The Cowboys have no choice but to stick with Tony Romo. They proved Monday night that they can’t protect Drew Bledsoe, plus the 14-year veteran proved that he’s still capable of making rookie-like mistakes like his silly interception to Sam Madison when Terry Glenn was never open at the end of the first half.

The other shocking revelation about the Cowboys is that they sure look like frauds on defense. In training camp, the defense looked awesome. Coach Bill Parcells believed his defense would be dominant. In fact, good enough to overcome Bledsoe’s miscues from game to game.

But Parcells was also aware that Romo was more athletic and definitely had an NFL arm. The worry since March was that Dallas didn’t have the offensive line to protect Bledsoe. Well, that theory has definitely come to fruition. The O-line proved that in the opening-season loss in Jacksonville. Remember, Bledsoe’s middle name is Statue.

Perhaps, that’s when Parcells should have made the switch to Romo. Yes, after the loss to the Jaguars. Conversely, it sure looked like a panicky move at halftime, down only five points to the Giants, on Monday night. Parcells was looking for a spark and instead Romo threw three interceptions, two of them mistakes that some playing-time experience could cure. Like Parcells said, Romo played careless with the football at times.

The Cowboys are up against it now in the NFC East. The Giants are now in control, plus Dallas has also lost to Philadelphia.

Does anyone think Bledsoe can survive Carolina’s pass rush on Sunday night? Romo can buy some time with his feet. But he needs all the practice repetitions this week and Bledsoe needs to stick around – don’t take his football and go home – and quit talking about retiring because he was benched.

Pretty weak argument

When the NFL realized a couple seasons ago that players were purchasing store-bought supplements that resulted in positive tests for performance-enhancing substances, the league did a generous thing and gave players a free pass on ephedrine and other dietary supplements for a year. They worked in conjunction with the Players Association on safe and legal supplements that anyone can buy in their local GNC stores. Those products have the league’s stamp of approval on them.

Players being players still buy bottles of supplements that aren’t approved. In those cases, all the player has to do is bring the product to their team trainers. The trainers can either check the list of ingredients or have the supplement tested for illegal substances. It’s pretty simple. I mean, who wouldn’t have something checked before ingesting a bunch of pills or mixing an unknown powdery substance if it meant losing your job or paychecks in the hundreds of thousands of dollars?

 The Chargers’ Shawne Merriman was caught with nandrolone, a banned steroid substance, in his system. He and David Cornwell, his attorney, claim it came from a tainted over-the-counter supplement. Merriman’s argument is “why would I do anything wrong? I’m already in the spotlight?”

Give me a break.

What I would like to hear Merriman say is this: “Yes, I made a mistake. I took something I shouldn’t have. I should have had it tested. Heck, I’m a millionaire. I could have hired my own pharmacist to make sure I wasn’t taking nandrolone or anything else that is banned.”

Big Ben should play

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has said that he suffered a concussion when knocked out in the Atlanta game on Sunday. The Steelers and Coach Bill Cowher have listed their star quarterback, who returned to the sidelines after the hit and seemed fine to a lot of players, as questionable for Sunday’s game in Oakland.

Granted, the Steelers may be able to beat the Raiders without Roethlisberger, but there are people close to the team who believe Ben can play if he wants to. A lot of his teammates will be keeping a close watch on what Ben decides to do.

Another interesting tidbit is that the NFL office didn’t believe that the Falcons’ Chauncey Davis’ tackle of Roethlisberger wasn’t a helmet-to-helmet hit based on a New York Times report. Falcons Coach Jim Mora believes Davis will not be fined for lowering his head and decking Roethlisberger.

There were several bad penalties called against the Steelers in that game, including a dubious false start penalty on the final play that cost Pittsburgh a chance to attempt a game-winning field goal.

“These officials should be ashamed of themselves," Steelers chairman Dan Rooney said. “That last call, you don't call that kind of call.”

What do Cardinals do?

OK, Denny Green is probably safe for the rest of the season. But Green does admit that he has talented personnel and that the Arizona Cardinals shouldn’t be 1-6. This is what the boss’s son, Michael Bidwill, believes, too.

The Bidwills have this habit of preferring not to pay an expensive head coach for not working. But at the end of the season, Green’s fate will be sealed by how the Cardinals perform in the final nine games. If the losing continues, you can bet Bidwill will make a run at USC head coach Pete Carroll. There are no guarantees that Carroll will ever leave USC. He’s well paid and his program, based on his recruiting skills, will probably always rank in the top five nationally.

But the Cardinals can easily offer Carroll total control of the football operations. And wouldn’t it be interesting having him coach his former Heisman quarterback Matt Leinart once again?