Texas NFL Capsules: Surging Cowboys still have to earn playoff spot

IRVING - Tony Romo's return. DeMarcus Ware leading the NFL in sacks. The three-game winning streak.

Suddenly, the Dallas Cowboys look like championship contenders again.

For all the positive vibes re-created over the last few weeks, though, there is the blunt and sobering reality: if the postseason started now, the team that went into the season as a Super Bowl favorite and started 3-0 wouldn't make the playoffs.

So the month of December has basically become for Dallas (8-4) a series of playoff games just to remain in contention for the real thing.

"Yeah, it is," tight end Jason Witten said. "We know the challenges that are here and what we have to do. I think this team understands that. We have got to play well, and it's not going to be easy."

If the Cowboys survive the final quarter of the regular season for the right to play in January, they will have earned it.

The closing stretch begins Sunday at AFC North leader Pittsburgh, followed by home games against the NFC East-leading New York Giants and Baltimore before finishing at Philadelphia.

Each opponent has a winning record right now, and they are a combined 34-13-1 (.719 winning percentage). Pittsburgh, New York and Baltimore have the NFL's top three defenses, and Philadelphia is seventh.

"This stretch of the season is going to answer a lot of questions about who we are as a team," defensive end Marcus Spears said.

And determine if the 2008 Cowboys are remembered as an over-hyped flop, or if they can become this season's Giants by making the playoffs and getting to the Super Bowl as a wild-card team.

To avoid being the flop, Dallas has to avoid another dismal December.

The Cowboys are 17-28 in December games the past 11 seasons, dating to their last playoff victory. Add in regular season games played in January, and their post-November record is 18-31. That drops to 18-36 when an 0-5 playoff mark is included.

Dallas' only winning December in that span was 2001, but the Cowboys were 2-8 going into that month.

Entering December last season, the Cowboys had clinched a playoff spot with an 11-1 record, the best start in franchise history. A 2-2 mark after that was good enough for the NFC's top playoff seed before Dallas lost to the Giants.

A break-even December and 10 wins that would result may not be enough to get in the playoffs this time.

"It's going to be tougher," coach Wade Phillips said. "Everybody knows that. Everybody can see that."

The Cowboys have better records than two division leaders; Minnesota and Arizona are 7-5. But they trail New York by three games in the NFC East, already with a decisive loss to the Giants in the last game Romo missed because of the broken pinkie on his throwing hand.

Carolina (9-3), which plays NFC South foe Tampa Bay (9-3) this week, and Atlanta (8-4) hold the two wild-card spots at this point. The Falcons have the tiebreaker over Dallas because of their conference record.

Atlanta also has to play Tampa, Carolina goes to New York, and both wild-card leaders have to play on the road against desperate New Orleans (6-6). So a lot can change each week.

"We control what we do," Phillips said. "Somebody's got to lose. As long as we win, we're fine."

With Romo back, there is certainly a better chance of doing that.

Dallas went through a 2-4 midseason slump, the last half of that the 1-2 stretch without Romo in which the Cowboys didn't score more than 14 points in a game.

"This year, October was terrible," Spears said. "We haven't struggled in the early months (in the past) as opposed to getting into this month. It may be a reverse situation."

Romo got back in time for a much-needed 14-10 victory at Washington (7-5) to earn a season split against the Redskins.

Still wearing a protective splint over his right pinkie, Romo has since had his best two passing games of the season - 341 yards and three touchdowns against San Francisco, then 331 yards and three more TDs against Seattle.

After Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger were sacked 10 times during the three games they filled in, Romo has only been sacked once in the three-game winning streak.

"His leadership, the urgency, the tempo he brings, he just makes plays," Witten said. "He's done a great job of leading this team in the way he's played."

And getting the ball to Witten (nine catches for 115 yards against Seattle) and Terrell Owens. After only 12 catches for 99 yards in three games without Romo, T.O. is coming off his top two games, his Cowboys-best 213 receiving yards against the 49ers, and 98 more last week.

Ware took over the NFL sacks lead (15) with three in less than three quarters against Seattle before hyper-extending his left knee. Ware likely will play this week, along with running back Marion Barber (dislocated right pinkie toe) and cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, who is returning from a six-game NFL suspension.

