ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – The most stunning development during the Cowboys’ ugly victory over Buffalo on Monday night was Terrell Owens failing to make two key plays.

And yet the Cowboys still won.

Instead of Owens making key plays, Patrick Crayton, Tony Romo and Nick Folk did.

The big picture is Owens is needed more than ever with the Cowboys cruising toward a showdown with New England on Sunday.

Dallas hopes the next time it goes to Owens, he comes through.

With Dallas trailing 24-22 late in the fourth quarter, the team went for a 2-point conversion.

Romo threw a pass toward Owens in the corner of the end zone, but Bills cornerback Jabari Greer broke up the play.

“He’s one-on-one; that’s the kind of matchup you want at the end of the game,” said a bruised and battered Romo. “If you get T.O. in one-on-one matchups, we’ll take that. He’ll catch that pass.”

But he didn’t.

The Cowboys went back to Owens as they drove for a game-winning field goal. On a first-down play, Romo appeared to complete a pass to a wide-open Owens for 22 yards. Owens cradled the low throw, yet replays showed he dropped it, and a review reversed the completion.

It didn’t cost the Cowboys the game because Romo went other places, including to Crayton, who caught an 8-yard pass to set up the winning field goal with two seconds to play.

Owens finished with three drops. Dallas threw to him 10 times, but he made two catches for 25 yards.

Dallas needs more from Owens.

Maybe it was the coverage.

He saw press coverage which forced him to push off from defenders. Romo couldn’t wait for Owens to get open.

At times, Owens did get open, but Romo was under pressure and moved up in the pocket to find an outlet receiver.

Owens was lined up in different spots on the field, something the Cowboys’ offensive coaches have promised him.

He lined up in the slot and ran the underneath routes the Cowboys love to use, but Romo didn’t find him for a variety of reasons.

“The coverage didn’t bother me at all,” Owens said. “I was open a lot of times, and for whatever reason we had some errant shots. The ball was long and out of bounds. I just tried to do whatever I could to adjust to the ball.”

But Owens was upset in the fourth quarter when Romo threw his fifth interception – a pass to Jason Witten that was picked off in the end zone.

Owens slowly walked toward the sidelines and flung his helmet. He was yelling until offensive coordinator Jason Garrett patted him on the chest to calm him down.

“It was frustration a little bit,” Owens said. “But I felt like there were some opportunities there when I was open. It just didn’t happen. The game is over with, and there are some things we can correct.”

The Cowboys need to find Owens more so there will not be any more sideline outbursts.