Cowboys coach feels the heat

After Sunday's debacle by the Dallas Cowboys in their loss at St. Louis, one Dallas columnist is calling for Cowboys coach Wade Phillips to be fired.

"There is no way to truly deliver a message of urgency to a collection of players and a coaching staff without, figuratively, cutting off the head," wrote Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News.

The Cowboys have lost back-to-back games, including Sunday's 34-14 clunker to the 2-4 Rams. Dallas has won once in its past four games -- over winless Cincinnati.

Added Cowlishaw: "What has been gathering steam for a month reached something of a crescendo as the Cowboys played by far their worst game of the Wade Phillips era. And frankly, it should be the last game of the Phillips era, but (owner Jerry Jones) made it clear afterward that there will be no coaching changes made.

"It's a team of uninspired excuse makers who take their cue from the head coach."

• HITLER HUMOR -- ESPN suspended writer Jemele Hill in June for writing, "Rooting for the Celtics is like saying Hitler was a victim."

Nothing was done to Lou Holtz for saying Saturday: "When a coach is struggling in his first year with a new program, but is supposed to be a great leader, you say, 'Hitler was a great leader too.' "

Holtz apologized but was not disciplined.

• FAVRE-FETCHED -- FoxSports.com reported Sunday that Brett Favre provided the Detroit Lions with a detailed scouting report on the offensive schemes of his former Green Bay Packers before they played the Lions in Week 2.

If Favre provided tips to the Lions, it would not violate NFL rules.

It also didn't help the Lions, who lost 48-25 to the Packers.

• BROWNS DISEASE -- Cleveland Browns Pro Bowl tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. told ESPN.com Sunday night that his "unspecified illness" a couple of weeks ago was a staph infection that forced him to miss an Oct. 13 game.

This is the second time Winslow was diagnosed with staph, and it's at least the seventh known case with the Browns in the past several years, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

"They didn't even want me going to the Cleveland Browns' (practice) facility because they didn't want me to get re-infected," Winslow said. "Something is wrong up there. It needs to be fixed.

"It's my teammates' right to know what's going on at the facility to protect them."

Remember the good old days when players only had to worry about contracting athlete's foot or jock itch? At least Cleveland's Cuyahoga River hasn't caught fire lately.

• SENIORS IGNORED -- The Review-Journal's and nevadapreps.com's high school football prognosticator, Fielder, is appalled by the sparse crowd at Western High School's game Friday night.

It wasn't bad enough that Bishop Gorman beat the Warriors 57-8, but not many students or parents showed up for "Senior Night."

A Review-Journal operative said he counted 71 people in the Western stands before kickoff. That's out of an enrollment of more than 2,000.

Kids deserve support -- win or lose.

COMPILED BY JEFF WOLF REVIEW-JOURNAL