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IRVING, Texas -- Jason Garrett played quarterback for 12 years in the NFL and saw Hall of Famer Troy Aikman up close for seven seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys coach has studied the game forever and Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is doing things never been done before.

“He’s playing quarterback at maybe the highest level it’s ever been played,” Garrett said. “He’s been doing it for 15 years. He’s a fantastic player. His understanding of the game is second to none. His command is second to none. His ability to positively impact the people around him is second to none. Physically, he’s awfully good. He throws it where he wants to over and over and over again. He throws it on time. He’s accurate. He has the ability to make a ton of big plays and very few bad plays. He’s playing at as high of a level as the game has ever been played.”

Manning has 16 touchdown passes and no interceptions in his first four games. He has thrown for 1,470 yards. His quarterback rating is a ridiculous 138.0. His QBR is 91.4.

It’s only Tuesday so it might be a little early for the Cowboys to be tired of all of the Peyton Manning greatness talk, but there might come a point where all of the gushing about how well the Broncos quarterback is playing gets to be too much.

But could all of the glowing talk lead some of the defenders, rattled after last week’s performance against San Diego, make it seem like Manning is infallible?

“The one thing I would say is nobody is building him up; he’s doing it,” Garrett said. “It’s not like this is false bravado. It’s on the tape. You are going to watch the tape and see how good they are, and see how well he is playing, and the weapons that he has and how he’s using them and just how efficient and effective they’ve been. So, we are going to watch the tape and evaluate and put a plan together and we are going to go play.”

IRVING, Texas -- In the first four weeks of the season, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has thrown just nine passes of 20 or more yards and fewer than 10 passes with 21 or more air yards.

To say the Cowboys don't take enough shots down the field would be fair. In Sunday's loss to the San Diego Chargers, 19 of Romo's 27 completions went for fewer than 10 yards.

Defensive coverage, time in the pocket and play call affect whether or not Romo throws passes down the field. It would seem Romo has the weapons necessary to take shots down field in wide receiver Dez Bryant and at times rookie wideout Terrance Williams. When healthy, Miles Austin is a deep threat, but his ability to beat defenses on slants is something the Cowboys like to take advantage of.

The Cowboys struggled on third down, going 3-of-9 and had four drops in the passing game, three coming on third-down plays. The Cowboys ran the ball well, averaging 5.8 yards per carry, but still didn't challenge one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL with deep throws.

"That’s certainly something you want to do," coach Jason Garrett said of deep throws. "You want to be able to make some chunk plays in the passing game. The touchdown that Dez had, the 34-yarder, was one of those kinds of plays. A ball doesn’t always have to travel that far in the air but you want to be able to make those plays, complete the ball in the intermediate range where you give your receiver a chance to break a tackle and go score. We didn’t do that on a consistent enough basis throughout the ballgame."

The touchdown Garrett is speaking of is the throw Romo made to Bryant in tight one-on-one coverage against the Chargers on a throw to the end zone.

"He can make that catch with two people on him," Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday on KRLD-FM.

Jones said he doesn't feel the need to challenge defenses deep all the time. In the Chargers game, Jones felt Romo had time to complete all sorts of throws because the offensive line played well.

It's just interesting that Peyton Manning (17), Geno Smith (17), Philip Rivers (15) and Alex Smith (14) just to name a few have more 20-yard throws than Romo. Michael Vick leads the NFL with 23 passes of 20 or more yards.

"I think if we would have done a better job on third downs, you get a few more of those opportunities and we wanted to be balanced and consistently try to run the ball throughout," Garrett said. "We were able to do that, and hopefully you mix in a high-percentage game with a chunk, big-play passing game and that’s the way you want to play offensive football."

IRVING, Texas – It’s time for Five Wonders while wondering just how many yards Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning will throw for Sunday at AT&T Stadium.

1. We’ll keep it with the Manning theme with the first wonder. The Cowboys have allowed two 400-yard passing games in a season for the first time in team history. That they came in the first four games is troubling with Eli Manning throwing for 450 yards and Philip Rivers throwing for 401 yards. I wonder how many 400-yard games they will allow this season. This Sunday they see Peyton Manning. In the future they get New Orleans’ Drew Brees, who threw for 446 yards against them last season, Detroit’s Matthew Stafford, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Philadelphia’s Michael Vick and Chicago’s Jay Cutler. Vick and Rodgers already have 400-yard games this season. Washington’s Robert Griffin III has the capability of a 400-yard game. And then there’s a rematch with Eli Manning and the Giants. I wonder if the total will be four or five. What do you think?

