Dallas Cowboy Fans Can Breathe Easy

After looking into two coaching jobs, Jason Garrett decided to remain offensive coordinator of the Cowboys after Dallas made him the highest-paid assistant coach in the NFL. The Cowboys promoted Garrett to assistant head coach and gave him a new contract that will pay him in the ballpark of $3 million per year.

Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips' salary is also in the $3 million range. There is no word on whether the team plans to adjust Phillips' salary.

Garrett went through second interviews in Baltimore and Atlanta earlier this week, then returned to Dallas to meet with team owner Jerry Jones.

This was a good move by Jason Garrett primarily because after looking at his other options, there simply wasn't much room for choice. The Baltimore Ravens had a horrible collapse and they have such a poor offense that I don't think any coach could revive them. As far as the Atlanta Falcons, why would anyone want to try to clean up that mess? Good move sticking with the Cowboys, who will have many more winning seasons.

Jones, who hired Garrett last year before hiring Wade Phillips, apparently convinced him his future was just as bright with the Cowboys, who are coming off a 13-3 regular season with eight of his offensive players going to the Pro Bowl.

Although Jones can't formally promise Garrett he'll be the next coach of the Cowboys, that's been the going theory since he joined the club roughly this time last year. Speculation that Jones would push aside Phillips and promote Garrett rather than risk losing him to another club was so strong last week that Jones held a news conference in part to deny it. He denied it again Sunday, after Dallas' season-ending loss to the New York Giants.

Firings And Hirings In The NFL

Dallas Cowboys assistant head coach Tony Sparano, the presumptive front-runner to fill the Miami Dolphins' coaching vacancy, was scheduled to fly Tuesday night to Miami on one of owner Wayne Huizenga's private jets, and could be named the club's new head coach by Wednesday. Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland, who most recently worked in the Dallas personnel department as vice president of college and pro scouting, is familiar with Sparano and his coaching style. Ireland left for Dallas on Tuesday afternoon. He is expected to return with Sparano, who interviewed with Ireland for the Miami job on Jan. 5.

Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett has been offered the Baltimore Ravens coaching position, sources told ESPN. According to a league source, there is a "60-40'' chance Garrett will ultimately accept the opportunity to succeed Brian Billick, who was fired after the regular season. However, sources told ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli that Garrett left Baltimore Tuesday afternoon without making any decision about the job. Sources said he was en route to Atlanta for a second interview with Falcons officials. Garrett, who arrived at the Ravens' training complex for the second interview Tuesday morning, was the first candidate to have call-back sessions with the Ravens and Falcons.

The Tennessee Titans fired offensive coordinator Norm Chow on Tuesday after a season of struggling to score points and reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Titans coach Jeff Fisher confirmed the dismissal in a short statement. Chow, who had been on staff for three years, did not immediately return a telephone message left by The Associated Press. But Fisher said the day after his Titans (10-6) lost an AFC wild-card game to San Diego 17-6 that improving the offense was his top priority this offseason. They ranked 21st overall in total offense and became the first team with only nine touchdown passes to reach the playoffs in a 16-game season. After a week of evaluating the team, Fisher told Chow he would not be retained as offensive coordinator.

The New York Giants Advance In The Playoffs

Not one, but two upsets in the same day. Vegas must be rollin in money. Manning advanced, but not Peyton. Rather, hours after Peyton's Colts were stunned by the Chargers in an AFC divisional game, Eli Manning and the Giants ousted the NFC's top-seeded team. It appears that little brother is all grown up.

Tony Romo can go wherever he wants with Jessica Simpson now. Eli Manning and the New York Giants knocked him and the Dallas Cowboys into the offseason Sunday.

Having to wait out long, slow drives by Dallas, Manning made his few chances count, throwing two touchdown passes to Amani Toomer and getting a 1-yard touchdown run from Brandon Jacobs for a 21-17 victory that put New York into the NFC championship game for the first time since the 2000 season.

Cornerback R.W. McQuarters intercepted a pass into the end zone with 9 seconds left, ending the Cowboys' final drive and marking Romo's second straight last-minute goof to cost Dallas a playoff game. His flubbed hold of a short field goal in Seattle ended the Cowboys' season last year.

Manning is heading to his first NFC Championship Game, at Green Bay next Sunday. Manning had a much better day than his brother, Peyton, whose Indianapolis Colts were stunned by the San Diego Chargers.

This loss by the Dallas Cowboys this post-season has arguably one of the worst impacts on a team's legacy. Dallas' failure is huge, much bigger than last season's flop in Seattle when Romo botched the hold on a go-ahead field goal in the final minutes.

The Cowboys just wasted a 13-3 season, which matched the best in team history. They're the first No. 1 seed in the NFC to lose in this round since the NFL went to the 12-team playoff format in 1990. They also became the seventh team to lose a playoff game against a team they'd beaten twice in the regular season -- joining Dallas' 1998 club.

Worst of all is the extension of all the skids: Romo now 0-2 in the playoffs, coach Wade Phillips 0-4 and the team 0-for-the-postseason since winning a wild-card game in 1996. The Cowboys have dropped five games since then.

Even worse, the Cowboys might be headed into a potentially stormy offseason in the near future. Team owner Jerry Jones said Thursday he would keep Phillips regardless of what happened in the playoffs. Now that will be tested, especially with highly valued assistant coaches Jason Garrett and Tony Sparano interviewing for jobs elsewhere.

And people better not dare point to Romo's trip to Mexico last weekend with his latest celebrity girlfriend as a disruption. The Cowboys' problems this game ran a lot deeper. There were all kinds of penalties that hurt Dallas drives and helped New York's, sloppy tackling on defense and special teams, dropped passes and wasted timeouts.