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[Buck]

Jones could be too late for Shanny

While every coach needs to win to keep his job, it appears that Wade Phillips is in more danger than others because of the Dallas Cowboys' legendary tendency to crumble in December, which has not been abated by this season's results. But Phillips isn't the only person responsible for the annual collapse, and Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News reminds us of that fact in his column on Tuesday, paying special attention to the strange order in which owner Jerry Jones hired offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and then Phillips.

"Considering that Jones created this odd match by hiring Garrett before Phillips, it's no surprise that in order to fix things, the Cowboys' owner-general manager-3D promoter is going to have to start from scratch."

So, if both of these firings do take place, Jones will have his pick of the litter when it comes to free agent coaches. While Jones is very hands-on, this is the most high-profile opening -- with the best base of talent -- this upcoming offseason. Some speculation has already put Mike Shanahan in Wade Phillips' soon-to-be-vacated spot, take a look to the box above to see an update as to why.

Of course, timing may be an issue with the Shanahan hiring. NFL Insider Adam Schefter emailed in to comment on how Jerry Jones might miss out on Shanny if he dilly-dallies:

Shanahan may be hired quickly

"Last year there was a question about whether the Cowboys would bring back Wade Phillips or pursue Mike Shanahan. They brought back Phillips. This year they've stood firmly behind Phillips once again, and haven't given any indications of being interested in a coach such as Shanahan. Maybe they will make a move with Phillips for Shanahan. But by the time they do it, they could be late to the party. Shanahan will be this off-season's most in-demand head coach this and I expect that he will be one of the first coaches taken off the market, and chances are, it happens shortly after this season ends. By that time, Jones might not have made a final decision on Phillips." - Adam Schefter

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Megatron on the block?

Calvin Johnson has the talent to be one of the league's best wide receivers, but he's suffered a bit through the growing pains of the start to the Matthew Stafford era in 2009. Calling to mind the recent Detroit Tigers trade that sent Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson out of town, Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press writes that the Lions should ship Megatron away as well, in return for a bevy of draft picks.

The argument Sharp makes is that the team would do better by filling many voids than having one dominant player. We're not sure that we buy it. First, as we noted in discussing the team's possible draft choices earlier today, this team isn't horrible on offense. As Tom Kowalski of MLive.com notes, by adding a good RB to Johnson, Stafford and TE Brandon Pettigrew (and working on the O-line a bit), this could actually be a pretty dangerous offense. Second, even if you were able to get some high draft picks in return, there's no guarantee that those picks will pan out. In Johnson, you have a commodity that is known to be transcendant at his position. There's no certainty that future picks would be as good or good at all.

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Sanchez ready to get dirty again?

The New York Jets staved off mathematical elimination from the playoffs for another week, and with the loss by the New England Patriots, they still actually have a shot at taking state, err, the AFC East.

But to do that, they'll need Mark Sanchez back under center. According to Rich Cimini of the New York Daily News, Sanchez practiced on Wednesday, and his status for Sunday will largely be determined by how his knees respond on Thursday. If he can't go, the team will be stuck with Kellen Clemens again, and they might be better off seeing what Roger Clemens could do.

Meanwhile, ESPN.com's AFC East blogger Tim Graham opined on Monday afternoon that perhaps a smarter decision prior to the season would've been picking up a stable veteran to guide the team through the first "Sanchise" season, instead of handing the keys to the Ferrari over to the rookie right away:


Sanchez keeping the Jets out of the playoffs

"Sanchez, during that repugnant stretch in which the Jets lost six out of seven games in October and November, threw six touchdown passes and 14 interceptions. Take away one of those games -- say, the five-interception performance in a sudden-death loss to the Buffalo Bills at the Meadowlands -- and the Jets are in control of their own destiny. I'm not convinced Kellen Clemens, who started Sunday's blowout over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of Sanchez's knee injury, would have been the answer. Clemens would love to be considered an average NFL quarterback. But what if the Jets had signed somebody such as Jeff Garcia or somehow convinced Brett Favre to give it another whirl?" -Tim Graham