2. I wonder if the Cowboys need to take shots down the field offensively. It’s not about throwing go routes all of the time, but the field shrinks when the Cowboys don’t take shots. So far this season Tony Romo has completed 72.4 percent of his passes, but he has only three completions of 25 yards or more. In 2012 he had 34. In 2011 he had 35. In 2009 he had 39. The offense has changed, and I don’t believe it’s Bill Callahan’s West Coast philosophy. I believe it’s Romo being more sure with the ball and getting rid of it quicker. Manning is the best quarterback in the world right now and he has 11 passes of at least 25 yards. Vick leads the NFL with 15. Romo is on pace for 12 this season. He is in a tough spot because if he throws it up for Dez Bryant or Miles Austin to make a play and the pass is intercepted he has to hear how he’s forcing the ball too much. That shouldn’t dictate his thought process and I don’t believe it does, but did anybody see Atlanta’s Matt Ryan just throw it up to Julio Jones on Sunday night? At some point you have to take chances.

3. I wonder how Orlando Scandrick will do against Wes Welker. He fared pretty well against him when the Cowboys played at the New England Patriots in 2011. Welker had a touchdown, but caught six passes for 45 yards. Leading into that game Welker had at least 81 yards in every game. He had only three games with fewer than 45 yards the rest of the season on his way to a 122-catch, 1,569-yard season. Scandrick’s quickness helps in his matchup with Welker, but so does his aggressiveness. He can play as well as he possibly can against Welker, but the Broncos have Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker and Julius Thomas that will cause the Cowboys issues.

4. I wonder when the Cowboys realize their running game is at its best when they run out of three-wide receiver formations. They want to be as 12 personnel team and run two-tight end formations as much as possible, but it’s just not sticking so far. The Cowboys like it because they feel like they can dictate to the defense because 12 personnel does not allow the defense to determine the strength of the formation. By my count, DeMarco Murray has 152 yards on 25 carries out of 11 personnel in the last two games. He has 83 yards on 15 carries out of 12 or 13 personnel. Both are good, but 41 of those 83 yards came on one play against St. Louis. When the field is spread, Murray is a better runner and the Cowboys are able to block it better. This running game is not about overpowering defenses. It’s about angles. With more room, Murray looks like he can get to the angles better.

5. The Cowboys have shown nothing has changed from the last two years with their win-one, lose-one start to the first quarter of the season. I picked them to go 10-6 at the start of the season and to be a wild-card team. Clearly the NFC East will not get a wild-card spot, so the Cowboys will have to win the division. Getting off to a 3-1 start was a must, in my view, and they are 2-2. So now I wonder where they will steal a win later in the season to make up for it. This week against Denver? Hard to be confident in that one. At Detroit later in the year? Stafford is playing well. At Chicago? Winning in December at Soldier Field is tough. At New Orleans? Yikes. Winning their division games is even more important now and they might have to win five of their six games inside the NFC, so they have to sweep the Giants and sweep either the Philadelphia Eagles or Washington Redskins. Garrett does not look at it like this. He’s a one-game-at-a-time kind of guy, but that doesn’t mean the guys in the locker room are thinking that way too.

IRVING, Texas -- A few weeks ago, defensive tackle Jason Hatcher challenged his teammates to stop the roller coaster the Cowboys have been on the past few years.

The team hasn't won consecutive games since a three-game win streak last December. The Cowboys (2-2) are currently in first place in the NFC East, but in some ways it doesn't feel like it given the 0-2 mark on the road.

Cornerback Brandon Carr said the team can't find a way to get off the roller coaster.

"You want to be consistent that’s the whole thing," Carr said Monday, the day after the Cowboys' 30-21 loss to the San Diego Chargers. "I get tired of saying it, the whole roller coaster thing, it’s real and we still haven’t found an answer to it. But all you can do is come to work each day and prepare and get ready for the next opponent we're going to face."

Carr called the loss to the Chargers humbling and said the defense was embarrassed. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 401 yards with three touchdown passes. The Chargers offense kept the Cowboys' defense on the field for the bulk of the third quarter. The Cowboys' had seven offensive snaps in the third quarter as Rivers and the Chargers scored 20 unanswered points.

"It makes your stomach hurt," Carr said. "It gets your emotions and everything into it, it's just not a good feeling. We have too many good ballplayers, good coaches, just overall a good program, a good organization and we should be winning these games. It's tough to win on the road, but the good teams get the job done and we have to find a way to look within ourselves and get the job done."

