This is a Super Bowl contender?

The Dallas Cowboys brought their off-the-field circus onto the field at University of Phoenix Stadium Sunday and lost a game in overtime they deserved to lose in regulation by at least a couple touchdowns.

NFL Week 6

Week 6 action

Falcons 22, Bears 20 -- Recap | Box
Texans 29, Dolphins 28 -- Recap | Box
Colts 31, Ravens 3 -- Recap | Box
Vikings 12, Lions 10 -- Recap | Box
Saints 34, Raiders 3 -- Recap | Box
Jets 26, Bengals 14 -- Recap | Box
Bucs 27, Panthers 3 -- Recap | Box
Rams 19, Redskins 17 -- Recap | Box
Jaguars 24, Broncos 17 -- Recap | Box
Cards 30, Cowboys 24 -- Recap | Box
Eagles 40, 49ers 26 -- Recap | Box
Packers 27, Seahawks 17 -- Recap | Box
Chargers 30, Patriots 10 -- Recap | Box
Browns 35, Giants 14 -- Recap | Box


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Analysis

• Marvez: Ryan isn't a typical rookie
  
• Glazer: Gonzalez wants out of K.C.
  

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Video

• Strahan takes on Giants
  
• Albert and Johnston on Rams-'Skins
  
• Online OT: Complete NFL coverage
  

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Photos

• Week 6's best action
  
• Marvez: NFL future stars
  

The 30-24 final against the Arizona Cardinals is as misleading as all the hype that swirled around the Cowboys after their 3-0 start.

Since then, they lost at home against the Washington Redskins, nearly blew a 17-0 lead at home against the Cincinnati Bengals and dealt with complaints from Terrell Owens about not being used more in the offense and another distracting sideshow from Adam "Pacman" Jones.

Neither had any comment after Sunday's deflating loss. What was there to say?Owens had four catches for 36 yards but never found the end zone.

Jones, facing a possible suspension by the NFL after the Cowboys turned their head on his latest brush with the law, started but was burned twice by Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

Make that three times. Dallas won two challenges. Both overturned Cardinals touchdowns, one against Jones. He was saved when the officials ruled Fitzgerald didn't have both feet in bounds while leaping for a five-yard scoring pass.

Two plays later, Fitzgerald beat Jones on the same play, this time with both feet in bounds for a game-tying TD in the third quarter.

Fitzgerald made another acrobatic catch against Jones in the fourth quarter on third and 7 for a first down that set up a field goal for a 24-14 Arizona lead with 3:21 left.

Tony Romo brought the Cowboys back with 10 points in the final three minutes of regulation, but it was too little, too late.

"Almost a miracle finish for us," said Coach Wade Phillips. "Obviously, we didn't have a good game until then."

Romo, at best, was inconsistent. In the first quarter, he needed a bodyguard more than Jones. Romo was sacked twice, fumbled once and generated 17 yards of offense in the blubbering start.

That set the tone for the game and exposed the Cowboys for what they are: A team more likely to make headlines off the field than on it.

Owner Jerry Jones did what he did last week when news broke that Jones had a fight with the bodyguard assigned to keep him out of trouble.

Jerry Jones said he would not discipline "Pacman," who only six weeks ago was fully reinstated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell from a 17-month suspension that followed a series of off-the-field problems.

After all, Cowboys will be boys, right?

Like then, Jerry Jones buried his head in the ground Sunday.

Asked if the week's events had contributed to the slow start and affected the team, he dodged the issue and said a stinger suffered by left tackle Flozell Adams limited his play and hurt protection for Romo, who was knocked down 14 times.

At least Romo answered the question head-on.

"The biggest misconception out there is that stuff like that affects the locker room," he said. "You can ask the Cowboys of the early '90s, they dealt with this stuff all the time. But you just do what you do when you're there. You come home and see it on television or (the media) might ask questions about it, but that's really the only time it's something that affects you."

These Cowboys are now officially an underachieving team. Jones, however, doesn't see it that way. He even painted the 4-2 start as almost rosy.

Asked if the Cowboys had played up to his expectations, he didn't hesitate.

"Yes," he said. "It has, absolutely. I wouldn't have thought we'd be sitting here at 6-0. I like 4-2."

But this isn't a pretty 4-2. This is a troublesome 4-2. This is a team that doesn't look on the same page — on or off the field.

The message sent Sunday: There is nothing special about this team, particularly its special teams.

The game started with Arizona's J.J. Arrington returning the kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown and ended with a blocked a punt that was recovered in the end zone for a TD.

Inside the locker room, the Cowboys who talked said the right things. "This does deflate you, but with the team we have, it doesn't get you down," said linebacker DeMarcus Ware.

Added tight end Jason Witten: "It was very frustrating. We have a big swagger about us and we're a pretty confident group."

Their swagger isn't so big anymore.