IRVING, Texas - So Terrell Owens didn't think he had enough good opportunities for catches Sunday.

That was last week.

And Wade Phillips didn't think the Cowboys ran the ball enough times against the Redskins.

That was last week.

Even Jason Witten is known to complain to Tony Romo that he doesn't get the ball enough. It's all in the past, just like the loss. The next time the Cowboys lose, there's bound to be reason for complaint again.

Everybody wants theirs, but each player's goal is the same: A team win. Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett still has to call the plays to best utilize the offense's many talents, and Romo still has to find the open guy. After all the dust settles from the discussion about what went wrong against Washington, the Cowboys still have to execute the offense Sunday against Cincinnati and in the games thereafter.

It will be the same offense the Cowboys installed during training camp, and virtually the same one that scored 455 points last season. One average performance aside, it's about as prolific an offense as the franchise has enjoyed in its near 50-year history.

Things won't change because of a single loss, no matter the star power of the guys with hurt feelings, and no matter how hard the national media attempts to declare this 3-1 team a sinking ship. The Cowboys say they're focused on putting Sunday's game behind them. To restore the offense to what it was during the season's first three weeks, they'll go back to the old plan of spreading the ball around. If they do so and notch a win Sunday, it makes this week's prime-time drama old news. Owens said the offense is stagnant when he doesn't get the ball, but there's more to powering the offense than just getting him involved.

"The changes we need to make is we need to get a win," Owens said, unwilling to completely take back his postgame comments. "I feel like everything I'm saying is being nitpicked . . . I'm still going to say I feel like I should get the ball on certain plays. Obviously we didn't have the balanced attack as we've had the first three games. Other than that, I'm fine, and this team is fine."

When Owens speaks, it's national news, no matter if what he says is right or wrong, no matter if the questions asked are legitimate. Whether there was or wasn't an intense conversation behind closed doors, the Cowboys will tell you they aren't as divided as some would have you believe.

"I promise you we're fine in this locker room," Owens said. "I think everybody in this locker room from the coaches on down knows that everything I said was blown out of proportion. It shouldn't have been made into such a big deal."

Owens and Romo both denied they had a serious conversation following Sunday's loss, and Owens said if there had been, no one outside the room would know about it.

Romo claimed to be oblivious to the ongoing soap opera and the speculation the team, and his relationship and Owens, were ready to be torn apart.

"I think he's not unlike Jason Witten or Marion Barber, I know they both wanted the ball more in that game," Romo said. "That's part of being a good player. You want the ball. That's what separates them from an average player sometimes."

In Wednesday's locker room session open to the media, one reporter explained to Romo that Owens was different than Witten or Barber. Does the receiver's history of taking his grievances public and distracting previous teams bother Romo?

"This isn't his first three weeks here or something," Romo said. "It's not uncommon for him to speak out when he wants the ball more. Jason (Witten) will keep it bottled up, but I also hear about it in the back when (the media) aren't around. That's not a knock on those guys."

Romo said he doesn't consciously make an effort to get Owens the ball, instead the attention is toward doing what it takes to win. Some players may feel that if the team wins, they're bound to get their share of the stats. Romo explained that Owens feels if he gets the ball, the team is bound to win. Sometimes big-play guys are just like that - take it from another guy whose words are often national news.

"I understand where he's coming from as a receiver," said Bengals wide out Chad Ocho Cinco during a Wednesday conference call. "If they throw him 20 balls and he only caught seven and they lost . . . throw him 40, and he'll catch 14 and they'll win. Out of the 14 that he hits, some of them are going to be big plays and some of them will add up to touchdowns."

That may be the case, but don't expect the offense to give in to Owens just because of his perceived displeasure. If anything, expect the Cowboys to pass the ball less altogether. Phillips said this week that there were times when the Cowboys needed to run Marion Barber into Washington's eight-man front instead of calling 'check-with-me' run-to-pass audibles at the line of scrimmage. Phillips made sure to clarify the switches were made based on what the defense showed, not any indiscretion by Romo.

He also said Romo wasn't forcing any balls to Owens outside of what the quarterback's normal progression would dictate, and despite the receiver's natural desire for more and better looks, the Cowboys aren't about to mess with what has been a good thing the better part of the last 30 games or so.

"There's a primary receiver that he looks to first," Phillips said. "In some cases we say we want to throw it to so-and-so if we can."

Like Romo, Phillips praised Owens for the competitive drive that makes him want the ball, and sometimes inspires him to make that desire public.

"You're in a game, you want to win," Phillips said. "If you think you can help win, guys are going to say things. As long as they do what the team wants them to do - T.O. is a leader as far as the team is concerned. He wants to win, and that's what I like about him. He does everything he can on the field to try to win. He tries to block, and you've seen all the other things he does too."

Owens said Wednesday he didn't understand how he could go from being praised for hustling downfield to make a tackle after an interception and blocking on a long run against Green Bay, to being vilified the next week. Phillips didn't seem so perplexed by the media storm.

"It's all part of it," the coach said. "It's all part of the story . . . and the Cowboys. Most of it is the Cowboys."

The record-breaking audience that tuned into ESPN for Week Two's Cowboys-Eagles game only provides further proof that the Cowboys make for instant ratings.

Sprinkle in a dash of T.O., and the pundits go wild.

"I know that crew over at ESPN definitely should be up for an Oscar nominee at the end of the year," Owens said. "They're definitely making their stake at a claim to divide this team and it's not going to happen. They would be the first ones to criticize me if they felt I said something wrong. I understand the political campaign is going on, ESPN really hasn't had the ratings that they've had in a while so I'm pretty sure that's why they made a big deal out of what I said."

The Cowboys are trying to put all this behind them, but the only way they can really do that is by beating Cincinnati. If the team wins and the offense gets back on track, Owens can say whatever he wants and it still won't generate as many headlines as after the Washington loss. All the media buzz?

That was last week.

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