Don't be a Yo-Yo

Bill Parcells is known for sending messages to his team. Sometimes, the messages are somewhat subliminal. Last year he hung a bunch of mouse traps around the locker room before the Cowboys played Detroit. He was telling the team to not get trapped into overlooking the Loins just because all of the experts had the game down as an easy Cowboy victory. During training camp, in a not so subliminal message, he had "Winning is our business" printed on enough shirts for him to wear every day of training camp.

Earlier this week, Bill continued his method of sending a message to the team by placing a yo-yo near the media area of the locker room. The message? "Guess he was encouraging us not to be an up and down team," one player said.

I hope the team gets the message.

Dallas is facing the Texans on Sunday for the second time ever and the first time in Texas Stadium, and everyone expects the Cowboys to handle the Texans with ease. The Cowboys were also supposed to handle the Texans with ease on the opening game of the 2002 season, the first game the expansion Houston Texans ever played. Didn't happen. Instead, the very first game in Houston Texans history is a victory over the Dallas Cowboys. What an embarrassment.

The Texans went on to have a losing season in 2002 and every season since, but the Houston QB, David Carr, is having a great year despite the fact the Texans are winless this season. Carr has one of the highest QB ratings in the league, and the Texans are just waiting for the right game to pick up that unexpected win. Dallas needs to step up and put the Texans down with authority. Otherwise, another loss this Sunday will put the Cowboys in the "forget about this season" column with the likes of the Pittsburgh Steelers.