IRVING, Texas -- There were plenty of questions during coach Jason Garrett's news conference on Monday about cornerback Morris Claiborne.

In Sunday's loss to the San Diego Chargers, an unofficial count had Claiborne allowing four receptions for 84 yards. The four times he was targeted in what was thought to be man coverage, were all completed passes.

Claiborne lost the starting job to Orlando Scandrick because of a shoulder injury, but he's continuing to play through the injury on passing downs and when offenses line up with three receivers.

It seems Claiborne is playing with a lack of confidence and is struggling with his techniques when he faces receivers in tight coverage.

"I think it’s probably a combination," Garrett said. "Technically, you go back at each of the completions against him and you say, 'Hey, you should do this. You should do that.' But I also think confidence, playing that position, is critical. And usually those two things work hand in hand. When you’re playing technically sound and you have ability, you tend to have more and more confidence because you’re in the right place. They went to him too much in this ballgame, and they were too effective. He’s just got to play better, and he will play better."

An NFC personnel man had this to say about Claiborne: "He's a good cover guy with top-flight weight, height and speed to cover, but he gets lost trying to find the ball. He disrupts the ball, but he's not a ball hawk."

The same personnel man said chargers receiver Keenan Allen exposed Claiborne. Allen caught three of his five passes for 80 yards against Claiborne. On Allen's second reception of the game, he adjusted to a deep pass faster than Claiborne did to make a 31-yard reception.

The Cowboys expected more from Claiborne as he enters his second season and considering what the team did, move from No. 14 to No. 6 in draft selections to get him, you might say he's been disappointing.

"It’s a challenging position," Garrett said. "The quarterbacks and receivers in this league are very good. Guys at the college level, they don’t face the expertise or just the level of play, the level of skill that these guys have, so sometimes if you’re a more talented player, you can get away with being a little late to the ball because you can come back. The ball’s not really where it’s supposed to be. But guys in this league throw the ball on time. They throw it where they want to throw it. The route running is good. So technically you just have to be really, really sound to give yourself a chance to succeed out there, because you’re by yourself."

IRVING, Texas -- Jason Garrett and his Dallas Cowboys coaching staff have shown they will not be patient with players.

Through the first quarter of the season, they have made a change at safety, replacing veteran Will Allen with rookie J.J. Wilcox; Brian Waters replaced Mackenzy Bernadeau at right guard, and in the second half of Sunday’s loss to the San Diego Chargers linebacker Bruce Carter was benched and replaced by Ernie Sims.

“I think we’ve always strived to make everybody feel accountable for what they’re doing around here and oftentimes competition allows you to do that better as a football coach and as a football staff,” Garrett said. “You look at the guys you have available to you and you make your best decision for your football team. And if you have guys who are competing for a spot and you can put the next guy in and he can be as good and maybe better than the guy who’s playing right now, you are more willing and able to do that. Hopefully the competition will bring out the best in both of those players who are competing for that spot and they’ll get better and you’ll consequently get better as a team.”

Guard Ronald Leary allowed a sack and had a key penalty, which could put Bernadeau in the mix at left guard. Cornerback Morris Claiborne did not play well against the Chargers, but the Cowboys are not ready to go with rookie B.W. Webb in the slot in order to keep Orlando Scandrick outside.

“We feel like the combination we had out there is the best combination, and if we thought otherwise we would make that change. But what he needs to do is just play better,” Garrett said. “He needs to play with the right technique and do it consistently over and over and over again.”

IRVING, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys linebacker Bruce Carter was taken out of the lineup Sunday against the San Diego Chargers not just for poor play but also a slight foot injury.

“That’s something we heard about in the second half of the game,” coach Jason Garrett said.

But the coach was clearly displeased with Carter’s performance. He was beaten by Chargers running back Danny Woodhead for two touchdowns and had other struggles in coverage.

“There were some other things going on in our other coverage that he didn’t do quite enough good job on,” Garrett said. “We wanted to give Ernie Sims some chances to come play, particularly in that nickel package. ... We’ve just got to get better there. Bruce has been a good cover linebacker for us, and he’ll be a good cover linebacker for us again.”

Garrett did not commit to Carter in the nickel package.

“We’ll continue the evaluation and we’ll give them both chances as the week goes on and make those determinations by game time,” Garrett said.

IRVING, Texas -- The day after, Cowboys rookie wide receiver Terrance Williams was still dealing with his fourth-quarter fumble in Sunday's loss to the San Diego Chargers.

