Mark Craig: Maybe it's time to send some love Phillips' way

IRVING, TEXAS — Congratulations to Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, who enters his eighth full day as not being a dumbbell.

Actually, he's no smarter today than he was before the Cowboys beat the Eagles 34-14 in an NFC wild-card game to give Phillips his first playoff victory in five tries as a head coach.

"Well, some people think I am," Phillips joked while sitting in his Valley Ranch office Thursday. "But I have a good record. A lot of people don't know that. But my win-loss percentage is really high. I have confidence I can help a team win."

Phillips is a good coach and a veteran of 33 NFL seasons. As a head coach, Bum's boy is 82-58 (.586), including 34-16 with two NFC East titles in three years in Dallas.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hasn't exercised his option on Phillips for 2010, but Phillips would help solidify a contract extension if the Cowboys (12-5) beat the Vikings (12-4) in Sunday's NFC divisional game. On the other hand, a loss and, well, who knows in the NFL?

"I don't worry about that stuff because when I first started out with my dad with the Houston Oilers, we went to two AFC Championship Games and then we lost one playoff game, and they fired us," Phillips said. "From then on, I told myself I'm not going to judge myself on whether I get fired or not."

The past 20 years, Phillips has been a member of 16 winning teams. The past seven times he has taken over as defensive coordinator or head coach, his team reached the playoffs that first season. And get this: Wade Phillips led the Buffalo Bills to the playoffs. Twice. They got rid of him in 2000 and spent the remainder of the decade watching the playoffs on TV.

Last week's victory was a good start toward changing perceptions. What Phillips needs now is something bigger. Something that will really rock the Belichickian Genius-O-Meter.

What Phillips needs is a memorable Super Bowl run by one of the league's most talented young defenses. A defense he assembled and took control of as coordinator after last season.

Asked if his defense could become one of those special units we remember, such as the 2000 Ravens defense, Phillips said: "Well, it has been lately, that's for sure. I mean anytime you shut out teams two weeks in a row in the league like we did at the end of the season, you certainly have the potential to do great things."

In the history of a Cowboys franchise that has won five Super Bowls, no other defense has consecutive shutouts. Not even the "Doomsday Defense" that older Vikings fans remember all too well. The last time we saw back-to-back shutouts in the NFL was in 2000 by three teams, including those memorable Ravens.

The Cowboys rank No. 2 in scoring defense and have not given up a single point in the first quarter on the road this season. The key is the combination of All-Pro Jay Ratliff, the NFL's most disruptive 3-4 nose tackle, and premier pass rushers Anthony Spencer and All-Pro DeMarcus Ware at outside linebacker.

In a 24-17 upset over a then-unbeaten Saints team in New Orleans on Dec. 19, the Cowboys held Drew Brees and the league's top scoring offense to fewer than 20 points for the first time in 23 games. A week later, the Redskins fell 17-0. Then the Cowboys overwhelmed a finesse-oriented Eagles team that had won six consecutive games, winning 24-0. Last week, the Eagles fell again while giving up four sacks and turning the ball over four times.

Now comes Favre and a No. 2-ranked offense that's much more physical.

"People are talking about the Vikings offense, but I don't think a lot of people are talking about the Cowboys defense," Dallas safety Gerald Sensabaugh said. "But if we win a few more games, they'll talk about us."

And maybe Phillips will go from dumbbell on Jan. 7 to genius on Feb. 7.