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ARLINGTON, Texas – There's a reason why the quarterback is the only position on the team that has a won-loss record attached to him.
Think about it, no other guy has won a game or lost it. Of course it's happened over the years, but guys like Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin or even Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware don't have a record.
Tony Romo has one. As a starting quarterback in both the regular season and playoffs, he's now 42-27.
And the reason he's not 43-26 after Sunday's collapse here at Cowboys Stadium is because of three flings of the arm by Romo in the second half. Three touchdowns in the first half were great. But the three interceptions in the second half, including two that were returned for scores, proved to be much bigger.
The Cowboys lost this one 34-30 for a lot of reasons. But it starts with Romo – always has and always will.
Just like it started with Romo the last two games when he rallied the team for victories despite his rib injury. And just like it started with Romo in Week 1 when he played well for three-and-a-half quarters only to turn it over twice to allow the Jets to win at the end.
It starts with the quarterback. It ends with the quarterback.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said a lot of things over the years. He didn't have a lot to say immediately following Sunday's game, but he ended his short press briefing with this:
"If you're going to try to make the plays, then you've got a chance to have some bad plays," Jones said. "However we go, we'll go with Tony. As Tony goes, we'll go."
Truer words have never been spoken. Because on this day, Tony started off well and things went really well on the scoreboard, to the tune of 27-3. But it went south in a hurry once Romo threw that first pick to Bobby Carpenter. That will go down as one of his worst throws of the season.
From our press box view, you could see it forming all the way. Not only was Carpenter there, but Chris Houston wasn't far off either. Of course, Houston would get his pick on the next drive.
But the Carpenter play was a killer. Not only did Romo never see Carpenter cheating back, but then the Cowboys looked like "offensive" players and couldn't bring down the Peyton Hillis look-a-like as he rumbled his way to the end zone.
It's 27-3 and the Cowboys had the ball. And honestly, I'm not afraid to admit this and I bet some of you were even thinking it, too, but I even looked to make sure Romo was even coming back in the game. I know it was a little premature but with his rib injury and what seemed to be a commanding lead, I at least made sure.
That being said, it went from 27-3 to 27-10 with the Lions getting a little bit of life. They got a few more breaths on the next drive when Romo was again picked off, this time by Houston who also broke a few tackles en route to the end zone.
Now this one might have a little dual blame as Laurent Robinson, who did have a good game, especially in the first half, has to keep running and keep Houston on his back. That slant pass, which he ran well earlier in the game, is a battle of positioning and Robinson didn't win that play, letting Houston beat him to the spot.
Again, go back to Romo for not putting it on the spot it had to be for Robinson to make the catch. So it goes both ways on that. Unfortunately for Dallas, it went ... the other way for six points.
"That's a timing throw," Romo said of the second interception. "You throw it, let it go and we just have to be better on the throw and catch on that play. Give them credit again for doing a good job."
Still, even with that second interception for a touchdown, it's a 27-17 game midway through the third quarter. The Cowboys still should've been in control despite the early Christmas presents.
But that proved to be too much of a momentum swing. And it was all the Lions' offense would need to get on track.
Once again, the Cowboys had a chance after getting a stop late in the fourth, keeping a 30-27 lead. All Romo and the offense had to do was get a few first downs and sneak out of Cowboys Stadium and into the bye week with a 3-1 record, and a tiebreaker edge over these pesky Lions.
Instead, it took one play to change it all. Romo threw his third pick, this time off his back foot to Jason Witten, who had his man beat over the middle. Witten was open but not forever and the hesitation in Romo allowed Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch to come up with the pick. (And was it me or did it seem like Tulloch made EVERY play in the second half? He did have 12 tackles to lead his team.)
"I just needed to hold the ball longer than I wanted to let him get over the top and my feet weren't quite set as they needed to be to push down," Romo said. "It's disappointing because I thought he was coming open past all the linebackers and there's no safety help to that side. I wish I could have that throw back and just throw it further."
Theme of the second half – wanting those throws back. You don't get that luxury in this game.
To be fair to Romo, which I doubt will happen a lot in the next two weeks if not longer, I'm sure there are some other things he'd like to have back.
Like his starting receivers. Miles Austin should finally get over this hamstring injury after the bye. You'd like to think Dez Bryant will do the same with his thigh injury and I'm sure another week will help Tony Romo's rib injury, which needed another pain injection before the game.
However, it's like the Jets game when he went out there with a brand-new, baby-faced offensive line in the season opener and played lights out for three quarters. That didn't seem to bother him early in the game so it won't be used as an excuse at the end.
Same thing against the Lions. The injuries to both himself and his receivers didn't look like a problem when it was 27-3, so it's not going to be an excuse when it all collapsed.
The fact is Romo is the leader of this team, whether or not he does it as vocally as people would like. Still, he leads this team.
In four games, he's led them to wins and he's led them to losses.
With this 2-2 start, not to mention the fact the Cowboys are now 5-5 in these games decided by four points or less, it's looking like this team will be right there around the 7-9, 8-8, 9-7 mark. Who knows, it's very early in the year and maybe the Cowboys can be better than that, or maybe they'd be lucky to get that many wins.
But one thing seems certain here after a quarter of the season. The number of wins the Cowboys have in 2011 will probably be the exact number of games Romo plays well this year. And the same goes for the losses.
Just like Jerry said ... as Romo goes, this team will go. And it didn't go well Sunday.
