First, they have to start taking those penalties a little more seriously. They had a couple of penalties against the Rams that killed them on third-and-one and fourth-and-one. They ended up with eight penalties, and you can't continue to have that many.

The Cowboys are a sloppy football team. They continue to turn it over. They had four turnovers on Sunday. They've had critical turnovers in their past two losses. The other thing is that their special teams are still so erratic. The special teams screw-ups have come on coverage units. They've had 12 men on the field. They continue to make mistakes. I mean, really, the Cowboys are not a disciplined football team.

NFL Week 7

Week 7 action

Panthers 30, Saints 7 -- Recap | Box
Bears 48, Vikings 41 -- Recap | Box
Bills 23, Chargers 14 -- Recap | Box
Rams 34, Cowboys 14 -- Recap | Box
Giants 29, 49ers 17 -- Recap | Box
Steelers 38, Bengals 10 -- Recap | Box
Ravens 27, Dolphins 13 -- Recap | Box
Titans 34, Chiefs 10 -- Recap | Box
Texans 28, Lions 21 -- Recap | Box
Packers 34, Colts 14 -- Recap | Box
Raiders 16, Jets 13 -- Recap | Box
Redskins 14, Browns 11 -- Recap | Box
Bucs 20, Seahawks 10 -- Recap | Box
Patriots 34, Broncos 7 -- Recap | Box


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Analysis

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• Glazer: Favre insider trading?
  
• Marvez: Flacco starting to lead
  

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Video

• MNF Pats-Broncos preview
  
• Albert and Johnston on Cowboys
  
• Online OT: Complete NFL coverage
  

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Photos

• Week 7 action
  
• Fantasy: Top moves
  

We talked about this over the summer, but if I was coaching this team I would have fought against having that Hard Knocks show in training camp. I know that's how teams lose their focus. The next thing you know you have backup players thinking they are movie stars. A show like that simply creates a bunch of individuals rather than a team. And that's what the Cowboys have right now. They have a bunch of individuals. They have a lot of individual talent.

But they don't have a talented TEAM and they don't have a team that plays well on Sundays. They just have a bunch of good players.

With the problems that they have, I'm sure there is going to be some finger pointing this week. But it isn't all lackadaisical play. The Cowboys have definitely have been hurt by injuries. With Terence Newman injured and Pacman Jones suspended, they were down two cornerbacks. And their secondary showed it against the Rams. Now, they will be without safety Roy Williams for the rest of the season. And don't forget they played without Tony Romo, too.

Brad Johnson was not the same Brad Johnson on Sunday that he was a couple years ago. He was a 60 percent completion passer for many years — and he struggled against the Rams. And he's going to continue struggling with this team. He's 40 years old and his offensive line has not been playing well. He had to rush many a throw. He had three interceptions, too.

I don't know what they'll do with Romo. I wouldn't play him until I knew for sure that playing wouldn't further damage his pinky finger. I would want him to get well, but on the other hand it is obvious that they need him in there.

With how awful the protection is right now, Brad Johnson can't avoid the rush. Romo, with his feet and the way he can improvise, can give them some plays. They have to find some ways to free up T.O. and to get Roy Williams more involved next Sunday because he is a special talent.

The Cowboys do have talented players; that's what is so head-scratching about them being 4-3 right now. But they're also an undisciplined, sloppy football team. They could have maybe gotten away with this in years past, but the way the Redskins and Giants are playing right now I don't know if they're going to get away with it this year.

Terry Bradshaw and I disagreed in our postgame comments after the Cowboys lost. I said the problems are correctable. Terry said they are not correctable because this team has no leaders. But I know protecting the football is correctable. I know that limiting penalties is correctable. Being a better special teams unit and being more precise on special teams — those things are correctable.

Now, whether or not they can correct everything time will tell. But you can correct those things. I heard they worked a little harder on special teams this past week, but I would put in even more practice time on special teams and put more emphasis on protecting the football. I would also add more emphasis on eliminating penalties.

Like I said on the pregame show, every team has officials at practices during the week. Well, put them to work and tell them to quit just watching practice. And when I said that special teams wasn't a rest period, Michael Strahan bumped me and said, "Yeah, I know. A lot of us players looked at it that way."

So, all those things are correctable. But more times than not, those are the things that you spend most of your time getting right in training camp, not during the season.

But if you are a desperate football team, which I think the Cowboys are right now, I think you treat practices like training camp and go back to fundamentals. Unfortunately, these mistakes weren't corrected in training camp. They were too busy doing Hard Knocks. They were too busy being TV stars and they should have been corrected these mistakes back then.

It's a long season. They have the time. They simply have to get back to serious work in practice this week.

Rams rising

On the flip side, there is no question that Jim Haslett and a healthy Steven Jackson have helped the Rams. I really think that Haslet has to be considered to be a full-time head coach. Who are the Rams going to get that is better for them? I mean, you can have these pipe dreams, but I don't know if they are going to get anybody better. He does have experience, having coached the Saints. Maybe he's better the second time around. I really believe they should strongly consider him to be the full-time coach and give him a contract.

The Rams have played inspired football these past two weeks. They were not playing with any passion or emotion the first part of the season. They have done a complete 180. And there's no simple explanation for it, either, other than Haslett. Look at Detroit — they are still losing every week. They have gotten worse.

Jackson helps, especially with him playing a major role in the offense again. And having Marc Bulger back in there really helps. That was a screw-ball move putting Trent Green in there. I said that back when Scott Linehan did that. That was crazy. That was the sign of a desperate coach.