Cowboys Schedule 2012: Late-Season Wins vs Steelers, Saints Will Be Crucial

Last season, the Dallas Cowboys' chances of making the postseason came down to the last few games of the season. This year, it will be the same story and, hopefully, a different outcome.

The NFC East is a tough division that also features the Giants—winners of two Super Bowls in the last five years—and the Eagles. Often, when December hits and the playoffs creep closer, the division championship comes down to the team that can put up the most wins over the home stretch.

At the end of last November, the Cowboys looked like they'd be in good shape for the postseason. But in the last month or so of the season, disaster struck and they lost four of five, including three against division opponents.

The 2012 season will be a different story. For one thing, Dallas has just two division games in the final month of the season, neither of which is against New York. But the Cowboys do have two tough non-conference matchups on tap against Pittsburgh and New Orleans in Weeks 15 and 16, and if the hunt for the division title is still close at that point, winning those two will be essential for the Cowboys.

The last time the Cowboys faced the Steelers, it was 2007, and Dallas lost when Pittsburgh scored on a 25-yard interception return with 1:40 left in the game. The Steelers rallied from a 10-point deficit to win, 20-13, and Tony Romo threw for just 210 yards, one score and three picks in only his second career loss against the AFC.

The last time the Cowboys faced the Saints, on Thanksgiving in 2010, Romo was out with a clavicle injury, but the result was similarly discouraging. Though Dallas overcame two 17-point deficits and were close to getting the job done, they couldn't in the end, and Roy Williams fumbled on what could have been the winning drive.

Obviously, the outcomes of those late-season games don't rest solely on Romo's shoulders. The Cowboys, as a team, must play better this time around—not just in the last few weeks of the season, but during the entire season—if they want to make the playoffs.

Though he sometimes gets a bad rap, Romo can play well when the pressure's on. Last year, in Week 15, he had one of his best games of the season in a 31-15 win over Tampa Bay, throwing for 249 yards, three TDs, zero interceptions and a quarterback rating of 133.9, his second best of the season.

Even despite losses in his three late-season games against the Giants and the Eagles, Romo threw just one interception and had six touchdowns.

Sometimes, in those games, there are mental errors that can cost a team the game and even a trip to the postseason. If Romo and the Cowboys can eliminate those mistakes against the Steelers and the Saints in 2012, they will be home free for the playoffs.