KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A season nearly died here Sunday, but even after his team ended up buying life-support time, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made a murky point clear:

The smell of lingering football rot, he says, won’t change a made-up mind.
“No,” Jones said, emphatically, then added with a smile, “and you will not trap me on that one.”
That answer was in reference to what might had been on Monday if the Cowboys hadn’t managed — in overtime, and with a Miles Austin miracle afternoon — to finally subdue an opponent that has now lost 28 of its last 30 NFL games, a futility record for the books.
Fire Wade Phillips? Jason Garrett? Himself as general manager?
Jerry, as the Valley Ranch boss of bosses, was spared, probably temporarily, from having to deal with any of those pertinent queries, once the Cowboys had stumbled and bumbled and gone many Miles out of the way to beat the gawd-awful Kansas City Chiefs 26-20 in OT.
Do we thank Austin, a wide receiver who was starting Sunday because of the Roy Williams injury, for delaying the head hunting? Or would the head hunting have been a better alternative in the long run?
Actually, head-rolling ASAP is the Cowboys’ only logical future, but Mr. Jones got to dodge the issue, at least for now, once Austin took off on a 60-yard touchdown run five minutes into the extra misery.
Not that these Cowboys should ever be placed under a style-point microscope for any form of a W — they aren’t good enough — but it was by far the most pathetic performance of the season, based on the low-rent status of the opposition.
Blame every element — offense, defense, special teams (never again, should P. Crayton or T. Newman participate in the returning of a punt), turnovers and stupid penalties — for allowing a win over Kansas bleeping City to become a last-call moment for the 2009 death watch.
(Attention all football coaches, junior high and up. When was the last time you ever had a winning team with 13 penalties “accepted”?
Then again:
Once Austin took off in OT for his second clutch TD catch-and-run of the day, and once he had surpassed the great Bullet Bob Hayes in the team record books with 250 yards receiving, you could say this for the Cowboys:
The next two weeks, including the upcoming bye, will be a hell of a lot more bearable than what the alternative would have meant.
But the cringe moment of a happy postgame scene came from quarterback Tony Romo, who was attempting to explain the hang-in-there bounce back from a couple of 10-point deficits.
“If we continue to do this,” Tony said, “I like our chances the rest of the way.”
I’d suggest if the Cowboys continue to “do this,” they won’t win another game.
You could also tell after the game where Mr. Jones has his football money tied up.
With Austin the story of the game, Jerry still wanted to neck-nuzzle Romo, which is OK. Just not right in refusing to give Miles top billing.
Austin saved the season. Even with one end-zone drop, and another end-zone miss that was questionable, the kid recovered from those no-nos to make 10 catches for the 250 yards. More important was when he had his two TD plays. Be big-game clutch is the code of any receiver.
That first Austin score came with 2:27 left in regulation, for a 20-13 lead. Short-yardage catch and then he shook two tacklers on the way to the end zone. A receiver made a play for his QB. Say thank you, Tony.
Somehow, of course, the Cowboys’ defense blew that, and KC tied it with 24 seconds remaining.
Austin’s game-winner was also a 15-yard route on the sideline that went all the way because he broke a tackle. A receiver made a play for his quarterback. Say thank you, Tony.
“Yeah, I know,” said Owner Jones, on Miles contribution, “but I’m most pleased about No. 8 (Jerry had an Aikman flashback) ... I mean No. 9. I’m very proud of No. 9 who came back today after a very hard week.”
Indeed, Tony did. His trashing last week for what happened in Denver didn’t hang over, even after a rough start Sunday, including a fumbled snap that set up a Chiefs’ TD, and put the Cows in a 10-0 first-half hole.
But with Williams not available, the Cowboys were playing with four receivers, three who saw scrimmage action, and that quartet included three non-drafted free agents plus a seventh-rounder.
From training camp, the biggest question mark of this season, even with Roy Uno Uno, centered on the lack of playmakers in that wideout corps. And those factors had already surfaced, like last week.
On Sunday, however, Miles Austin, who came in with five catches and one touchdown for the year, had a bigger contribution, yardage-wise, than any receiver in team history.
Not an inch of fluff in all that, either. The Cowboys had to have all those Miles to win.
Sure, a W is a W. But this one was very disturbing.