Dallas, your time has come. All year you have had to watch your dismal Texas Rangers stumble through yet another losing season. But don’t worry, because by the time the Cowboys have disassembled the Houston Texans on Sunday, you won’t even remember that the Rangers exist.

Some signs indicate the Cowboys might indeed need improvement this year. Why is this?

Defense. It has become the name of the game for teams looking for a break-out year. Look at some of the teams who have ascended to the upper echelon of the NFL in the past few years.

The Steelers, Patriots and Ravens made the most of mediocre offenses through good field position and sometimes getting points from their defense.

The Cowboys have an offense that struggles to get the ball to the redzone, much less the endzone, so a good defense is essential.

Quincy Carter (or Chad Hutchinson) will work with much more confidence and efficiency if they have a short field to deal with. However, which Cowboy will be working with this short field is somewhat of a mystery.

So far, Dave Campo has done a terrible job of disguising the fact that Hutchinson will eventually become his starting quarterback. Backup quarterbacks don’t start the final preseason game with the first- string offense, and they certainly don’t get $3.1 million signing bonuses. Plus, as we saw last season with Tony Banks, the Cowboys are not at all opposed to last- minute changes of heart at the quarterback position.

Carter will be behind center on Sunday against the Texans. However, look for Hutchinson to be starting by week five. With Tennessee, Philadelphia and St. Louis among the first opponents, look for Quincy to struggle considerably in these games. If “Tin Grin” Carter is to show much improvement this year, it won’t be displayed in these games.

Why is Dave Campo most likely to play musical QBs this year?

Because if the “boys” don’t show much improvement this season, Jerry Jones is likely to get himself another robot to control on the sidelines next year. Dave Campo must make the playoffs to remain employed.

But as far as Hutchinson goes, making the transition from the Cardinals bullpen to the pocket of a Philadephia Eagles blitz can be somewhat shaky.

The key acquisition this off-season was La’Roi Glover. Glover aids an already stellar defense in three big ways. First, he is a threat to sack the quarterback, something the Cowboys haven’t had since their heyday.

Second, he will attract attention away from defensive ends Ebenezar Ekuban and Greg Ellis. But probably most important, he will keep blockers off speedy linebackers Dexter Coakley and Dat Nguyen, ultimately allowing these pro-bowl caliber linebackers to make even more plays from sideline to sideline.

Several things must occur for Dallas to make the leap to the postseason this year. First off, as good as the defense is, they need to get to the quarterback to take pressure off a corps of cornerbacks who are the obvious weak links in the unit.

Second, Emmitt needs to break Walter Payton’s record and then step aside for Troy Hambrick.

Hambrick looks poised to become Smith’s successor with an average of 5.1 yards per carry last year in the future Hall of Famer’s absence. But most of all, Carter needs to look like the Donovan McNabb clone that they so desperately want him to be.

But if all this doesn’t pan out, this season is going to feel like (in the words of Tony Banks) “my Dad hitting me with a bat or something.”