OK, now that she's out of the way, let's get down to football.

Lost in all the attention Miss Daisy Duke and her paramour have generated has been this fact: The Cowboys have not played very well for the last month of the regular season and Tony Romo has played more like Tony Oh No.

What has happened to America's Team? It lost more games in December — two — than it did in September, October and November combined. They averaged 15 points per game in December after averaging 33 in the previous months.

And Romo?

In his final three games, Romo completed 51.1 percent of his passes and threw one touchdown and five interceptions. In his previous 13, he completed 67.4 percent of his passes and threw 35 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

What this is blamed on matters not. That it is corrected by 3:30 p.m. CST on Sunday matters a lot.

That is when the Cowboys and Giants are scheduled to kick off at Texas Stadium in their NFC divisional playoff game. Winner goes to the NFC championship game. Loser goes to Mexico.

Which is not to say this is a no-lose game for Romo and the Boys. In fact, if Romo loses, he probably never will live down the fact that he dared have something besides football on his mind on his weekend off — even though it probably will have nothing to do with his performance.

Romo also had a late-season slump last season, when Simpson was distracting singer John Mayer instead. In December 2006, his passer rating was 77.1. In previous months, it was 110.8. Romo threw eight December interceptions after throwing only five in October and November.

One of the reasons for his ineffectiveness then and now could be lack of support. The Cowboys' running game also has gone south, and sans the burritos and Margaritas.

After averaging 4.6 yards per carry in their first eight games, the Cowboys averaged 3.7 in their last eight. And they have failed to run for 100 yards in six of their final eight games. In their last game, they ran it 16 times for 1 yard.

"What concerns me about Dallas is its inability to run the football as of late," ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski said in a conference call. "Can the Dallas Cowboys get balance back to their offense? When Romo was so hot, he had his running game available to him."

In a conversation with Romo earlier in the season, he admitted he sometimes tries to do too much if things aren't going right for the Cowboys. And he made some of his most regrettable decisions this season in adverse situations. He isn't the type of quarterback who is concerned with his statistics, and subsequently will take risks if he thinks they are necessary to win.

There are other reasons for the Cowboys to sweat. Wide receiver Terrell Owens is questionable with an ankle injury. He has not had a 100-yard receiving game since November. Receiver Terry Glenn is expected to play, but he has all of four snaps of playing time this season.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning, meanwhile, has put together two of the most impressive games of his career when the stakes were highest. Against the Patriots and Bucs, he had a combined passer rating of 119.

"The last couple of weeks now, it's starting to come together for him," said Jaworski, who played quarterback for 15 seasons in the NFL. "He is now seeing the coverage. ... Now, by the pump fake, by the shoulder roll, and by the head fake, he can make (opposing defenders) move to open up passing lanes. Now, he is seeing the field much clearer and he is playing the game much calmer. ... I've seen a real maturity in Eli's game."

And then there is the coaching situation. Wade Phillips is 0-3 as a head coach in the playoffs. His offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and his offensive line coach Tony Sparano have been interviewing for head coaching positions, and some believe Sparano already has a deal in place to become the next coach of the Dolphins.