You all saw Terrell Owens pining for the comforting touch of the football after Dallas's loss to Washington on Sunday. What we didn't see, however, was the conversation Owens had with Romo in private after the game, which the Dallas Morning News tells us about today:

Owens, despite having 18 passes thrown his way in the loss to Washington, had what was deemed a serious conversation about the offense with quarterback Tony Romo after the game, according to multiple sources.

The types of routes and throws are what concerns Owens, the sources said. The receiver, who the sources said was venting to Romo about his frustrations, has not liked how some of the throws were coming from the quarterback as far back as the season opener. 

Oh dear. 

Last night on ESPN's pregame show, they discussed Owens's deep need for the football, and pretty much everyone agreed that things in Dallas were bound to get uglier and eventually culminate in some kind massive meltdown. I thought they were overreacting.

There were two reasons I felt that way: 1) Owens has matured a bit since the days of driveway sit-ups and "everyone gather 'round, point and laugh at us" press conferences with Drew Rosenhaus, and 2) the Romo/Owens relationship seemed pretty solid.

Romo's an unassuming, easygoing fellow who was pretty much an NFL nobody when Owens came to Dallas. He seemed like he was just happy to be along for the ride, willing to defer the spotlight to Owens, willing to constantly feed him the ball, and impossible to dislike.

That seemed the perfect fit for a relationship with Owens, where Romo could actually be Batman to Owens's Robin, while Owens was free to believe that he was Batman and Romo was Robin. It worked out for everybody.

But after just one loss this season, we've got the first sparks of friction. Batman's a star of his own now, and he might not appreciate Robin sitting him down and lecturing him about how he's not good enough.

Will it get to the point where Owens leaves the team, does some squat thrusts on his front porch, rumors swirl about locker room fights, and he accuses Romo of being a limp-armed nancy and sabotaging our nation's economic bailout plan?

My best answer is a conditional no. At the end of the day, I still believe that Romo has the personality to get through this smoothly, and that Owens has learned he has to keep his selfishness and ego somewhat in check, but ... losing brings out the worst in people. If the Cowboys had beaten the Redskins on Sunday, none of this would be happening.

If Dallas wins 12 or more games, and they never have a losing streak longer than one, I think that the Good Ship Owens stays afloat and manages to not barrel itself into the side of the U.S.S. Cowboys on a kamikaze mission. If losses start to pile up, though, all bets are off. If somehow, the Cowboys lost three in a row, I'd believe absolutely anything.