Needs and Hopes and Wants and Shoulds and Ifs. . . .

"We should win out even though"

"Cowboys need to answer the bell"

"If they don't understand it now, they're never going to."

"We need to play better against Atlanta"

"I hope Parrish can get prepared enough to start"

"if we had a quality speedy FS then we could let roy actually play his position"

"I just want them to win"

These are just a sampling of what's been posted in the past week. Monday morning brought a different light on the Dallas Cowboys after suffering humiliation at home against the Saints. Now, we're not so sure about the defense. Or the offensive line. Or Tony Romo. Or the coaching staff. One game and the questions are back. With a vengeance. Because one loss at this point can be devastating. Playoff positioning is at stake. Hell, the playoffs themselves are at stake.

Rope is being purchased for public hangings. The contract for building the gallows is still up for grabs, but let one more loss happen and expect a contractor to be hired immediately.

As a fan myself, I understand how people focus their anger towards one aspect of the game, or one player. When you have a game like the Saints game where the Cowboys were just outplayed at virtually every aspect of the game, it takes a few days for it to all sink in. We all seem to admit that there were many problems, but many focus the blame on one part of the game. Fans of Julius Jones and/or Marion Barber point out that the Cowboys shouldn't have abandoned he running game. Fans of the coaches point out that any coach can call a play, but if the players don't execute, it is all for naught. Fans of Tony Romo point out the lack of protection as the cause of his poor play. Fans of the defense point out that the offense was unable to maintain drives and the defense was forced to stay on the field too long and thus became tired.

And guess what. They're all right. I have said all week that this was a total team meltdown. No one is exempt from blame or criticism. Everyone could have done better than what they did. Period.

And we all know what "needs" or "should" or we "want" or "hope" to happen. And we all know the answers. They all begin with "if".

If the defense picks it up a notch. If the safeties can get the job done. If the offensive line provides protection. If Tony Romo can come back from such a loss. If, if, if. Seven days ago, most of us weren't doing much if'ing. Now, that's all we're doing and frankly it just sucks. While I never bit into the Tony Romo/Pro Bowl/Hall of Fame cheese, there's no doubt his play had been superb and riding the high was very infectuous. Dallas Cowboys football was a whole lot more fun before Sunday night's game. Now, to quote Bill Parcells, it's "critical". Critical isn't fun, in case you're wondering.

Now, it's Saturday morning and tonight is the game against the Falcons. While I did have some concerns about the Saints game last week at this time, there's no way I expected the absolute asskicking that transpired. Until last week, I wasn't overly concerned with the Falcons game. Sure, it's a road game and all that, but the Cowboys were on a roll. That roll got buttered last week by the Saints. Now, I'm right in there with most of you. I have no clue what's going to happen. This team has come back from some losses. Tony Romo has come back from losses and performed well. But this team hasn't come back from anything remotely resembling the Saints game. Can they? Of course. Will they? I have no idea and neither does anyone else.

I do have to say this, though. The Cowboys seem to be living a charmed existence this season. When they need other teams to lose, games the Cowboys aren't playing in, it seems to happen. The Bears drop a game. Seattle drops a game. Will this continue? I have no idea about that one either. Someone's going to be the winner in the Giants/Eagles game. And someone's going to be the loser. The Giants losing would be better for the Cowboys than Philly losing. I think. On the other hand, Philly is getting on a roll with Garcia and no one's buttered that roll yet. And we don't need to be facing a hot Philly team next week. Regardless, the Cowboys need to tend to their own business by winning this game. Next week will have enough of its own "if"s.

We "should" win out the rest of the games. We "need to" and "I hope" we do. I "want" the Dallas Cowboys to play like men on a mission. "If" we do, maybe some of this uncertainty will go away.

In the meantime, it sucks.