Jerry Jones had a business appointment in New York on Monday, which was probably best for both his injured quarterback and his befuddled head coach. Had he not been otherwise occupied, the Dallas Cowboys' owner might have been tempted to go out and find replacements for both.

Instead, Jones was at a news conference announcing that his Cowboys and Steinbrenner's Yankees are teaming up to handle concession and merchandise sales at the new stadiums both teams are opening next year. The great thing about being an owner in the NFL these days is that you can keep making money even while your team is making a big mess of its season.

The other great thing is that you can tell the coach who to play, though Wade Phillips apparently wasn't listening when Jones dropped hint after hint last week that Tony Romo should be starting against the St. Louis Rams despite a broken pinky on his throwing finger. To his credit, Phillips did make sure he got new receiver Roy Williams into the game, though he forgot to tell Brad Johnson to throw him the ball.

The debacle against the Rams had barely ended when Jones went into the locker room to give his team the kind of pep talk normally given by the coach. Though Jones fancies himself as a motivator of men, it didn't take long for the speculation to begin over how much of a future Phillips has in Dallas.

The answer came down from above that he's guaranteed nine more games, minimum.

"Absolutely, he's going to finish the season," Jones said. "That isn't even a remote consideration."

The question then becomes, how are the Cowboys going to finish the season? Remember, this was a team that started the season 3-0 and seemed a sure Super Bowl pick until things suddenly began falling apart.

Now Dallas has as many losses as it had all last year, is in third place in the NFC East, and faces division leaders in Tampa Bay and the New York Giants in its next two games. With Romo injured, Pacman Jones in alcohol rehab and Terrell Owens muttering about the number of balls thrown his way, the season is on the verge of spiraling out of control.

Things are so bad in Dallas that gun happy nose tackle Tank Johnson has become the voice of reason.

"Our identity is missing," Johnson said Monday. "We need to realize and figure out who we are and what we are going to be and be it and live and die by it."

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, who they are is an extension of their owner's supersized ego. And that's going to make salvaging this season a lot tougher than just waiting for Romo's broken pinky to heal.

Jones still clings stubbornly to the outdated belief that collecting a group of superstars is the way to win games in the NFL, and compounds his mistakes by believing that he can provide them the steady hand they need to succeed. But that hasn't worked with Owens, won't work with Roy Williams, and never stood a chance of working with Pacman Jones.

Owner Jones made his worst mistake with player Jones, but as late as last week was assuring everyone who would listen that Pacman's scuffle with one of his baby sitters was no big deal. Fortunately, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell didn't think so and suspended the cornerback, who may never play football again.

That should have given the Cowboys one less thing to worry about going into the game against the Rams. But the very same day Pacman was suspended, Jones decided he didn't have enough unhappy receivers and traded a fistful of draft picks to the Detroit Lions for Williams.

That might have been a good trade had the Cowboys not already had Owens, who just a few weeks ago complained after the loss to the Redskins that he wasn't getting the ball enough even though Romo threw his way 18 times. How long before T.O. and Williams are fighting over one ball and feuding with whoever is trying to throw it to them?

Even if Jones and Phillips manage to keep all the egos under control, the Cowboys will have trouble just making the playoffs. With Romo injured, the vaunted offensive line leaky and the defense exposed against the Rams, there's not a lot left to like about a team that just a few weeks ago seemed almost unbeatable.

Worse yet, there's not much Jones can do now to fix things other than fire Phillips, who a lot of Cowboy watchers believe is too laid-back and doesn't get enough out of his players in practice to prepare them for games. He says he won't, but that could change if the Cowboys go into their bye week with a four-game losing streak and their playoff chances fading.

After all, as anyone learns in Team Ownership 101, it's always easier to explain to fans that the coach couldn't do his job, even when the owner causes most of the problems.