"We're a lot better than where we were four weeks ago," linebacker Zach Thomas said. "We put ourselves in this situation, but I think it's going to make us better."

They have to be - or it will be a wasted season.

Cowboys put ‘Pacman' back on 53-man roster

IRVING - Adam "Pacman" Jones is back in the NFL, and will be able to play this week for the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys put Jones on their 53-man roster Tuesday after the NFL lifted the cornerback's suspension.

Jones missed six games for violating the league's player conduct policy. He previously was suspended for the entire 2007 season while with Tennessee and played in only six games for the Cowboys before the most recent suspension after an alcohol-related scuffle at an upscale Dallas hotel.

The NFL allowed Jones to return to practice last week and said then he would be able to return to play Sunday at Pittsburgh.

The Cowboys cleared a spot on their roster when they put safety Pat Watkins on injured reserve. Watkins has been bothered by a lingering neck injury, and Thursday was the fourth game he missed this season.

Jones started the first six games, and his 11 passes broken up still lead the team in that category, as do his 27 tackles. He also was the main punt returner. The Cowboys went 4-2 with him and without him.

Jones' suspension in 2007 came after multiple off-field incidents while with the Titans. He was traded to Dallas during the offseason and given another chance by commissioner Roger Goodell.

But on Oct. 7, Jones got into a scuffle with a bodyguard that was part of a team-employed security detail. A week later, Goodell suspended the cornerback indefinitely. Jones spent part of his time away taking part in an alcohol rehabilitation program.

Since rejoining the team for practice last week, Jones hasn't spoken to the media.

Coach Wade Phillips said this week that he expects Jones to play in nickel and dime packages and be involved in returning kicks Sunday. The coach didn't say if Jones would start.

Tank Johnson, whose locker is next to Jones', said the cornerback has seemed like himself at practice.

"Yeah, I mean he's fast, he can cover. He can do all the things on the football field that you ask a man to do," Johnson said Monday. "We're just excited about him coming back and continuing to do better."

Schaub set to return

HOUSTON - Matt Schaub should return for Houston's Sunday game at Green Bay, barring any setbacks in the recovery of his injured left knee.

Schaub has missed the last four games after he injured his medial collateral ligament early in Houston's loss to Minnesota Nov. 2. He was listed as the backup on Monday night against the Jaguars, but Sage Rosenfels played the entire game.

"I think if everything goes OK this week the expectations are that he goes back into his role as our starter," coach Gary Kubiak said.

Schaub returned to practice last week and tried to talk Kubiak into letting him play against Jacksonville, but the coach wanted to give him another week to recover.

"He was beating my door down last week, telling me he was ready," Kubiak said. "I was comparing his work before he got injured to how he was practicing last week and I saw a little bit of a difference Wednesday and Thursday. I thought he closed the gap on Friday when he practiced more. I'm expecting him to close the gap even more this week."

Kubiak said he worked with doctors and team officials in reviewing practice tapes to determine if Schaub was healthy enough to play. They were all convinced he was ready.

"They were very confident that he could play and play well," Kubiak said. "But I think we're very fortunate that he did not have to play in that game. I think the extra rest will help him."

Schaub has thrown for 1,762 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions in seven games this season. Rosenfels has 10 interceptions and six touchdowns in five starts in his place. He started one game earlier this season when Schaub had a virus.

The Texans have gone 2-2 since Schaub's injury.

-- Kristie Rieken

NFL suspends 6 players for doping violations

NEW YORK - Six players, including the heart of the Minnesota Vikings' stout defensive line, were suspended for four games without pay by the NFL on Tuesday for violating the league's anti-doping policy.

All six were punished for using a diuretic, which can serve as a masking agent for steroids.

The suspended players were running back Deuce McAllister and defensive linemen Charles Grant and Will Smith of New Orleans; defensive linemen Kevin and Pat Williams of Minnesota; and long snapper Bryan Pittman of Houston.

"I definitely was not trying to cheat in any form," McAllister told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "I tried to do everything the right way."

