IRVING, Texas - After one month, the Cowboys are 2-2.
Not good. Not bad.
The Cowboys have the same record as defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh. They have the same record as San Diego, considered one of the AFC's favorites. Four other teams also are 2-2.
But the Cowboys find themselves in a precarious position with three-quarters of the season to play. The early part of the schedule was set up for them to string together wins before finishing with tougher teams in their cruelest month, December.
At halftime against Carolina two weeks ago, coach Wade Phillips challenged his team to play better, delivering an "It's up to you," message that seemed to hit home. The result: the team's first win at Cowboys Stadium.
With 12 games remaining, it might seem early to take a big-picture view, but it's up to the Cowboys to figure out what they are and what they will be. Fast - as soon as Sunday at winless Kansas City.
At least that's how wide receiver Patrick Crayton sees it.
"I think it's definitely [gut-check] time," Crayton said. "It's time for us to really check ourselves now and say, 'Hey, look here, regardless of what it's going to take, we're going to have to come out and we're going to have to start winning these games ugly at the end,' and be consistent or we're going to be inconsistent."
Consistency has been an issue for this team the last few years. Too many penalties. Too many turnovers. Not enough takeaways. Not enough defensive stands. One week, the offense plays well. The next week, the defense does.
Since the 12-1 start to Phillips' tenure in 2007, the Cowboys are 12-12. They have won back-to-back games just once in the last 12 months with a three-game winning streak in Weeks 11-13 after Tony Romo's return from a fractured pinky.
"It's a long season," Romo said in the locker room after Sunday's 17-10 loss at Denver. "There's going to be a lot of ups and downs along the way. You obviously want to have one of those streaks where you can run off six, eight wins in a row. Hopefully we can get that started this week."
There are different ways to look at the Cowboys' 2-2 beginning.
Phillips sees a team lose in the waning moments to two undefeated teams (the New York Giants and Broncos). One play here or there, and the Cowboys could be 4-0 and riding early-season momentum once again.
But the other side says the Cowboys' two victories have come against winless Tampa Bay and Carolina, and they failed to perform in the clutch in their losses.
"Who says we're mediocre?" safety Ken Hamlin asked.
The .500 record.
"Being 2-2 doesn't mean you're mediocre," Hamlin said. "I can go back in the past and go through teams who were 1-2 or 2-2 or whatever at this time and still went to the Super Bowl."
This is the eighth time since Jerry Jones became the owner and general manager in 1989 that the Cowboys have been 2-2. They made the playoffs in four of the previous seven times, including 2006 when Romo took over as the starter.
In order to make it a fifth time, they have to get off the win-one, lose-one train.
"We still have a lot of ball to play. But next month, we won't have a lot of ball to play," linebacker Bradie James said. "So we need to right some wrongs right now and find a way."
The Cowboys are 2-2 for the eighth time under Jerry Jones' stewardship. They made the playoffs four of the previous seven times:
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