About his lack of a connection with Romo, Williams said, "it's just not even close. It's not even funny. Not even close."

Not exactly utopia after all.

Dallas, like its 29-year-old quarterback, remains a work in progress. After sputtering to a 2-2 record that included losses to the Giants and Denver, the Cowboys have won three straight over Kansas City, Atlanta, and Seattle. In those games, Romo played well, completing 62.6 percent of his passes. For the first time since becoming the Cowboys' starter in 2006, Romo has made it through three consecutive games without throwing an interception.

But all of it - the statistics, the regular-season record, even a win Sunday over the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field - really won't matter until Romo sustains the team through the dog days of December and then actually wins a playoff game.

That's why yesterday, when I polled various Eagles - including veterans Trent Cole and Asante Samuel - about Romo, everyone said the politically correct thing about how Romo is a good quarterback. But gush about the guy? That didn't happen.

Romo has a stellar 32-14 regular-season record, but eight of those losses have come in December. He has been the antithesis of clutch down the stretch. The Eagles tend to peak in December. The Cowboys tend to peter out. Not all of that is Romo's fault, but he understands that part of his job is to shoulder that blame.

"There's always this learning curve," Romo said yesterday. "It comes with experience and the experiences that you end up having. It helps shape you as a person, as a player, and you either grow from it or it beats you down. If you're strong enough mentally, you'll grow, and you'll become the player that you can eventually be, and the team that you want to be. I think we're doing that as a team."

The Cowboys lead the NFL in yards per play, rank second in total offense (411.1 yards), and are sixth in scoring (28.1 points). Austin is having a breakout season, with 26 catches for 563 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Whatever chemistry Romo and Williams lack - Williams has caught only 14 of the 37 passes Romo has thrown his way, with many of the balls out of Williams' reach - seems to exist between Romo and Austin.

"Honestly, I thought he was having a heck of a year even when people were down on him a bit," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "He had a couple of interceptions, but that happens to all good quarterbacks."

The Cowboys beat the Eagles six times in their previous 20 meetings, and Romo was the quarterback for two of those wins. In the last five meetings, Romo has been either spectacularly good or spectacularly bad. In the 2007 game here, he completed 80 percent of his passes for 324 yards and three scores in a 38-17 win. Last year, in the season-finale flameout, Romo completed 48.3 percent of his passes, with two picks.

"I think sometimes they do a great job, and sometimes I suck," Romo said.

Kind of sounds like his career thus far.

Romo is trying to change that. Sunday is as big as it gets midway through a season - a road game against a rival for first place in the division. A win would say a lot about Romo. But he knows for him and his team, what happens in December and January will matter much more.