ARLINGTON -- Before Tony Romo had trainers hovering over him as the final gasp of air was sucked out of AT&T Stadium late in the third quarter, let's be honest about this. Romo had done more than anyone (even Luke Bryan) to drain the energy from the Cowboys portion of the Thanksgiving Day crowd in a game that Carolina would eventually win by a 33-14 count.
In part, that's because so much is expected of Romo. Or should we say was?
Romo is probably finished for 2015. The Cowboys won't make an official announcement until after a CT scan Friday determines if his left clavicle is fractured. It would seem even if there is no break, his immediate future with a 3-8 team should be limited although we'll get to coach Jason Garrett's dissenting view on that matter later.
How did this thing unravel so quickly? Romo was just four days removed from regaining "conquering hero" status for what really was (for him and for most good NFL quarterbacks) a pedestrian two touchdown-two interception performance in Miami. But compared with what the Cowboys' backups had delivered during a seven-game losing streak, it was downright Staubachian.
The stage and the stakes were greater for the traditional holiday game. The chance to knock the Carolina Panthers from their unbeaten perch, to do it with the grizzled veteran Romo outperforming Cam Newton, would surely propel the Cowboys back into the NFC East race and then who knows what might happen?
This game could not have unfolded any more poorly for the season, for Romo, maybe even for his future as this team's unquestioned leader.
The ugly evidence from the first half: Romo was intercepted three times with Panthers twice returning them for touchdowns.
"I like to think I'm good enough not to give touchdowns to the defense," Romo said. "I didn't give us a chance and, for however long, that will eat at me."
And when Romo will be able to atone for Thursday's mess? Well, no one knows. He said the injury he suffered on a sack near the end of the third quarter "felt the same" as the fractured clavicle he endured in Philadelphia that sent him to injured reserve for two months.
The safe play is to let Romo recover, rest him until 2016 if necessary, although Garrett made it clear he plans to play Romo when he's healthy regardless of whether anything relevant is at stake.
"All hands on deck," Garrett said. When asked if that included post-elimination games in late December, he said, "If anybody's ready to play, they're going to play."
But when's the next time the player we have come to think of as Tony Romo -- a four-time Pro Bowler with scores of team passing records -- will truly be available? He is closer to his 36th birthday than his 35th. He was at the heart of a team we saw building toward a championship just a few months ago. Now that team sits at the bottom of the NFC.
And not just the sorry NFC East. Dallas' 3-8 record is the worst in the entire conference. That will surely initiate all kinds of draft talk long before it needs to commence and yet at the same time, some will tell us this team remains mathematically alive in the NFC East -- possibly just two games out of first by Sunday night.
But even Garrett has been forced to alter his mantra about "the process" ever so slightly.
"We have to decide over the next few days what we want to be," Garrett said. "There's nothing we can do about what's happened to this point."
That's as close as Garrett's ever going to come to saying, "This thing is an off-the-rails disaster."
But now the team also has to ponder what its future at quarterback is going to be. I'm not suggesting Romo won't be No. 1 on the depth chart going into 2016. Contractually, they don't have a great option to consider alternatives, but beyond that, they have to recognize it's something just short of crazy to pencil him in for 16 games a year as he begins life in his late 30s.
I don't know that he's brittle, but Thursday's final sack looked a lot like a garden variety sack, not the kind of play where you know a player's season has just been altered.
Did the Cowboys bring him back too soon? Probably not, but if they did, it means he's taking longer to heal than he did in the past. That's not a great sign for a team's most important player.
The Cowboys haven't drafted a quarterback since Stephen McGee in 2009 (long gone) and there's no one on the roster who can fairly be called this team's future. This organization has to change the way it views the quarterback position after Thursday's game.
"Romo to the Rescue" should never again be a realistic storyline around here. He will make plays, and he will win games. But we should take them as reminders of what was, not view him as the centerpiece that an entire team gets to use as a crutch.
In part, that's because so much is expected of Romo. Or should we say was?
Romo is probably finished for 2015. The Cowboys won't make an official announcement until after a CT scan Friday determines if his left clavicle is fractured. It would seem even if there is no break, his immediate future with a 3-8 team should be limited although we'll get to coach Jason Garrett's dissenting view on that matter later.
How did this thing unravel so quickly? Romo was just four days removed from regaining "conquering hero" status for what really was (for him and for most good NFL quarterbacks) a pedestrian two touchdown-two interception performance in Miami. But compared with what the Cowboys' backups had delivered during a seven-game losing streak, it was downright Staubachian.
The stage and the stakes were greater for the traditional holiday game. The chance to knock the Carolina Panthers from their unbeaten perch, to do it with the grizzled veteran Romo outperforming Cam Newton, would surely propel the Cowboys back into the NFC East race and then who knows what might happen?
This game could not have unfolded any more poorly for the season, for Romo, maybe even for his future as this team's unquestioned leader.
The ugly evidence from the first half: Romo was intercepted three times with Panthers twice returning them for touchdowns.
"I like to think I'm good enough not to give touchdowns to the defense," Romo said. "I didn't give us a chance and, for however long, that will eat at me."
And when Romo will be able to atone for Thursday's mess? Well, no one knows. He said the injury he suffered on a sack near the end of the third quarter "felt the same" as the fractured clavicle he endured in Philadelphia that sent him to injured reserve for two months.
The safe play is to let Romo recover, rest him until 2016 if necessary, although Garrett made it clear he plans to play Romo when he's healthy regardless of whether anything relevant is at stake.
"All hands on deck," Garrett said. When asked if that included post-elimination games in late December, he said, "If anybody's ready to play, they're going to play."
But when's the next time the player we have come to think of as Tony Romo -- a four-time Pro Bowler with scores of team passing records -- will truly be available? He is closer to his 36th birthday than his 35th. He was at the heart of a team we saw building toward a championship just a few months ago. Now that team sits at the bottom of the NFC.
And not just the sorry NFC East. Dallas' 3-8 record is the worst in the entire conference. That will surely initiate all kinds of draft talk long before it needs to commence and yet at the same time, some will tell us this team remains mathematically alive in the NFC East -- possibly just two games out of first by Sunday night.
But even Garrett has been forced to alter his mantra about "the process" ever so slightly.
"We have to decide over the next few days what we want to be," Garrett said. "There's nothing we can do about what's happened to this point."
That's as close as Garrett's ever going to come to saying, "This thing is an off-the-rails disaster."
But now the team also has to ponder what its future at quarterback is going to be. I'm not suggesting Romo won't be No. 1 on the depth chart going into 2016. Contractually, they don't have a great option to consider alternatives, but beyond that, they have to recognize it's something just short of crazy to pencil him in for 16 games a year as he begins life in his late 30s.
I don't know that he's brittle, but Thursday's final sack looked a lot like a garden variety sack, not the kind of play where you know a player's season has just been altered.
Did the Cowboys bring him back too soon? Probably not, but if they did, it means he's taking longer to heal than he did in the past. That's not a great sign for a team's most important player.
The Cowboys haven't drafted a quarterback since Stephen McGee in 2009 (long gone) and there's no one on the roster who can fairly be called this team's future. This organization has to change the way it views the quarterback position after Thursday's game.
"Romo to the Rescue" should never again be a realistic storyline around here. He will make plays, and he will win games. But we should take them as reminders of what was, not view him as the centerpiece that an entire team gets to use as a crutch.