Cowboys owner Jerry Jones again said after Sunday’s loss to the Giants that coach Wade Phillips will be back in 2008.

“It’s not an issue,” Jones declared.  “He’s our head coach.”

Fine.  He’s the head coach.  For now.  But as a certain hack of the Internet (they’ve got more than one now, you know) writes for SportingNews.com, Phillips certainly is on the hot seat in 2008.

And as certain corners of our network of sources continue to predict, Sunday’s deflating defeat is the beginning of the end for the Cowboys.  Sure, they might still make the playoffs next year, and maybe even the year after that.  But there’s a feeling around the league that the Bill Parcells Cowpokes peaked with that 13-3 regular-season record in 2007, and the window will now begin to close.

The problem?  Too many of the people whom Parcells brought to the organization will now be leaving, and the team will go back to making so-so decisions about retention and acquisition of player personnel.