EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Hard as it is to admit, Terrell Owens was right. The road to the NFC East goes through Dallas.

Owens has something to do with that. So do Jason Witten, Patrick Crayton, Julius Jones and Marion Barber. And, of course, there's quarterback Tony Romo, who validated his recent megabucks deal with four more touchdown passes in the Cowboys' 31-20 defeat of the New York Giants.

Wade Phillips inherited a home run with Jason Garrett in control of the offense. (US Presswire)

Which mean he's the biggest reason Dallas is the team to beat in the NFC.

When the Cowboys hired Wade Phillips as their new head coach, questions abounded about what would happen to Romo & Co., particularly in light of how they faded a year ago when they lost four of their last five -- including that playoff defeat in Seattle.

Well, here's what's happened: Dallas is second only to New England in points -- it scored 30 or more in all but three games this season -- and it just knocked off Philadelphia and the Giants in successive road games by outscoring them 69-37.

Maybe that's giving Garrett too much credit for what's happening in Dallas, but then listen to what his head coach had to say after the Cowboys' fifth straight road win.

"We have a great offense," said Phillips. "We don't have a good offense. We have a great offense."

It's hard to argue with the guy after their latest effort. The Cowboys didn't just beat a Giants team on a six-game roll; they unraveled it, with Romo avoiding the sacks that bedeviled the Eagles last week in Philly, and Owens and Crayton splitting the secondary for critical catches.

The protection was there, with Romo sacked only twice, and so were the passes. Romo misfired on only eight of his 28 attempts and hit Owens in stride for a 50-yard clincher after the Giants closed to within four early in the fourth quarter.

That was the second drive of the second half, and the second one punctuated with a touchdown by Owens. It was also the ballgame and, just for the record, the first time anyone put up more than 15 points on the Giants in a month.

Which means it's time to start asking if Phillips is on to something. Is this an offense that deserves superlatives?

"I think we're doing some pretty good things," said Romo, "I haven't been in the league as long as (Phillips) has. I just know we put up some points, and that helps."

No kidding. But Phillips knows what he's talking about. He practiced against a great offense every afternoon in San Diego the past three years, and he likes the view from Dallas, thank you. That has plenty to do with his players, and plenty to do with the man coaching them.

Jason Garrett, come on down.

In his first season calling plays Garrett hasn't been just good; he's been -- to quote Phillips -- great. And the evidence is right there on the stat sheet: Dallas hasn't scored fewer than 24 points in its first nine games. What's more, there hasn't been a T.O. meltdown, and that, folks, is significant.

You keep him happy, you're doing terrific. And Jason Garrett is. I know because Owens told me.

"This is just scratching the surface," he said of the Cowboys' latest win. "The way the guys are offensive game-planning and moving me around and, really, just putting me in place to make plays ... that's all I ever want. I feel like I'm a playmaker and make plays. I can only attribute that to Jason Garrett."

I don't know exactly what Garrett's done, but I do know when you get results. And the Cowboys keep getting them again and again and again. In their only loss they put up 27 on New England, which is great -- except the Patriots put up 48. And in their three division games -- all victories -- they produced 45, 38 and 31.

That wasn't supposed to happen against the Giants, who led the league in sacks, but it did -- and it happened with surprising ease. All four of the Cowboys' touchdown drives were 65 yards or more, and each was climaxed with a scoring pass.

Once it was a last-minute lob to Tony Curtis as Romo appeared ready to take a sack. Then it was a shot to Crayton in the face of an all-out blitz. The last two were picture-perfect passes to Owens, first in man-to-man coverage against Sam Madison and, later, 5 yards behind safety Gibril Wilson.

"It's just another step along the journey that we're trying to go through here," said an understated Romo. "To get to where we want to go. I think a win like tonight just adds to your confidence."

Who needs to add? The only club that beat the Cowboys is unblemished New England. OK, so there was that close call against Buffalo. But scratch those two games, and your closest margin of victory is a 10-point defeat of Minnesota.

Sure, the Cowboys are loaded with talent on defense, but we knew that. What we didn't know was how Garrett would handle the offense -- OK, T.O. -- and the play-calling, and we now have our answer.

"It doesn't mean anything if we don't continue down the right road," said Garrett, "and I told our guys that. We've just got to keep moving forward.

"But we're realistic enough to say this was a challenge for us. Giants Stadium is a tough place to play. Their defense is playing well, and their team is playing well. It wasn't perfect by any means, but we banged away and gave ourselves a chance to win."

No, they gave themselves a chance to win the division. And if they don't, the Cowboys have only themselves to blame. Look at it like this: They have a two-game lead over the Giants, but they beat them twice. So, in reality, that lead is three with seven games left.

Which means? Which means Owens was right. The road goes through Big D.

"I won't say it was a giant win," said Phillips, "but it's a big win for us."