Tony Romo has to step up when it matters this year for the Cowboys to win. I wouldn't bet on that.

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The Cowboys are 6-2.  They have won four straight.  Tony Romo is such a great quarterback.  Wade Phillips is a great head coach.  They look like a Super Bowl team.  Sound familar?  That's because this is exactly what we've heard around this exact time of year for the past two seasons.

Maybe the Cowboys are a different team.  Maybe Miles Austin is actually a top NFL receiver.  Maybe their defense won't give up big plays anymore.  Maybe Tony Romo will try not to have a month long choke job again in December this year and maybe Wade Phillips isn't an incompetent head coach.

I just wouldn't count on it.

I hate the Cowboys (being a Bills fan and growing up watching the Giants will do that) and I'm positive that affects my ability to judge them impartially, but what reason do I really have to say without a doubt that this team is different from the past three editions? 

I would prefer to be convinced by this team before I buy the hype surrounding them.  Even if they win in December I'm much more interested in how they do in January.  The last time they won a game in the playoffs was in 1996.  

In 2006, Romo led his team down the field and the Cowboys were in range for a chip shot field goal.  We were watching the emergence of a young quarterback, that was until Romo botched the hold on a perfectly snapped ball and then got tackled trying to get into the endzone.

In 2007, the Cowboys finished 13-3, had home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs and played the Giants in the divisional round.  The Giants secondary was devastated with injuries and the Cowboys had won three straight meetings between the teams, with Romo leading the way.  The Cowboys lost 21-17 and then Terrell Owens cried about Romo being his quarterback.

In 2008 this team did a total suck job and missed the playoffs after being a Super Bowl favorite early in the season.  

The key to this team has been and will continue to be Tony Romo.  That would frighten me, because the past two seasons as the stage has gotten bigger, Romo has gotten smaller.  This is why his sudden success this year has been anything but a surprise.

The Cowboys got off to a slow start which put them on the back burner and suddenly Romo started playing well.  How shocking.

Wade Phillips is your head coach.  That's a problem.  This is a guy that actually spawned the legend of a Doug Flutie Curse.  He replaced Flutie with the Bills in 1999, after he led them to a playoff berth, with Rob Johnson for a wild card game in Tennessee.  That game is better known for the Music City Miracle.  My hate for the Cowboys became complete when this buffoon got the job.  

Are the Cowboys for real this year? Do you believe in the resurrection of Tony Romo?  Am I just bitter that Wade Phillips screwed the Bills in 1999 or has he really become a better quarterback?  I'll be watching the rest of the year hoping they prove me right.