The Game Plan (cont.)

Under Pressure

Cowboys RB Marion Barber hasn't had a 100-yard rushing game since Week 2. Getty Images

Marion Barber and Felix Jones, RBs, Dallas.

It's a cliché to say every week that Tony Romo's got to come up huge to win these big games in December. At some point, Barber and Jones have to do what Jerry Jones is paying them to do -- play big and dominate a game or two with the playoffs on the line. In the past two games, both losses, Mr. Inside (Barber) and Mr. Outside (Jones) have combined to rush 21 times for 42 yards in the loss to the Giants and 24 times for 98 yards in the loss to San Diego. Unacceptable. It's time for two very good backs to have a very good December game Saturday night in the Superdome.

Ten Things I'll Be Watching For This Weekend

1. The white smoke coming out of the chimney at Redskins Park. You saw Bruce Allen get the GM job there Thursday. You know Bruce Allen and a certain former coach with a haircut like Dwight Schrute's were joined at the hip in Tampa and produced the Bucs' only Super Bowl victory over. Guess who's coming to the Park today to prep for ESPN's Monday-nighter against the Giants? That's right. Jon Gruden.

2. The climb to 2,000 for Chris Johnson. The Tennessee back faces run defenses ranked 13th (Miami), 21st (San Diego) and 11th (Seattle) over the final three weeks, needing 374 yards to hit 2,000. I think we'd all be surprised if he didn't make it.

3. Let Chad wear Henry's number, Commissioner. I'd love to see Roger Goodell make an exception to the NFL's steel-trap rules about uniforms. Let Chad Ochocinco wear Chris Henry's number 15, and after the game, let it be auctioned off on NFL.com with the proceeds going to college funds for the three surviving children of Henry.

4. DeMarcus Ware's neck. Five nights ago, Ware was in a Texas hospital, undergoing a battery of tests to determine if there was any damage to his neck or brain after a violent collision in the game against San Diego. There wasn't, but now comes the issue of whether he should play (on a the road, in a short week) at New Orleans Saturday night. "He's close,'' Wade Phillips said of Ware. Sounds like he'll go, even with all the league-prompted attention to head injuries in recent weeks.

5. Percy Harvin's head. Thursday was the fifth straight practice Harvin, the rookie Minnesota wideout and return man, missed with the migraines that have occasionally plagued him in his life -- but never this seriously. The Vikings are prepping to play Carolina without him Sunday, which would be his second straight missed game. But it's not Sunday against Carolina that Brad Childress is worried about. It's the middle of January, when the Vikings play their next vital game. Will Harvin be there?

6. Randy Moss's productivity. Whatever you make of his effort in recent weeks, Moss simply hasn't been getting open. Over the past three weeks, Tom Brady's targeted Wes Welker 36 times and Moss 15. Welker has caught 26 balls, Moss an alarmingly low six. Forget all the rah-rah stuff everyone from Bob Kraft to the Gillette groundskeeper has been spouting about Moss this week. They're all worried, and they should be. You can't win in January with one receiver who gets open.

7. Jim Mora's attitude. "If you're going to be a good offensive lineman, you've got to be a little bit of a dirtbag,'' Mora said this week. Because he thinks his line is too soft, Mora made a couple of changes there for Sunday's game against Tampa Bay, including putting practice-squadder Mike Gibson at right guard. Seattle's 5-8. Drastic measures are welcome. And I don't just mean Ken Griffey Jr. raising the 12th Man Flag Sunday before the game.

8. Orlando Pace's Chicago career. It will end on the bench. Sad, really. But Pace's feet just aren't quick enough to play left tackle anymore, and the Bears seem prepared to sideline the 34-year-old Pace, the first overall pick in the 1997 draft, and go with Chris Williams (left) and Kevin Shaffer (right) at tackle for the rest of the season.

9. Ron Turner's Chicago career. It will end unceremoniously unless the Bears' offense does something explosive against Baltimore, Minnesota and Detroit in the final three weeks. The most logical scenario with the Bears seems (and I emphasize "seems'') this: Keep Lovie Smith, jettison Ron Turner. A new offensive coordinator to replace Turner is paramount to the rebuilding of the offense's psyche. Seems justified to me. I don't care who's receiving the ball. The Bears have to get more out of Jay Cutler than a league-high 22 picks and more out of the offense than scoring 21 points of fewer in 10 of 13 games.

10. The Rumor Mill. Getting hot. I can feel the pregame-show vibe Sunday already: Cowher to Carolina. Shanahan to Washington. Somebody to Buffalo. (Personally, I'd like John Fox or Mike Zimmer there, with Fox bringing Charlie Weis to run the offense if it's him.) Dallas? Let's let that one percolate for a while.