games of the 2008 season after Stewart was stripped of the responsibilities. On January 9, 2010, in the 2009–10 playoffs, Phillips' Cowboys defeated the Eagles in the wild card round, ending the club's 12-year playoff win drought (6 games total, Phillips was only coach for one of those losses) and earning Phillips his first playoff win. Following the 2009 season, Phillips signed a contract extension through the 2011 season. However, he was fired by the Cowboys on November 8, 2010, following the second-worst start in franchise history (one win in their first eight games) punctuated by a 45–7 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Garrett was named interim coach, then permanent successor, and held the position through 2019. Houston Texans On January 5, 2011, Phillips was hired as the defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans, replacing Frank Bush, who was released by Texans owner Bob McNair. The Texans defense made major improvements on defense in Phillips' first year calling Houston's defense. Houston allowed the fourth-fewest points in the league in 2011 (compared to fourth-most in 2010), the second-fewest yards allowed (third-most in 2010) and third-fewest yards per play (4.8, compared to 6.0, second-worst in 2010). On November 3, 2013, Texans head coach Gary Kubiak collapsed at the end of the first half of the Texans-Colts game; he was then hospitalized at a local hospital. In Kubiak's absence, Phillips was given the head coaching duties as the acting head coach for the remainder of the game. On November 6, 2013, the Texans and Kubiak decided to temporarily hand Phillips the head coaching duties, and named him the interim head coach until Kubiak was medically cleared to return. Exactly one month later, Kubiak was fired after his team had lost 11 games in a row. Once again, Phillips served as interim head coach for the Texans until the end of the season, when former Penn State head coach and New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien was hired as the new head coach. When Phillips was dismissed by Houston, this ended a continuous run where he had coached football at the high school, college, and NFL levels. Denver Broncos (second stint) On January 28, 2015, Phillips reunited with Gary Kubiak, joining the latter's staff as the defensive coordinator on the Denver Broncos. It would be Phillips' second stint at that position with the team. Phillips replaced his predecessor's complex wait-and-react scheme with