Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had nothing to smile about Sunday.

The Philadelphia defense, with several rising young stars such as middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter and safety Brian Dawkins, had already commanded respect last year.

OK, it's only one game. Don't overreact. Good advice. Here's some more good advice for Jerry Jones: The Cowboys owner needs to fire his general manager.

Oops, that means Jerry Jones should fire himself.

Jones the owner was very responsible for the Cowboys' three Super Bowl championships because he hired Jimmy Johnson and built a terrific profit-making machine. Jones the GM has overseen some awful drafts; you can question every coaching decision he's made since Johnson left. Barry Switzer shouldn't have been hired. Chan Gailey shouldn't have been fired.

I find it interesting that Gailey is doing something that Johnson couldn't do in Miami. The Dolphins ran the football in preseason, and they shoved it down the Seahawks' throats on Sunday when Lamar Smith rushed 27 times for 145 yards.

Gailey restored Emmitt Smith as a premier runner in his two years as head coach of the Cowboys. You still must be able to run the football in the NFL in order to protect your quarterback.

For Jones, it must be a very sobering Monday. He should start his search for a good football man now.

Powered by pickle juice: Many times, it's the little things that make the difference in the NFL. Even then, I never would have imagined that pickle juice would make a difference when the Philadelphia Eagles routed the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

You read it correctly. Pickle juice.

As you may have noticed, I made note of the heat the Eagles would have to contend with in Dallas over the weekend -- 140 degrees on the artificial turf. The Cowboys practiced in 100-plus heat all summer; the Eagles did not.

Advantage Cowboys, right? Wrong. The Cowboys were falling like flies Sunday. The Eagles just flew.

Let's explain the pickle juice. Fully aware of the problems the heat could present, Eagles trainer Steve Burkholder used a concoction of pickle juice and water to hydrate his players Saturday night, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon and during the game.

"We only had one guy really cramp up," said Eagles coach Andy Reid. "It's amazing."

It is amazing. Burkholder gets a lot of credit, but he doesn't necessarily take it for himself. He originally used the concoction in Reid's first training camp last summer, as suggested by his good friend Steve Condon, the trainer at Iowa State. The two had worked together at the University of Arizona. Condon actually was tipped off on the pickle juice via a trainer at Northern Iowa who had tried the concoction after a national trainers convention in Nashville, Tenn.

"We had 11 guys fall out in the heat my very first day of camp who needed IV's last year," said Reid. "So we went with the pickle juice, and it's been amazing."

Burkholder said he used a two-ounce plan for the Cowboys. The Eagles took two ounces of pickle juice before snack Saturday night, two ounces at breakfast, two ounces at the pregame meal and two ounces after pregame warmup.

"For the guys who do start to cramp, you give it to them right on the spot," said Burkholder. "I mean, we had guys who were hurting out there, but nobody missed any reps."

Burkholder gives Reid a tremendous amount of credit.

"Andy, he's a genius," the trainer said. "I went to him and asked him if he would consider trimming 10 minutes off the pregame warmups. I mean, you know coaches, they're creatures of habit and they hate to change routines. But Andy, he says, 'Yeah, if you think it'll help.' "

Something else Burkholder cited was that during TV timeouts, Reid had the Eagles move into the shade, where it was probably 30 degrees cooler. The game was almost half over before the Cowboys realized what they were doing and followed suit.

As you can tell, dehydration is something the Eagles take seriously. Burkholder tests every player's urine each morning to see if they're already suffering from dehydration, or if they're a candidate. They'll give those players an IV solution, if necessary, or just the pickle juice.

Like most teams, players also are required to weigh in and weigh out every day. Those who skip the weigh-ins are fined, with no exceptions.

"When your head coach backs you up like that, you get the message across," said Burkholder.

For every pound a player loses during practice, he is required to drink a combination of 20 ounces of Gatorade and water.

But they really do swear by the pickle juice.

"It's like the old salt tabs we used to take in the old days," said Reid. "You know, it's salt and vinegar, and you're able to retain your water. You don't cramp as much."

Reid says the key is that Burkholder has been able to "get the players to buy into it."

"Well," said Burkholder, "it's almost become a fad now."

In fact, everyone is teasing Burkholder that he needs to patent and market the concoction. Even owner Jeffrey Lurie joked that a new stadium could be called the "Vlasic Dome."

Reid's punch line: "Oh, I didn't mention the amphetamines we mixed in that pickle juice, did I?"

It's easy to laugh when you beat the Cowboys 41-14.