So when Cowboys COO and director of player personnel Stephen Jones is asked about the pressure his players, and quarterback Tony Romo in particular, operate under, there’s no running and hiding. It’s always there, magnified now by a 13-year lapse between playoff wins and a recent trend of late-season collapses.

“I can’t put the pressure into words,’’ Jones said. “[Tony] has handled it superbly, he’s performing at a high level. But he knows, and we know, until he has success in the playoffs, and there’s that expectation of championships, that’ll be there. It’s not just him, but Wade [ Phillips], me, Jerry [ Jones].

“Ultimately in Dallas, if you don’t win championships, people see it as falling short. We go to work every day knowing that.’’

After stumbling to a 2-2 start, the Cowboys have ripped off four straight wins - including a convincing home victory over Atlanta and a big win at Philadelphia - to seize control of the NFC East. They’ve overcome 2008’s tumult and rallied behind a coach most of America saw as a lame duck.

And yet it’s impossible for the Cowboys to answer the biggest question: Can they win once fall turns to winter?

We’ve seen this before. Including this year, the Cowboys are 25-7 in September, October and November under Phillips. In December and January, they’re 3-6. Since 2005, they are 7-13 in December and January.

“We’ve always had the talent,’’ said Pro Bowl cornerback Terence Newman. “It’s using the talent, and getting the job done. That’s on us. We can’t do everything we’ve done earlier in the season and think we’re going to get away with doing the same thing late in the season. We have to mix things up, and make the adjustments and keep improving.’’

Two years ago, an 11-1 start by a team with 13 Pro Bowlers melted down in December. The team went into the playoffs at 13-3 as the NFC’s No. 1 seed, and was bounced in the divisional playoffs. Last year, Romo broke a finger in October, missed three games, and that left less room for error in December, when Dallas blew its chance at the playoffs.

Even though most people in the Cowboys organization resist saying it publicly, the team’s actions serve as an admission that the roster had become dysfunctional. High-profile characters like Terrell Owens and Pacman Jones were jettisoned. In came an under-the-radar free agent class that included safety Gerald Sensabaugh, linebacker Keith Brooking, and defensive end Igor Olshansky.

Sensabaugh played for secondary coach Dave Campo in Jacksonville, and Brooking and Olshansky played for Phillips in Atlanta and San Diego, respectively. One Cowboy official put it like this: “We knew what kind of players we were getting, and we knew all three have excellent work ethic and professionalism. We needed that.’’

And so came the team’s buzzword: Accountability.

In 2008, camp was held in California, with HBO’s “Hard Knocks’’ cameras and a circus atmosphere that was hard to miss. This summer, camp was held inside the sterile Alamodome with a strikingly boring feel by comparison.

“Anyone who was in San Antonio knows it was about business,’’ Jones said. “What made Jerry and myself feel good was after we started 2-2, we knew the foundation was still there. We’d had a great camp, and ultimately we knew, given the quality of our players and our team, we’d get in that groove and bring it together.’’

The turning point came in Kansas City. Trailing the sad-sack Chiefs, 13-3, late in the third quarter in Week 5, Dallas flipped the switch and stormed back for a 26-20 overtime win.

While it was easy to focus on the quality of the opposition, the team proved that it could deal with adversity.

“That spring-boarded us,’’ Jones said. “We knew we had good character, good leaders, but that gave us the impetus to get on this roll.’’

New stars have emerged.

According to a second Cowboys official, second-year corner Mike Jenkins is “developing into almost a shutdown guy.’’ Wideout Miles Austin has exploded on to the scene, with 531 yards and six touchdowns during the four-game winning streak, taking the heat off the team for dealing first-, third-, and sixth-round picks for Roy Williams and handing the struggling receiver $20 million guaranteed.

Brooking has brought attitude and production after being whacked in Atlanta, exploding into the locker room after Dallas dismantled the Falcons, and declaring, “We punched them in the mouth.’’

But most telling is that those playing like stars aren’t concerned with being seen that way. The first Cowboys official said, “Guys want to improve to help the team improve.’’ Nowhere is that clearer than in the development of Romo, which relates to Owens’s departure.

“There’s no question, it was addition by subtraction, and that’s not [Owens’s] fault,’’ the official said. “The receivers are playing their roles, and the quarterback’s able to distribute the ball based on his reads, not thinking, ‘Well I have to throw the ball to him, because we haven’t gone there in three or four snaps.’ That leads to negative plays, and Tony’s avoiding that.’’

