In coming to terms with their first loss since week four in Denver, the Cowboys seemed determined to leave the ugliness and unease in Wisconsin and look forward to the next game. Eventually, they hope, this game and those that follow it will constitute a new streak; but being the Dallas Cowboys 2009 and not the Dallas Cowboys 2008, they seemed equally determined to not put the proverbial horse before the cart.
"It's good to start over and hopefully get the ball rolling again," said linebacker Bradie James. "We had a good run, but from here on out, we have to earn our victories. It's just that simple."
In a span of 11 days, beginning with Sunday's loss to Green Bay, the Cowboys will play three games, a tall order by any standard. But in this physically daunting task, the team sees an enviable opportunity to right the ship.
"The best thing about the league in the middle of the season is, if you lose, you've got another game. It doesn't matter who it is, or who you're playing, but [Sunday]'s a division game and for some it's a rival game, but it's an important game because it's the next game."
Aside from the strict win-the-next-game mentality, Dallas seems passively aware of the fact that we are know on the backstretch of November; how the team will allay their recent December woes, of course, remains to be seen. But a strong finish to November would certainly be a good start.
"We're getting ready to go into a difficult stretch, definitely, with these two games being here back to back like that, we play Sunday and then we play Thursday, then you've got December," James continued. "So you want to be rolling when you get into December, but the only way you can do that is to win the next game, and then go from there."
