TAMPA, Fla. -- No matter how this season turns out -- and right now it looks about as promising as a Bobby Jindal presidential run -- the Cowboys must accept the dismal truth.
This team did the absolute least it could before turning the keys of the offense back to Tony Romo.
The inspirational response owner Jerry Jones envisioned when Romo went down with a distal clavicle fracture 57 days ago has drowned out under a steady drumbeat of late-game failures. Sunday's 10-6 loss to young and not-so-good Tampa Bay was simply the latest.
A Cowboys team that was undefeated in Romo's two starts now finds itself at 2-7 and tied for the third longest losing streak in franchise history. Even Jones and his legendary optimism couldn't find a silver lining coming off the field at Raymond James Stadium.
"Nothing positive that you can say about where we are," Jones said.
"We had an opportunity today, and we've had opportunities to win without Romo, and didn't take advantage of them. That's a flaw."
A fatal flaw. The only team in the NFL with fewer victories than the Cowboys at this stage of the season is ...
Well, come to think of it, there isn't one.
Can anyone still seriously use the word playoffs in the same sentence with the Cowboys?
"I'm not sure," defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford said. "We're going to go into every week trying to win no matter what the outcome is, but I'm not sure how this season is going to play out.
"I don't know what else to say. At this point, a lot of us, our emotions are running in different ways. There's a lot of anger right now.
"It just is what it is."
You knew things weren't going the Cowboys' way when Dan Bailey, who hadn't missed a field goal in 11 months, left a 48-yard attempt wide right in the second quarter.
You knew this team was destined to lose again when the defense, for the third consecutive game, was unable to keep the opponent off the scoreboard on its final drive.
You knew when Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston's goal-line fumble was negated by a defensive holding call on safety Jeff Heath that the Cowboys were done.
It marked the fifth time in this losing streak that the Cowboys forced a turnover only to see it overturned by review or penalty.
"It just happened at a horrible time," said Heath, who came up with two interceptions before that inopportune moment.
But don't blame Heath for this loss. Blame the offense.
The Cowboys scraped together only 216 yards in Matt Cassel's final start before Romo returns next week against Miami. The team's final seven possessions resulted in a missed field goal, five punts and an interception.
Dallas had 10 possessions on the afternoon and never gained more than 34 yards on any of them. The team was 4 of 13 on third down and, not surprisingly, came up short at a crucial juncture.
Heath's second interception kept Tampa Bay from scoring and gave the Cowboys the ball on the Dallas 9-yard line with 5:42 remaining.
Darren McFadden responded by losing seven yards on first down. Cassel hit Terrance Williams for 16 yards on the next play, setting up a third-and-1.
Dez Bryant had single coverage against cornerback Sterling Moore, as he did for most of the afternoon. Bryant thought Cassel would go down the field a little deeper but turned back when the throw was short, and the ball fell through his hands.
"Should have had that," Bryant said.
He didn't.
"We had a chance one-on-one on the outside," head coach Jason Garrett said. "Matt gave Dez a chance. Unfortunately we were not able to make that play."
Nine plays and 56 yards later, the Bucs had what turned out to be the winning touchdown. The Cowboys' last-gasp attempt ended when Bryant, thinking he had drawn a pass interference call on the play, slowed up and allowed Tampa Bay safety Bradley McDougald to ice the outcome with an interception.
"We had them and we held them, and we let them off the hook," defensive end Jeremy Mincey said. "It's just frustrating, real frustrating."
And predictable. For those who think the Twitter distractions with Bryant and defensive end Greg Hardy during the week factored into this loss, think again.
"I don't know how you have more of a problem than losing the last seven ballgames," Jones said. "Seriously.
"So no."
Welcome back, Tony Romo.
Catch David Moore on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM) with The Musers at 9:35 a.m. every Monday and Friday and The Hardline at 4:10 p.m. every Tuesday and Friday during the season.
Twitter: @DavidMooreDMN
Winless backups
Tony Romo is expected to start next week at Miami. Without Romo, the Cowboys are 0-7 this season. Here's a look at the games:
Highs and lows of the game
Ground game
The Cowboys felt they had reclaimed their identity in recent weeks with Darren McFadden's strong running. Well, they lost it again Sunday. A Tampa Bay defense that ranked 15th in the NFL against the run with an average of 108.4 yards held the Cowboys to 42 yards and an average of two yards a carry. McFadden had 17 carries for 32 yards.
Second opinion
The Cowboys four most important offensive players did little to nothing in the second half. Jason Witten caught one pass for five yards. Dez Bryant caught one pass for four yards and Darren McFadden ran for just four yards. And Matt Cassel? He completed 7-of-14 passes for 85 yards and an interception in the final two quarters.
NFC East
New York and Philadelphia both lost Sunday, meaning no team in the division has a winning record. Some will try to argue that the Cowboys still have a chance since they are only two-and-a-half games out of first place. That would ignore the fact the Cowboys must at some point win a game to make up ground.