Williams caught a short pass over the middle and while trying to stretch out for more yards, he was stripped of the ball at the Chargers 2. The miscue came at a difficult time for the Cowboys. They trailed 30-21 and a touchdown would have made it a one-score game. Instead the Cowboys had to continue to play catch-up after the fumble with 2:42 to play in the game.

"I still feel the same," Williams said of his sour mood. "I should have gotten down. I felt like we were pressed for time, but I should have gotten down so we could have kicked the field goal."

Williams was escorted off the field by Bryan Wansley, the director of player development. And several of his teammates, Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray, along with team owner Jerry Jones offered words of encouragement to Williams in the locker room.

Williams also dropped a sideline pass earlier in the game. Overall, Williams had career highs in catches (seven) and yards (71) in the loss to the Chargers and continues to show the Cowboys why he's got a bright future.

But some mental mistakes, including running the wrong route which led to an interception against the New York Giants in Week 1, have opened the door for critics.

"He made a number of plays for us," coach Jason Garrett said. "He obviously had the fumble going in -- we had a real good scoring chance with a few minutes to go in the game. It was an effort play he was making, there's no question about that. He catches it short of the goal line and he wants to get in and he extends the ball, and one of the things he's going to learn as a young player is when you're in those situations guys are fantastic at getting the ball out. It's a physical game and they're going to knock the ball out. So, he'll learn from that experience."

IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys have some optimism that wide receiver Miles Austin might be able to play Sunday against the Denver Broncos.

Austin missed the 30-21 loss to the San Diego Chargers with a hamstring injury suffered during the Sept. 22 win against the St. Louis Rams. Austin did not practice last week and did not do any running on the field during the portion of the sessions that were open to the media.

“He ran here the last couple of days and he’s made progress, so hopefully as this week goes on he’s able to practice and have a chance to play in this ballgame,” coach Jason Garrett said.

Last week Garrett said Austin’s hamstring strain was not as severe as the ones he suffered the previous two seasons. Austin did not miss a game in 2012, but he missed six in 2011 because of separate hamstring strains.

A review of four hot issues from the Dallas Cowboys' 30-21 loss to the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.

Don’t lament the running game: The easy thing to do after a game is look at the final stats and say something like, "The Cowboys should have run it more."

DeMarco Murray had 70 yards on 14 carries, and, as a team, the Cowboys had 92 yards on 16 carries. However, the Cowboys did not have the ball enough in the second half to continue to make a dent with the running game. They were down two scores by the time they had their third possession of the second half, and running it made no sense.

The line rotation appears over: The right guard job now belongs to Brian Waters. After playing two series in each half of the Week 2 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and then alternating series with Mackenzy Bernadeau in the Week 3 win against the St. Louis Rams, Waters played the entire game Sunday against the Chargers. The Cowboys like Waters' strength and savvy, but left guard Ronald Leary will have to remain on his toes. As much as the Cowboys like him, they will not hesitate to make a move. So far this season, the Cowboys have benched Will Allen and Bruce Carter. They’re not afraid to make a decision.

Quick-strike defense: With Sean Lee's 52-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter, the Cowboys have three defensive scores in four games. They had three all of last season, and the last time they had four in a season came in 2010 after Jason Garrett took over as head coach.

Brandon Carr returned an interception of Eli Manning for a touchdown in the season-opening win against the New York Giants and Barry Church added a 27-yard fumble return for a score. Perhaps it could be an omen for this week’s game against the Denver Broncos. The last time the Cowboys saw Peyton Manning, Lee and Orlando Scandrick returned interceptions for touchdowns on Dec. 5, 2010, when Manning was with the Indianapolis Colts.

Need field-position work: Chris Jones has a big leg, but he needs to do a better job of pinning opponents deep in their territory. And when he has a punt land on the 15, as happened Sunday, the coverage team has to down the ball before it gets to the end zone. Lance Dunbar was unable to track a Jones punt in the fourth quarter, which went for a touchback and gave the Chargers the ball at the 20.

Six plays later, Antonio Gates had a 56-yard touchdown catch. Had Dunbar made the play, then the Chargers could have had to go a longer distance to score. Of course, with the way the defense played Sunday, it might not have mattered.

SAN DIEGO -- Unlike the Week 2 loss at Kansas City, where the Dallas Cowboys didn't run enough in a 17-16 loss, things have picked up the past two games.

Dallas has rushed 50 times the past two games, and while the team has split those games in the win-loss column, establishing the running attack is now part of the conversation.

