Could you play for the Michelin man?

Steelers 20...Cowboys 13.

If we had told you before the game that Dallas would lose by seven points in a hard-fought game on Pittsburgh's home turf, I think that most Cowboy fans would have understood. Hell, some of them might have been happy to see that Dallas hung with the class of the AFC, despite playing without either of their top two running backs, Marion Barber and Felix Jones, who both missed due to injuries.

If you watched the game however, you know that Dallas shouldn't be proud of "hanging tough" with the Steelers. The Cowboys dominated this game for 52 minutes. But as we have come to expect, the Dallas coaching staff made several critical errors during critical times of a big game.

And while we all understand that "players play" and "coaches coach," when a team consistently fails to execute, that falls at the coach's doorstep. There were so many coaching blunders made on Sunday that we will break it into a three-part series: offense, defense and special teams/attire.

Today's edition includes "Attire" and "Special Teams."

Attire
Team attire isn't something that gets a lot of coverage by most media outlets, but it should. I have a current poll running: Who did Wade Phillips look more like:

• George Costanza?
• The Michelin Man?

Seriously, how are players expected to go into battle when they can look to the sideline and see a big ball of gore-tex celebrating a missed field goal?! That's just not fair.

Secondly, why wasn't Romo wearing sleeves with game-time temperatures dropping below freezing? Dude, you date Jessica Simpson and you love singing karaoke...no one thinks that you are tough! And if you are going to go the "tough" route, you cannot be seen running to the heaters during every timeout. That's like ordering fried chicken and mashed potatoes, but then demanding diet coke because, "I'm watching my weight." I love the guy, but that was a big mistake.

Special Teams
Wade Phillips and Company achieved the Special Teams’ Tri-fecta: poor roster management, poor positioning and poor execution. Amazing!

1) Poor Roster-Management: Pacman was inserted as the punt AND kick-returner after his reinstatement: Apparently, Phillips felt that the kickoff return could use a boost and that Jones, who averages an amazing 4.6 yards per punt-return, could provide a “spark.” Promoting Pacman to kickoff return duty is like Plaxico being named the "Gun-Control Representative" for the Giants: "Hey, we know that you have had issues in the past, but we think that giving you MORE responsibility is the answer!"

Surely Jones “sparked” the kickoff return unit, right? Well, only if 16 yards/return constitutes a "spark." Okay, okay…but as a punt-returner, he must have given the team that little “boost” that they were looking for. He absolutely did, but he did it for the wrong team. Pacman muffed one punt return, after attempting to catch the ball on the 5 yard-line, nearly resulting in a turnover. His second gaffe led to number 2:

2) Poor Positioning: In the 2nd quarter, while facing a stiff 30mph wind, Pittsburgh was forced to punt from inside their 10-yard-line. My wife, a noted football novice, asked, "If the wind is blowing that hard, are they going to be able to punt it very far?" While I didn't really register that comment as an exceptionally astute point, it was something that the Cowboys apparently hadn't thought of.

Pacman Jones stood at the Cowboys 45, fifty yards away from the line of scrimmage. Berger, who averaged 33 yards/punt on Sunday, "boomed" a 28-yard punt landing near the Steeler 35. Pacman, strategically positioned beyond the 50-yard-line, had no opportunity to make the catch. Instead, the punt struck a Dallas blocker...leading to a Pittsburgh recovery. Had the Cowboy coaching staff realized what 60,000 fans knew (including my wife), Pacman would have been standing on the Pittsburgh 45 and should have been able to make a fair-catch inside the Steeler 40. But hey, field position doesn't matter in a cold, December defensive battle, right?

3) Poor Execution: Finally, the special teams play that signaled the beginning of the end: in the 4th quarter, Dallas calls "punt left " from their own 18, but the 42-yard punt travels up the middle, then bounced right...leading to a 35 yard return by Santonio Holmes, setting up a key 4th-quarter field-goal, bringing the Steelers to within seven.

Stay tuned, offensive and defensive blunders will be dissected when parts II and III of "I wish we had hired Mike Singletary" continues!