BALTIMORE -- Oh, how the story would be different if Dan Bailey's 51-yard field goal try settled between the uprights in the final seconds Sunday.

Tony Romo would have been hailed the hero two weeks after he bore the brunt of the Cowboys' "Monday Night Football" loss to Chicago on Oct. 1, thanks to five interceptions.

If that kick does not float to the left, the talk is about Romo's fourth-quarter magic returning when the Cowboys needed it most against Baltimore, one of the AFC's best teams, in one of the toughest venues in the NFL.

That 18-play drive would have been the highlight of highlights, with him and Jason Witten doing what they do best in converting once on third down and twice on fourth-and-10. The talk would have centered on the Cowboys' -- and Romo's -- ability to overcome a third-and-27 on a drive that ended in a Dez Bryant touchdown.

... But clock management issues arose again and the Cowboys let 15 seconds drift off the clock before calling a timeout with six seconds to play, forcing Bailey to take a shot from 51 yards.

Had they picked up another 5-10 yards, maybe Bailey's kick does not drift wide, but it did, and Romo had to make the walk to the team bus, carrying a bag of Popeyes' chicken, knowing the Cowboys are 2-3, just like last year, when they finished 8-8.

"It's disappointing," Romo said. "It's just hard when you do a lot of good things well and you don't come out with a win. Each week is an important, important week in the National Football League. It eats at you and sits in the pit of your stomach when you lose. We've got to come back from this and get ready. Now, next week we've got to go win a football game."

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