Romo could be out for season, he ain’t missing much
Arlington – Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo completed a pass to Miles Austin for a first down early in the second quarter with the Cowboys leading the New York Giants 10-7. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, Romo stayed on the ground after being hit by Michael Boley. Romo left the game with a fractured left clavicle and could miss the rest of the season.
As the Cowboys went on to lose 41-35 and fall to 1-5, the season is all but over for the entire team. No team in the last 40 years has gone from 1-5 to the playoffs.
Dallas began the game with 2 quick scores after interceptions of Eli Manning passes were tipped into the arms of Cowboy defenders. With the Cowboys holding a 10-0 lead only 5 minutes into the game, things were looking good for the home team. It quickly fell apart. New york mounted an 11-play touchdown drive which foreshadowed things to come.
After Romo’s injury, the Cowboys settled for a field goal to extend the lead 13-7. The defense held the Giants and Dallas rookie Dez Bryant returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown and a Cowboys record. Dallas held a 20-7 lead.
The Giants scored on their next 5 possessions, while Dallas, under backup quarterback John Kitna, could muster only 1 first down on their next 7 possessions.
In the 4th quarter, the Cowboys mounted a drive to get as far as the Giants 6 yard line, but could not punch it in on 4 tries. The teams traded turnovers until the Cowboys again scored on a pass to Dez Bryant with just over 3 minutes to go in the game, inching to within 10 at 38-28.
The Dallas onside kick attempt failed and the Giants got another field goal to go up 41-28.
Dallas showed some fight, as they moved 73 yards in 1:15 and finished off with another Kitna to Bryant touchdown pass to pull within 6. 41-35.
Another onside attempt failed and the game, and possible the Cowboys’ season was over.
It was a devastating and unusual loss in that the Cowboys seemed to fix all the problems that have been so prevalent in their earlier losses. Penalties on the Cowboys were few, Dallas got 5 turnovers in the game, after having only 4 all season coming in to this week, and the much maligned special teams made big plays on both returns and coverage. These are stats that normally win games.
The receiving corp, so good until this game, was a huge disappointment. Miles Austin, Roy Williams, Dez Bryant, and Jason Witten all had drops in the game.
The Cowboys still have a chance this year, assuming they can win 9 of the next 10 games. I’m not holding my breath for it…I’ll be watching the Rangers to give DFW a world champion this year.
