Tim Cowlishaw

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Losing at Lambeau Field isn't necessarily the end of the world, even if you sometimes feel you can see it from here.

The Cowboys' four-game winning streak is over. Not only did they lose to the Green Bay Packers, a team that just lost to what had been a winless Tampa Bay team, but the Cowboys barely scored.

What we thought had grown into one of the NFL's most prolific offenses was stopped in its tracks here Sunday afternoon. What some thought was an easy path to a 9-2 record by the end of Thanksgiving Day disappeared faster than you can say "play not reviewable" in a 17-7 loss to Green Bay.

As losses go, this was a bad one for Dallas. I wouldn't say that their cloak of invincibility was fully formed, but four straight wins – including one in Philadelphia, where the Cowboys had suffered an ignominious end to their 2008 season – put the Cowboys back in a fast lane they hadn't traveled since 2007.

Instead of the Cowboys' pass rush hounding Aaron Rodgers and increasing his league-leading sack total Sunday, it was Tony Romo that was battered and bruised and under siege much of the day.

And, to some degree, making excuses about it later.

Yes, it was Romo who made those fourth-quarter mistakes that always seem to form a dividing line between his ardent fans and the Romo faithless.

A Romo fumble on a blind side blitz was the critical play in the Dallas defeat. The Cowboys were trailing, 10-0, but it was early enough in the fourth quarter that hope had not completely vanished from the visitors' sideline.

At first glance, it appeared that running back Felix Jones had recovered for Dallas. But then you saw players still running toward the Dallas goal line and the ball bouncing freely before Green Bay's Clay Matthews recovered at the Dallas 3.

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips tried to challenge the call, as some replays indicated Jones having possession of the ball on the ground before losing it. But after a short delay, Phillips was told by referee Jeff Triplette the call could not be challenged.

"Dallas was challenging that their player had recovered the football loose in the field of play and was down by contact," Triplette told a pool reporter. "You can't review a recovery of a loose ball in the field of play. It was my mistake to allow him to start the challenge. I should have just talked him out of it before we started."

Had it been a question of whether Romo – the fumbler – was down, it could have been reviewed. But officials had ruled on the field that the Packers recovered at the end of the play.

As much as their call ended the play, it all but ended the game, too. Green Bay scored three plays later. Improbably, it was the Packers' second touchdown in fewer than three minutes in a game that had been 3-0 after three quarters.

For those clinging to hope for the miracle comeback, Dallas did drive to the 1-yard line before a Romo pass for Jason Witten was intercepted by Charles Woodson.

A poor throw? Absolutely.

Truly damaging in a game that was already lost? No.

Afterward, Romo talked about mistakes made by all sorts of Dallas players, adding at one point, "You guys wouldn't recognize most of them.

"Everyone had their thing they did, whether it was mental or physical, that cost the unit over the course of the game."

I'm not saying he's wrong about that. Roy Williams' 105-yard receiving day included his own share of misfortune.

But in a defeat in which Romo committed two fourth-quarter turnovers almost within the shadows of the two end zones, I'm surprised he spoke more of the collective disaster than his personal one.

And while you are listening to all of the "back to the drawing board" talk this week, don't underestimate the loss of right tackle Marc Colombo, who broke his leg early in the contest.

A team that hasn't had an offensive lineman miss a meaningful down this season lost a valuable pass protector and run blocker for multiple games, if not the year.

If that doesn't signal tough times ahead, consider that the hottest team in the NFC East is on its way to Dallas.

Beware the ... Redskins?