"We are at a critical time of the season."

That's what Bill Parcells said on Monday after the Saints opened up a can of whipass on the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night. He's right. If this team is a contender, they will make a statement in Atlanta Saturday night. If Tony Romo is the "real deal", so will he.

I can talk all day long about what the team "needs to do", but everyone knows. The bottom line is the entire team, coaching staff included, needs to climb back on that pony and ride it like there's no tomorrow. For all intents and purposes, there isn't one. If they lose the Atlanta game, it'll be more of a psychological breakdown, Philadelphia will get pumped up even more, as will the Giants and the NFC East title will be in serious jeopardy.

This will be the fifth critical game in a row for the Cowboys. The one that I declared to be the defining game for this season was the one against the Indianapolis Colts. The Cowboys won that one and the first serious talk about playoff contention began. Then the Thanksgiving Day game against Tampa Bay. Tampa isn't a contender, but if the Cowboys dropped that game in front of a national audience, the questioning would begin whether they were serious contenders or not. They won that one. Then the Giants game. On the road, NFC East opponent, NFC East title on the line, playoff positioning on the line, and the Cowboys won it. Barely. But barely counts. Then the Saints, again for playoff positioning. And the Cowboys screwed the pooch on that one.

Now, all the Romomania has stopped. The road to the promise land doesn't look like it's paved in gold quite yet. No one is expounding on how Romo's previous games have proven that he will come back from a 42-17 knockout punch. And the reason they're not expounding on that is very simple. They have no clue how he'll react to that game. There is absolutely no data to draw from that would give anyone an indication one way or the other. This week, what we hear is "I hope" and "they need to" and "he needs to". Well duhhhh. Of course we hope, and the Cowboys need to, and Romo needs to.

Bill Parcells says it's a "critical time". I agree, and so do most Cowboys fans. Extremely critical. I firmly believe that a loss to the Falcons will cause several catastrophic events to occur. I think a loss will bring about a psychological letdown that they won't recover from this season. They might limp into the playoffs, but they won't stay long. I already believe this will be Parcells' last season in Dallas. But a loss here will just cinch it, I believe. Then we're talking new coach, new philosophy, etc. And that leads to a year or two of getting things lined up for the new way of thinking before the Cowboys would get back into contention. Yeah, I'd consider this one "critical".

For Romo, this one's critical. If he comes in, with renewed confidence, has another stellar game like we know he's capable of having, that will filter to the rest of the team. If he comes in looking like the second coming of Quincy Carter, running like a scared jackrabbit, throwing the ball just because he can, not necessarily at anyone in particular, folks, we're in trouble. We desperately need Tony Romo to be "the man", "the real deal", etc. Did I say "desperately"?? I meant it. We need to be able to use that annointing oil Parcells mentioned. The pressure is on Tony Romo with a vengeance. The moon eyed, blindly staring minions are no longer lined up to get on the train to the promise land at Romo's mere beckoning. Someone stuck up a sign that reads "Bridge Out" and Cowboys Nation is wandering around in mindless stupor like Katrina victims were doing last year after the hurricane struck.

What a time for Fathead to come out with their Romo rendering. I bet sales haven't met expectations this week. See, this need for Romo to be "the man" actually affects lives. We all know it's just a game, but there are real life consequences to the ups and downs of particular players and teams. There is pressure on Tony Romo. From his team, his fans, his coaches, and probably more than from anyone else, from his own self.

There are still a few more things I want to see before I decide to climb on the Romo bandwagon. Obviously, one is to know whether there's even a bandwagon to climb on. Another is to see how he handles getting hammered several times in one game. He stuttered for a moment after that solid hit in the Giants game. We don't know how he'll do if he gets several of those in one game. No discussion needed. We simply don't know. And we don't know how Tony Romo deals with an absolute buttkicking. We'll know the answer to that question Saturday night.

One of two things happen this weekend, in my opinion. The Cowboys win, definitively, proving the Saints game was a fluke and gain their confidence back, proving they're a legitimate playoff contender with potential of going further than one game. Or the Cowboys lose, and you can stick a fork in them, they'll be done. You'll get no prediction from me today, either way. Not at a critical time like this.