+++++
Nice and safe article by a team mouthpiece. Romo and his handler need to be roasted for the next 2 weeks.
Think about it, no other guy has won a game or lost it. Of course it's happened over the years, but guys like Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin or even Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware don't have a record.
Tony Romo has one. As a starting quarterback in both the regular season and playoffs, he's now 42-27.
And the reason he's not 43-26 after Sunday's collapse here at Cowboys Stadium is because of three flings of the arm by Romo in the second half. Three touchdowns in the first half were great. But the three interceptions in the second half, including two that were returned for scores, proved to be much bigger.
The Cowboys lost this one 34-30 for a lot of reasons. But it starts with Romo – always has and always will.
Just like it started with Romo the last two games when he rallied the team for victories despite his rib injury. And just like it started with Romo in Week 1 when he played well for three-and-a-half quarters only to turn it over twice to allow the Jets to win at the end.
It starts with the quarterback. It ends with the quarterback.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said a lot of things over the years. He didn't have a lot to say immediately following Sunday's game, but he ended his short press briefing with this:
"If you're going to try to make the plays, then you've got a chance to have some bad plays," Jones said. "However we go, we'll go with Tony. As Tony goes, we'll go."
Truer words have never been spoken. Because on this day, Tony started off well and things went really well on the scoreboard, to the tune of 27-3. But it went south in a hurry once Romo threw that first pick to Bobby Carpenter. That will go down as one of his worst throws of the season.
From our press box view, you could see it forming all the way. Not only was Carpenter there, but Chris Houston wasn't far off either. Of course, Houston would get his pick on the next drive.
But the Carpenter play was a killer. Not only did Romo never see Carpenter cheating back, but then the Cowboys looked like "offensive" players and couldn't bring down the Peyton Hillis look-a-like as he rumbled his way to the end zone.
It's 27-3 and the Cowboys had the ball. And honestly, I'm not afraid to admit this and I bet some of you were even thinking it, too, but I even looked to make sure Romo was even coming back in the game. I know it was a little premature but with his rib injury and what seemed to be a commanding lead, I at least made sure.
That being said, it went from 27-3 to 27-10 with the Lions getting a little bit of life. They got a few more breaths on the next drive when Romo was again picked off, this time by Houston who also broke a few tackles en route to the end zone.
Now this one might have a little dual blame as Laurent Robinson, who did have a good game, especially in the first half, has to keep running and keep Houston on his back. That slant pass, which he ran well earlier in the game, is a battle of positioning and Robinson didn't win that play, letting Houston beat him to the spot.
Again, go back to Romo for not putting it on the spot it had to be for Robinson to make the catch. So it goes both ways on that. Unfortunately for Dallas, it went ... the other way for six points.
"That's a timing throw," Romo said of the second interception. "You throw it, let it go and we just have to be better on the throw and catch on that play. Give them credit again for doing a good job."
Still, even with that second interception for a touchdown, it's a 27-17 game midway through the third quarter. The Cowboys still should've been in control despite the early Christmas presents.
But that proved to be too much of a momentum swing. And it was all the Lions' offense would need to get on track.
Once again, the Cowboys had a chance after getting a stop late in the fourth, keeping a 30-27 lead. All Romo and the offense had to do was get a few first downs and sneak out of Cowboys Stadium and into the bye week with a 3-1 record, and a tiebreaker edge over these pesky Lions.
Instead, it took one play to change it all. Romo threw his third pick, this time off his back foot to Jason Witten, who had his man beat over the middle. Witten was open but not forever and the hesitation in Romo allowed Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch to come up with the pick. (And was it me or did it seem like Tulloch made EVERY play in the second half? He did have 12 tackles to lead his team.)
"I just needed to hold the ball longer than I wanted to let him get over the top and my feet weren't quite set as they needed to be to push down," Romo said. "It's disappointing because I thought he was coming open past all the linebackers and there's no safety help to that side. I wish I could have that throw back and just throw it further."
Theme of the second half – wanting those throws back. You don't get that luxury in this game.
To be fair to Romo, which I doubt will happen a lot in the next two weeks if not longer, I'm sure there are some other things he'd like to have back.
Like his starting receivers. Miles Austin should finally get over this hamstring injury after the bye. You'd like to think Dez Bryant will do the same with his thigh injury and I'm sure another week will help Tony Romo's rib injury, which needed another pain injection before the game.
However, it's like the Jets game when he went out there with a brand-new, baby-faced offensive line in the season opener and played lights out for three quarters. That didn't seem to bother him early in the game so it won't be used as an excuse at the end.
Same thing against the Lions. The injuries to both himself and his receivers didn't look like a problem when it was 27-3, so it's not going to be an excuse when it all collapsed.
The fact is Romo is the leader of this team, whether or not he does it as vocally as people would like. Still, he leads this team.
In four games, he's led them to wins and he's led them to losses.
With this 2-2 start, not to mention the fact the Cowboys are now 5-5 in these games decided by four points or less, it's looking like this team will be right there around the 7-9, 8-8, 9-7 mark. Who knows, it's very early in the year and maybe the Cowboys can be better than that, or maybe they'd be lucky to get that many wins.
But one thing seems certain here after a quarter of the season. The number of wins the Cowboys have in 2011 will probably be the exact number of games Romo plays well this year. And the same goes for the losses.
Just like Jerry said ... as Romo goes, this team will go. And it didn't go well Sunday.
+++++
Nice and safe article by a team mouthpiece. Romo and his handler need to be roasted for the next 2 weeks.