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IRVING, Texas - This is the time of year when this week is bigger than last week. This game coming up is much more important than the last game. And guess what? The game after that will be as well.
And so on, and so on. The Cowboys can only hope there will be another "so on" after that.
The hole has been dug and currently the Cowboys have their heads out of it. Yes, that mythical theory of "if the playoffs ended today" . . . and they never do . . . the Cowboys would indeed own the final playoff spot as the sixth seed.
Of course, it's easy to wonder just how better of a situation the Cowboys would be in had they taken care of business Sunday in Pittsburgh. Instead, they saw a 10-point lead evaporate with quickness, a 13-3 lead turned into a 20-13 loss.
Just like that, 9-4 became 8-5. Yes, the Cowboys are still very much in the playoff hunt, but games like that, the ones that were in the grasp, can't be given away.
That's why some of the Cowboys still seemed to be a little numb Monday morning at Valley Ranch, grasping for answers.
"We had those guys where we wanted them, to be totally honest with you," defensive end Marcus Spears said. "So for the game to end like that, you feel like, 'Was there anything else we could've done to stop them from winning the ballgame or even scoring on that last drive?' When you look at it, they get paid too and they made a few plays to get into the end zone. To hold that team to 10 points was a heck of a stand for us. We have a lot to build on."
And that has to be the mindset now for the Cowboys as they enter the final three games of the season.
As much as the Steelers' loss hurts, the Cowboys have absolutely no time to look back. Not with a Giants game staring them in the face.
That's right, the defending champs are coming to town. New York brings its 11-2 record into Texas Stadium this Sunday and will do so as freshly-clinched division champs. The Cowboys' loss has given the NFC East crown to New York, assuring the Giants of a home game. It also means that if the Cowboys can get one of the two wild card spots, they will be playing on the road in the playoffs for the first round, and the second if they were to advance.
But that's way down the road. All the Cowboys can concern themselves with now is the upcoming game against the Giants. Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said it will be especially important to put the Steelers' in the rearview mirror, which isn't easy to do.
"That's always a concern. You can't live in the past," Phillips said. "You can learn from the past, but you can't live in the past. You can't let the last one hurt you the next one, and even if you win you can't let the last one hurt you the next one. Sometimes winning the last one hurts you, and then you don't bear down as much. Usually in this situation you bear down more, because you lost a game and you have an opportunity, but we've still got to get that over to them."
If anything, this week shouldn't be too hard to get ready for.
After all, it is the Giants. This is the team that knocked you out of the playoffs last year and beat you by three touchdowns earlier in the season. And if nothing else, they're still a division rival.
And don't forget, like the Cowboys, the Giants lost last week as well. New York saw its six-game winning streak come to an end with a home loss to the Eagles, 20-14.
That only seems to amp the intensity even more.
"They're a good football team, and they lost just like us this past week," said Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams. "It's going to be a long week for those guys, it's only their second loss of the year. They're not feeling too good. Nothing will put a smile on their face like beating the Dallas Cowboys. They're going to come in here and spoil our party. We can't let that happen. We've got to go out there and play our ball and do what we're supposed to do."
Phillips said it won't be too difficult to get his team refocused this week with the Giants coming to town.
"That's the good thing about these kinds of things, although we didn't win the last one at least you feel like, and I feel like, the team's going to get up for these games," Phillips said. "They know they're (facing) good teams. They're not going to underestimate the opponent, that kind of thing. They're not going to go into it thinking if we just play we're going to be alright. We've got to play our best. Good teams come through in big games."
Although Dallas faces an 11-win Giants team, the Ravens (8-4) and Eagles (7-6-1) to finish the schedule, it doesn't seem to matter who is facing the Cowboys here to end the season.
The goal will be the same, the Cowboys have no other choice.
"You control your own destiny. You know that now," defensive end Marcus Spears said. "In order for us to be where we need to be, we have to win. If there has ever been a time where you've been in a must-win situation, it's now. We understand that and we have to do what it takes to get to where we want to be."
Where they want to be, obviously, is the playoffs. Right now, the Cowboys are currently in position to get there. To stay there, though, they'll have to win, and probably win out.
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Nick Eatman - 
