty of his players.
But that doesn't change the fact that he's 0-4 in the playoffs as a head coach. And fair or not, he's going to catch some of the backlash for Tony Romo's vacation.
At the most critical juncture of the season, the Cowboys hit the skids. Wade's safe for now, but if he if he doesn't win a playoff game next season, Garrett will be the head coach.
That is, if he's still around.
