The Longest Mile

How does 8-5 feel? Not good at all when the last two games were lost by a combined 45 points.

And when the coach is Bill Parcells, it feels downright miserable.

“It makes for a loooooooong week,” safety Darren Woodson said. “You can’t wait until they blow that whistle for the Washington game. That’s the kind of week this is ... a lot of yelling, a lot of screaming. Nothing’s going to be right no matter what it is. He’s a sore loser, and I think that’s what he wants us all to be, sore losers.

“He’s doing a good job of that.”

After going 1-3 through a tough November schedule, the Dallas Cowboys are in danger of losing their grip on the improbable playoff run they crafted with a 5-1 start. Their final three games, all against teams currently with losing records, will determine whether the quick start in Parcells’ first year was just an early fluke.

The homestretch starts today against the Washington Redskins (5-8).

“I’m glad that we have something to play for. That’s very important, particularly in your first year,” Parcells said. “This is a very, very key game for us.”

If other results fall just the right way, the Cowboys can even clinch a playoff berth with a victory. The NFC East title looks out of reach, however, following last week’s loss at Philadelphia.

But the trip to Washington is no gimme. The Redskins have lost seven of their last nine, but most of the games have been close. A weight was lifted when they beat the New York Giants last week, ending a three-game losing streak and giving quarterback Tim Hasselbeck his first NFL win.

“It feels really good,” Hasselbeck said. “Obviously it feels good for me in terms of proving that we can win games with me in there, but more importantly in terms of the team, we needed this bad. Week after week of just losing, being close, just gets frustrating. It’s like walking on a treadmill when you’d rather be outside.”

Plus, the Dallas game always means rivalry week in Washington, even though it’s been more like bully-bashing in recent years. The Cowboys have won 11 of the last 12, including a 21-14 victory in November that nearly set new standards for unwatchable football until Dallas pulled away in the second half.

“It’s our Super Bowl,” Washington cornerback Fred Smoot said. “This is the game we’re going to rise up. This is the game we want. I hate the idea of spoiling. I’d rather somebody try to spoil us, because that means we’re going to the playoffs. But I hate Dallas. I ain’t trying to let them out of here a winner -- no way.”

The Cowboys won the first game by blitzing Patrick Ramsey silly, but Ramsey is out for the season with a foot injury. Hasselbeck, though less experienced, has better mobility and a keener sense of when to get rid of the ball.

To no one’s surprise, the teams’ hands-on owners made news this week. Washington’s Dan Snyder gave an interview that consisted of just one word -- “absolutely” -- when asked by The Washington Post whether coach Steve Spurrier will return next season. There’s no telling whether it was just an off-the-cuff answer or a calculated move against the possibility Spurrier might want to leave, but that one word managed to become big news in a locker room tired of yearly change.

Dallas owner Jerry Jones, meanwhile, made a strong public statement in support of quarterback Quincy Carter, who threw for just 93 yards in the 36-10 loss against the Eagles.

Parcells didn’t want to talk about Carter’s future -- “We got more important things on the horizon,” he said -- leaving Jones’ remarks as a rare upbeat moment in a somber week at Valley Ranch.

“Like, it’s the end of the world,” Woodson said. “If you don’t come back this week and play well, it’s all over. That’s our feeling.”