Replacing Carter is not a cure-all, but it is an important start.
The QB needs to be an asset to the team, not a liability to work
around.

The running game needs a jolt, the O-line has holes. A punter is
important, but should be easy to fill. The D-line needs to improve
the pass rush, which would allow the great secondary to fall more
into coverage and less into blitzing. This would help create more
turnovers.

This team is about half complete. No team in the NFL will ever be
great again with free agency, so getting a few key improvements could
go a long way towards the ultimate goal: a sixth SB championship!

--- In dallascowboyfanclub@yahoogroups.com, stephenjn <no_reply@y...>
wrote:
> Quincy Carter didn't shank a 17-yard punt at precisely
> the wrong time, and he wasn't the one who fumbled just
> when the Cowboys had a chance.
> Carter also didn't get picked on, as Terence Newman did,
> and he was picked off only once.
>
> For Carter, that's a good night, and another stat
> suggested the same. He was the only Cowboy to score a
> touchdown.
>
> Bill Parcells, going by Saturday night, has other holes
> to plug this offseason.
>
> Still, when Parcells looks hard at exactly what he needs
> to do to get to a Super Bowl, he has to stop and rethink
> Carter's future. Parcells likes him, and Carter tries to
> be what his coach wants.
>
> But will Carter ever be good enough to take Parcells where
> he wants to go?
>
> Knowing Parcells, the equation is swirling somewhere in
> his head. Knowing Parcells, he's also envious of what
> Carolina did Saturday night.
>
> No penalties and no turnovers? The Panthers lived Parcells'
> dream.
>
> The Panthers also lived with a player whom Parcells wanted. Jake
> Delhomme was the only free-agent quarterback who came to Valley
Ranch
> last offseason, and just last week it was revealed that Parcells
> offered him a contract.
>
> Carolina signed him, and from a distance it looked like nothing
more
> than a mediocre quarterback for a franchise that has lived with
them.
> After all, the Charlotte newspaper on Sunday selected its "All-time
> Panthers Team," and at quarterback the selection was Steve
Beuerlein,
> a career backup who once subbed in Dallas, too.
>
> Not exactly the lore of Staubach and Aikman, is it?
>
> But Delhomme, once a backup to Kurt Warner in the World League, now
> looks like a Warner-like find. In November, he played poorly while
> Carter had perhaps his best game of the season. Overall, though,
> Delhomme was clearly a more solid quarterback this season, Saturday
> night included.
>
> Had Delhomme signed with Dallas, it's not illogical to think he
would
> have taken a lot of Carter's snaps.
>
> This comes with an asterisk. Delhomme had the luxury of Stephen
Davis
> lining up with him this season, as well as a more solid offensive
> line. If Carter had the same — if he had a real running threat —
how
> much better would he be?
>
> It's the question Parcells has to answer, but there are already
> clues. Parcells protected Carter most of this season because he
knew
> Carter could only do so much.
>
> Parcells tried to gamble Saturday night, and in the best way. By
> surprise. Carter threw on eight of Dallas' first nine plays.
>
> Carter completed a few. But he missed badly, too, high on a screen
to
> Richie Anderson before nearly throwing an interception on another
> screen.
>
> It was typical Carter, as was the last offensive play of the
season.
> Out of the pocket, with no defender in sight, Carter opted to spin
a
> pass into the ground.
>
> Parcells hesitated afterward when asked to critique Carter. "I
don't
> want to get into assessing anyone's performance," he said, "except
it
> wasn't good enough."
>
> Parcells did mention his corners' failures, and he did talk about
> what comes next. "We're in a good cap situation," he said, "and
there
> will be action in free agency."
>
> He said similar things last Thursday at his press conference. "I
know
> a lot about the players on this team now. About reliability,
> dependability, who's got a future."
>
> Carter is a lot of things. Rarely is he called either reliable or
> dependable.
>
> But there is even more urgency for this coach. Parcells is 62, and
he
> didn't come to the franchise of Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson just
to
> get into the playoffs.
>
> He needs to find someone he can depend upon, as well as someone who
> can throw more touchdowns than interceptions. He needs to find a
> quarterback who can go on the road, whether in New England or
Tampa,
> and get a point, and he needs someone who can occasionally come
from
> behind.
>
> "My aspirations are higher," Parcells said.
>
> Higher, likely, than Carter can handle.