You play the best football for three weeks in the postseason, and you can celebrate with the Lombardi Trophy.

You play the best football for the first three weeks, and, well ...

"Dallas Cowboys, come on down and collect your award. The best unbeaten football team three weeks into the season is officially you."

After Sunday's 27-16 win in Green Bay, quarterback Tony Romo said there was much work to be done. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said the Cowboys had merely proved they were the better team now and that it was up to his team to change that over the next three months.

All true. But being the most impressive unbeaten team is not without its merits.

First, let's establish that Dallas is winning the NFL on style points right now.

There are six undefeated teams. The four from the AFC missed the playoffs last season. They are trying to stake their place near the top, which for years has been ruled by New England, Indianapolis, San Diego and Pittsburgh.

Start with the Baltimore Ravens. Sorry, but because of the postponement caused by Ike, Baltimore is only 2-0. Hasn't even gone on the road yet.

Great defense as always. So when rookie quarterback Joe Flacco wins one of the Ravens' first two road games in Pittsburgh or Indianapolis, give me a shout.

Buffalo is 3-0 despite trailing the soon-to-be-Lane- Kiffin-less Oakland Raiders by nine with six minutes to go. At home.

Buffalo's defense and special teams make plays. But Trent Edwards throwing to Josh Reed and Lee Evans just is not a Super Bowl passing attack.

Tennessee is 3-0, and the Titans' defense is stifling. They've got a nice two-headed back system with rookie Chris Johnson outperforming LenDale White.

And they have Kerry Collins replacing Vince Young at quarterback, throwing to Justin McCareins and Bo Scaife. Again, that's not enough balance on offense.

That brings us to Denver, an interesting 3-0 team. Chargers coach Norv Turner finds it very interesting — and disturbing — that the Broncos are 3-0 after the blown call by referee Ed Hochuli. The Broncos might have lost Sunday, too, had the Saints' Martin Gramatica hit a 43-yard field goal in the last two minutes. He also missed one at the end of the half.

The Broncos are averaging 38 points per game. If they sustain that, they'll break the record the Patriots set in 2007. Their defense is giving up 28. That's not a good sign.

You can rank Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall as high as you want on the list of quarterbacks and wide receivers, and I won't argue. But this is a team that has not fixed its defense and will run into some bad luck — after enjoying incredibly good luck — at some stage.

None of the AFC unbeatens have defeated a team with two wins. The New York Giants have. They opened with a win over Washington before the Redskins went on to beat the Saints and Cardinals.

The Cowboys have done it twice. Philadelphia and Green Bay are 2-0 in games not involving Dallas. The Cowboys' unbeaten record has come against a much more impressive field of opponents.

I can't knock the Giants for sleepwalking to an overtime win over Cincinnati on Sunday. With a bye coming, it's understandable that a Super Bowl champion had already penciled in a win. And, uninspiring as it may have been, the Giants got the win.

But I like the way the Cowboys have won three very different games.

They beat Cleveland with rock solid defense — and, yes, a little help from a bobbling Braylon Edwards. They won an outrageous shootout against the Eagles.

Then they overpowered Green Bay with a running game as Marion Barber and Felix Jones chewed up 218 yards on the ground.

They win when Tony Romo plays great. Or when he's average.

They win when their defense has a great plan and executes it, as it did against Green Bay. They win when their defense stumbles all over itself for 30 minutes, as it did against the Eagles.

A 3-0 record doesn't mean much in itself. The Patriots looked like world conquerors at 3-0 last year. The Giants merely looked like survivors with a 1-2 record.

But victories fuel confidence. Teams change in fundamental ways in their ability to handle adversity.

After enjoying a regular season as good as anyone in the NFC, the Cowboys faltered in the playoffs.

You overcome that by growing, by making it clear to your opponents that you are going to be more difficult to beat the next time around.

In the first three weeks, three teams that combined for 31 wins a year ago have seen the Cowboys do exactly that.