The punishment means all six will miss the end of the regular season, an especially harsh blow to Minnesota, which relies heavily on the Williamses in its run defense, which ranks second in the league.

Angelo Wright, the agent for Pat Williams, said he planned to file a motion in federal court in the next 24 hours, presumably to put off his client's suspension. Tom Condon, the agent for Kevin Williams, said he hadn't yet determined what course of action to take.

A seventh player, Atlanta's Grady Jackson, was not suspended. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Jeff Pash, the league's chief counsel, had asked for additional information.

If a player's team makes the playoffs, the player will be eligible to return to the active roster on Dec. 29.

The suspension of Pat and Kevin Williams, who are not related, may prove to be the most critical.

The Vikings lead Chicago by a game in the NFC North with four games left, in large part because the Williamses are considered the NFL's best defensive tackle combination.

Last Sunday, they led a goal-line stand that kept Chicago from taking a 14-3 second-quarter lead in Minneapolis. On the first play after the Bears were stopped, the Vikings' Gus Frerotte threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian, giving Minnesota a 10-7 lead it never lost, a 14-point swing.

"In response to this afternoon's ruling, the Minnesota Vikings are very disappointed in the National Football League's suspension of Kevin and Pat Williams," the team said in a statement. "At the appropriate time, we will have further comment."

Adolpho Birch, the NFL's vice president of law and labor policy, would not disclose during a conference call when the players tested positive.

Word of the positive test first leaked in late October. Asked why it took until the final four games of the regular season to hand down the suspensions, Birch said it was "a function of a lot of factors."

"I think if you ask most coaches, every game is important. I don't think they'd differentiate between the first and the last," Birch said. "We do have things in place to get them done as quickly as possible. But we had to deal with the number of players involved and adjust travel schedules. We have to fit it around the players' ability to attend."

David Cornwell, the lawyer for Pittman and the three Saints, called the decisions "inconsistent with the objectives of the steroid policy."

"Deuce, Will, and Charles did not try to enhance their performance with steroids, nor did they knowingly expose themselves to the adverse health risks of a diuretic," Cornwell said in an e-mail. "They took a weight-loss supplement that they had every reason to believe was safe."

Pittman told Houston television station KRIV that he believes he did all he could to adhere to the NFL's anti-doping policy.

"I thought I took the proper procedures and methods by getting a doctor's authorization to take the diuretic," Pittman said. "The diuretic I took did not dilute any urine specimen, which is what a player does when they are trying to mask something.

"The NFL toxicologist confirmed there was nothing else in my specimen other than the diuretic."

In their appeals, some players said the banned substance Bumetanide was not listed as an ingredient in StarCaps, an over-the-counter weight-loss pill. McAllister said he told other players about StarCaps because he believed it was a permitted supplement.

"I wouldn't have put those guys in jeopardy if I had known something was in that product," he said.

Jackson filed suit against StarCaps in Alameda County Superior Court in California last month, seeking restitution for any lost salary and damages for "false advertising and unfair business practices."

But in issuing the suspensions, the league reiterated the section of its policy that reads:

"You and you alone are responsible for what goes into your body. Claiming that you used only legally available nutritional supplements will not help you in an appeal. ... Even if they are bought over-the-counter from a known establishment, there is currently no way to be sure that they contain the ingredients listed on the packaging or have not been tainted with prohibited substances ...

"If you take these products, you do so AT YOUR OWN RISK! For your own health and success in the league, we strongly encourage you to avoid the use of supplements altogether, or at the very least to be extremely careful about what you choose to take."

The NFL also said it sent two notifications about StarCaps on Dec. 19, 2006 - one to NFL club presidents, general managers and head athletic trainers and the second to NFLPA executive Stacy Robinson, who oversees the steroid policy for the union. That letter, according to the league, advised that StarCaps had been added to the list of prohibited dietary supplement companies.

Asked if the NFL would review its policy on diuretics, Birch said the policy is reviewed every year.

"I suspect the players' association may want to look specifically at diuretics or some other issues. We'd be happy to do that with them if appropriate," he said. "I do think it's good policy. It works well. It has different aspects to it, but we will certainly listen with an open mind and if it's appropriate to make change, make changes."