Last week, Austin hadn’t caught a ball before exploding for a game-winning 49-yard touchdown on an ankle-breaking slant-and-go route in the fourth quarter. Patrick Crayton had been benched in favor Austin before the Atlanta game, and reacted by taking advantage of his chances, scoring a crucial touchdown on offense before the half, then delivering the dagger with a 73-yard punt-return score late.

And it all comes back to Phillips, who many people would be shocked to know has the third-best winning percentage among active head coaches, trailing only Bill Belichick and Andy Reid, at 76-51, including a 28-12 mark in Dallas. He preached accountability, ran a tougher camp, and has a team that’s become more of a group than a collection of stars.

Of course, the glaring hole in Phillips’s résumé - winning in the playoffs - reflects the only thing that will gain this club acceptance in the pressure cooker America’s Team resides in. The hope is that a refocused approach will get Dallas there.

“We just have to keep doing our job, nothing more, nothing less,’’ Newman said. “When the media talks about distractions, that’s all people outside our locker room. We can’t let people outside the locker room deteriorate what’s in here. Everything else, that’s not our business. Our business is to go out and play.’’

Minnesota receivers coach George Stewart spent four hours with Harvin at the combine, then a day and a half with him and his family at the University of Florida in March.

“He’s from class people, an upper-middle-class family, all professionals and college graduates,’’ Stewart said. “The thing I got from Percy was he was a ‘yes sir, no sir’ guy, and the kid was genuine. And I haven’t seen one thing that says the kid will be a problem.’’

On the field, Harvin is creating solutions. Through his first eight games as a pro, he has 28 catches for 369 yards - good for second and fourth among rookie receivers, respectively - and has proven to be much more than a wideout. But the numbers hardly speak to his talent.

“He’s very unique,’’ said Stewart, a man who was position coach to Roddy White and Terrell Owens when they were rookies, and also to a veteran Jerry Rice. “Here’s a young man blessed with everything. Usually you talk about a guy’s speed or strength or hands. He’s got all of it. It’s a combination of speed, explosiveness, great body control, balance, he’s extremely smart. Every ingredient is there.

“Plus, he’s physically tough. I’ve never been around a tougher wide receiver.’’

Thing is, he’s so much more than a receiver. He plays all four receiver spots, has lined up as a running back and Wildcat quarterback at times, and is dynamic in the return game. He leads the NFC with 30.7 yards per kickoff return with two touchdowns, tied with Ted Ginn for most in the NFL.

Stewart says Harvin still needs to improve as a route runner, a shortcoming born of his versatility, which kept him from focusing on his development as a receiver. On the flip side, perhaps the highest compliment Harvin could be paid was Stewart saying he couldn’t think of anyone the rookie could be compared to.

And how about this? For all the focus on the Brett Favre story line, the Vikings have built a pretty solid, young foundation with their last three first-round picks. In 2007, they tapped Adrian Peterson. Last year, they traded for Jared Allen, a premier pass-rusher who’s still 27. And now they get Harvin.

But even if Parcells is a little detached - he hasn’t traveled with the team the last two years, and has entrusted much to Ireland and Sparano - the players still feel his presence. Let’s just say there’s not much slouching when that golf cart rolls out to practice.

“You sense his presence,’’ said left tackle Jake Long. “He comes out to practice every day. He really doesn’t talk much, but you know he’s there, you know he’s watching. You want to go out and show him you’re the right guy.

“Me, personally, I go out every day to try to show him I was the right choice with the No. 1 pick. I want to make him proud.’’

This club may be more of a throwback to his Giants days than any of Parcells’s teams with the Patriots, Jets, or Cowboys. The Dolphins are big and physical, and they play like it; they rank second in the league in rushing attempts per game and 26th in pass attempts.

But though people thought in those Giants days that the team’s approach was the “Parcells way,’’ the truth is that he, and many of his assistants, coach to their personnel as well as anyone. And that is conveyed to the players.

“He tells me just to play within myself, not going outside the box and doing anything crazy,’’ quarterback Chad Henne said. “The other thing is: You abide by the coaching, and good things will happen.’’

Team-building isn’t Parcells’s only role in Miami. He once again has embraced the position of mentor.

“He keeps a close eye on me,’’ said running back Ricky Williams. “He holds me accountable, and I look forward to every time he wants to talk to me. He’s there for advice, on the field, off the field. He’s been a big part of what I’ve done in Miami.

“If he says something, you listen. No. 1, he’s the boss, so you better listen, but I also think we all believe it’ll make us better if we do listen.’’

Albert R. Breer can be reached at abreer@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report