Cowboys face December doldrums

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys already have the December doldrums again, no matter how much coach Wade Phillips wants to avoid that kind of discussion.

“Well, the facts are that we’re 8-4,” Phillips said. “It’s crushing when you lose a ball game, but you’ve got to bounce back from those things. It’s a 16-game season, the results from the 16 games determine where you are.”

Yes, the Cowboys have won two-thirds of their games so far. But on the first Sunday in December, after winning seven of their eight previous games, they couldn’t win despite career-best days from Tony Romo and Jason Witten, another 100-yard game from Miles Austin and even two touchdowns from Roy Williams.

With a 10-0 lead and a chance to bury the struggling Giants in the NFC East, the Cowboys lost 31-24 on Sunday in New York.

That allowed the Giants to move within one game of the division lead instead of falling three games back with four to play.