COWBOYS WIN HOME OPENER IN BLOW-OUT FASHION...OR NOT
By mark rogers
September 21, 2009
A quick glance at the box score reveals a similar number in the total yards column. Both teams had 13 possessions. Return yards were virtually identical.
Weighing heavily in the Cowboys' favor was a 154 yard advantage in the rushing category. Take away a 31 yard Brandon Jacobs run in the second half and he was held to 27 yards...no touchdowns.
The Giants were 0-for-5 in the red zone and were held to five field goal attempts.
Marion Barber rushed for 124 yards on 18 carries. Felix Jones was four yards away from the century mark.
On paper, the Cowboys completely dominated.
There was just one minor detail that derailed the Cowboys in their bid for a win in front of the biggest crowd in NFL history:
Tony Romo.
Three interceptions. 13-for-29 through the air. Passer rating?? N/A.
He wasn't sacked one time and had time to throw. And throw he did. To the other team. Three times.
One was returned for a TD. One should have been. And the last one looked like Romo was playing 500 Toss-Up with the Giants secondary.
You know how many Cowboy receivers had more than one catch?? Like to take a guess??
Zero.
Yes. Zero. Kenny Phillips had more catches from Romo than any of our receivers.
If you add 10 points to the Cowboys total, 10 points that we would have scored if we had three more possessions, and take away 17 of the 24 points New York scored off of our turnovers, the score would have been 41-16.
And if that game had been played at the same venue in Week 7 against that same Giants team with the same result? Big deal. We play the next week.
But when you put it into context...new 1.15 billion dollar stadium, division rival, all the Cowboy greats on hand, national TV, Sunday night, biggest crowd in the history of the NFL? A championship team would have won that game. Period.
I've defended Romo at great lengths over the last few years. But I can't do it now.
Even when the Dallas papers are saying he's taken the blame and earned the trust of his teammates.
Big deal. He should have already earned the trust of his teammates.
He should be winning those kinds of games now. Not earning the trust of his teammates by taking the blame for the most embarrassing loss in recent Cowboy history.
And this is how I feel 24 hours later. You can imagine the things I was thinking last night. It wasn't pretty.
I'll keep my hopes up and pull for the Cowboys. I'll hope they win a playoff game and contend for a championship. I'll watch the rest of the games.
But until Romo proves to me that he can play great (or even average for crying out loud) in a big game, I won't hold my breath.
There is one thing that could have been different last night to ensure a Dallas win. One small thing: If Romo had chosen to become an investment banker...then we would have won.
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