The season is officially on the line for the Dallas Cowboys Monday night when they face off against the Tennessee Titans.

Yes, the division is still within grasp in a weak NFC East and there is still a month left before Thanksgiving with plenty of division games left. There might be plenty of time left, but the competition ramps up next week.

So far, the Cowboys were gifted with a pretty easy opening schedule, but couldn’t take advantage of it, resulting in a 3-4 record going into Monday night’s game. The biggest concern is the 0-4 record on the road.

The front-office knows how important this game is against the Titans; because they made moves to ensure that the team doesn’t lose.  First, they traded a first-round pick to the Raiders for receiver Amari Cooper. Cooper, a talented receiver but with a disappointing past two years, shows the front office believes it can win now and sacrificed the future to ensure it happens. Then during bye-week, the team fired offensive line coach Paul Alexander and replaced him with former Cowboys lineman Marc Columbo. The move was to ensure the line goes back to learning techniques that made them successful in the past.

No team makes these moves unless they know that season is practically on the line right here. They need the season to succeed and a win gives them room to breathe as the schedule gets tougher.

If you aren’t sold, let’s look at the upcoming schedule after Monday’s game.  Two games with the Eagles,  a road game with the Falcons, one with the division-leader Redskins and a game with the Saints who look like a Super Bowl contender once again.

If the team even loses just three games out of that gauntlet, the math becomes really hard for this team to even make the wild-card.

The only saving grace is that you end the season with three very winnable games against the Colts, the Bucs and the Giants, but in this NFL, anyone can still be dangerous.

So now you see why it is pretty much a death sentence for Dallas if they lose and enter the rest of November with a 3-5 record.

The Dallas Cowboys have one goal, beat the Titans or get ready for a long and depressing football season.