Jean-Jacques Taylor

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Greg Ellis has three sacks for the Oakland Raiders.

You can say whatever you want about his annual complaints about the Cowboys trying to get rid of him, but they haven't been able to replace him.

Anthony Spencer, drafted No. 1 in 2007 to be a pass-rusher, hasn't shown much as a pass-rusher this season. Understand, this was supposed to be his year.

The Cowboys released Ellis because they thought Spencer was ready to play, and they didn't want anyone standing in his way. Spencer has yet to record a sack.

More important, he hasn't convinced teams to stop giving their full attention to DeMarcus Ware, which is one reason Ware has yet to record a sack this season.

Rookie Victor Butler had two sacks in the fourth quarter of Monday night's victory over Carolina. Maybe the fact Butler was playing in crunch time was an admission Spencer can't get to the quarterback.

Frankly, the coaching staff doesn't care who gets the sacks. They just want someone dumping the quarterback with regularity since they decided Ellis was expendable.

Q: I read a column the other day in the Kansas City Star by Jason Whitlock regarding the ego of Scott Pioli, the Chiefs' general manager. Whitlock believes anyone with an enormous ego can't be a good leader, and he believes that applies to Pioli. Funny thing is, he could have substituted the name Jerry Jones for Scott Pioli and the gist of the column would have been identical except for the location of the team.

Karlan Fairchild

TAYLOR: I don't know about that. Jerry has an ego. A rather large ego. Find me a successful person, including my friend Whitlock, who doesn't. Jerry doesn't mind putting his ego to the side. If he did, he never would have hired Bill Parcells. Of course, that ego also led to Jimmy Johnson leaving years ago. I understand your point, but I'm not sure I'm ready to go there yet. It's a legitimate question, but Jerry has proved he'll try to put his ego aside for the good of the team.

Q: Do you think Tony Romo will ever get to the level of quarterback play he reached when Bill Parcells was here?

Keith Harris, Washington D.C.

TAYLOR: I don't know. The last 13 games this season will tell us quite a bit. He has every physical tool you want in a quarterback, but the game is so much more than that. It's about leadership, decision-making and a host of other intangibles. No one can give you a legitimate answer to that question.

Q: Every time Romo is interviewed, he describes the game as “fun.” I am going to have fun, he says. Don't we all wish we were paid millions to have fun? This is his job. It is not about having fun. Fun is winning and getting the job done and excelling and improving your performance to prepare you for greater challenges in the game.

Rose Delgado

TAYLOR: I disagree with your entire premise. I have fun at my job. I encourage high school and college kids to pick a career they like, one that's fun for them. Then when you're working all those hours to move up the ladder, it doesn't seem quite so bad because of the joy you receive from your work. Besides, you shouldn't think Romo doesn't take his job seriously just because he's having fun. Most folks will tell you that you need to have fun on the football field to succeed. He just needs to reduce some of his mistakes and play more consistently.

Q: What is your take on Jon Gruden becoming the next Cowboys coach? Maybe a new coach with some fire might motivate Tony Romo to greatness, not to mention it would be a lot cheaper for Jerry than getting another quality quarterback.

Bob Sparks, Valley Springs, Calif.

TAYLOR: I don't think so. Gruden had a hard time getting his quarterbacks to play well with Tampa, and the Bucs really weren't that good offensively under him. I love his passion and attitude, but I don't think he'd be a good fit.

Q: The strength of the offense is the running game, but Jason Garrett doesn't run it enough. You guys are distracted by the "offensive production." Yards don't win games. For this team, ball-control offense and a dominant running game will win games.

Peter Chorl

TAYLOR: First, you can't run the ball every play. Last season, the Cowboys ran 40 percent of the time. Now they're running 48 percent of the time. Only seven teams have a higher run percentage. The Jets run the ball 54.2 percent of the time, but that's because they're trying to protect rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez.

I hate to break this to you, but yards do matter. Field position matters. Bill Parcells used to say every 100 yards was worth seven points. Garrett is not perfect, but he's doing a good job with his play selection this season.

Q: Last night, I watched DeMarcus Ware exclusively. Many times he was one-on-one with the tackle and got little to no push. I didn't see him try any types of moves or techniques to beat his guy. He seems to just be going straight ahead. Could he be thinking sacks just come to the guy that gets 20 the year before? What is wrong with this beast?

Tom Guarino, New Jersey

TAYLOR: I understand your point, but I just don't think you're accurate. Maybe you didn't recognize his moves. Actually, Ware has been criticized by the coaching staff for using too many moves.

His favorite move is a stutter-step, which can be hard to recognize if you don't know what you're looking at. Ware is playing hard, but he also went against Jordan Gross, one of the best young tackles in the game. He smashed Jake Delhomme a couple of times, but didn't get there in time for the sack. When the season is over, he'll have 10-12 sacks. But he has to get some help from the other side, too.

Q: Can you explain why Jason Garrett's play-calling, particularly near the end zone, has seemed so overthought? The most obvious examples were the consecutive fades on second- and third-and-a long yard Monday night, but you could choose quite a few others.

Garrett's schemes and play designs this season have looked out of this world, but his decision-making has really dropped my jaw at times. Is this just what we get from a Princeton guy?

Ross Flowers, Costa Mesa, Calif.

TAYLOR: For the most part, Garrett's play selection has been good. Roy Williams dropped the first fade. Otherwise, it would have been a touchdown and a great call. The fade to Martellus Bennett was an awful call. Not every call is perfect. You can't expect it. He should have lined up and run the ball.

Q: This coaching staff should not have been back this season, and for that, Jerry Jones deserves criticism. How come nobody's giving it to him?

Greg Woods, Fort Worth

TAYLOR: What are you talking about? We spent all off-season saying Jerry should hire a new coach. He disagreed and kept Wade Phillips. If the Cowboys don't make the playoffs and win a postseason game, you'll probably get your wish. Let's see how the season plays out.

Q: Are the defensive struggles due to the new players in the system not working together for very long? Or are the new players not as good as the ones released?

Tommy Bitner, Springdale Ark.

TAYLOR: After talking to several players, it sounds like the Cowboys are still trying to figure out what to do when they're not in their base defense. They play confidently in their base defense because they play instinctively. When they start getting exotic, they think more, play slower and find themselves out of position. They played a solid game against Carolina. Let's see what happens the next two games against what we think are inferior opponents.