Starter DeMarco Murray rushed for 70 yards on 14 carries against the San Diego Chargers in Sunday's 30-21 loss.

The Cowboys led 21-13 at halftime and were averaging 5.6 yards per game on the ground. Murray, despite only nine carries, rushed for 49 yards.

In the fourth quarter, the Cowboys tried to establish the run with Murray, who gained 21 yards on his first three carries of the period. But the Cowboys got away from it after a holding call on left guard Ronald Leary on second-and-4. Faced with second-and-long, the Cowboys passed for the rest of the game.

"I thought they were going great through the entire game," Murray said. "I thought we were able to control the line of scrimmage with the inside-outside zone (attack). We did good."

SAN DIEGO -- After a 30-21 loss to the San Diego Chargers, the Cowboys come home in first place in the NFC East, but it doesn't feel like it. We review what we've seen in our weekly Three up and Three Down report.

Three Up

Tony Romo. The quarterback had the ball for seven snaps in the third quarter and three possessions in the fourth quarter. Romo completed 27 of 37 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. It was a solid effort for Romo, who threw one pass away and was victimized by four dropped passes.

George Selvie. In a game where the Chargers needed to play four backup offensive linemen due to injuries, the Cowboys didn't get a good enough pass rush. Selvie had the best game among the pass-rushers with one sack, a pass breakup and a tackle for loss.

DeMarco Murray. The starting running back rushed for 70 yards on 14 carries Sunday. He didn't get enough touches in the second half because the Cowboys were forced to throw the ball, but you can't blame the run game for the Cowboys' struggles on Sunday.

Three Down

Bruce Carter. He allowed two touchdowns, was benched for veteran Ernie Sims and is having questions raised about his ability to make plays in the passing game. Carter is an athletic player but looks lost right now.

Morris Claiborne. The cornerback might never get his starting job back. Like Carter, he's struggling to cover people and doesn't seem to be playing with confidence. Claiborne has a bad shoulder and the Cowboys are forced to use him because B.W. Webb isn't ready yet.

Monte Kiffin. The defensive coordinator sounded confused when talking about the benching of Carter, and while he did admit the defense didn't make enough plays, his Tampa 2 scheme looked bad against the Chargers' hurry-up offense and it's clear the secondary has issues.

SAN DIEGO – From the day DeMarcus Ware arrived with the Dallas Cowboys, he has seen special attention from offenses.

Sunday was no different.

No matter if Ware was over left tackle Mike Harris or rookie right tackle D.J. Fluker, the San Diego Chargers made sure they knew where Ware was. The end result was zero sacks for Ware, who had recorded four sacks in his previous two games.

“I don’t care about getting doubled,” Ware said. “Sometimes I got singled and I should’ve won. It’s not really about a double-team or getting singled. We have to be effective, and I know going back how teams are going to attack us. They’re going to do the same things. We have to attack them when it comes.”

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers shredded the Cowboys for 401 passing yards, but he was selective in his shots down the field. Most of his throws were short and underneath the coverage, making Ware – and the rest of the pass rush – ineffective.

The next quarterback the Cowboys will face is Denver’s Peyton Manning, and Ware will see a replacement left tackle, Chris Clark, who is taking over for the injured Ryan Clady.

“At the end of the day, if you don’t get pressure on the quarterback, they’re going to kill you,” Ware said. “And you can see that from this week.”

SAN DIEGO -- This might not be the best time for the Dallas Cowboys to see Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.

After Philip Rivers torched the Cowboys for 401 yards on 35-of-42 passing with three touchdowns in the San Diego Chargers’ 31-20 win Sunday, they have to get ready for the otherworldly Manning.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” linebacker Sean Lee said. “We’ve got a tough schedule. We’ve got to start winning week in and week out and you’ve got to play great quarterbacks and great teams every week. Until we lock it down and beat teams week in and week out we’re going to be that 8-8 football team.”

Manning, who will be making his first appearance at AT&T Stadium, has the Broncos undefeated (4-0) with 16 touchdowns and no interceptions. He has completed 117 of 156 passes for 1,470 yards. The Cowboys were only able to sack Rivers once and were not able to get him off the spot.

"That's not good," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said when asked about Manning's impending arrival. "Last time I checked, the quarterback ratings came out this week [and] No. 1 was Manning. Guess who number two was? Rivers."

The only other time Manning visited the area came in 2006 when the 11-0 Indianapolis Colts came to Texas Stadium. Tony Romo was making only his fourth start and the Cowboys beat the Colts 21-14 that day.