After stunning loss to Redskins, where do the Cowboys go from here?
ARLINGTON, Texas—This is how it happens. This is how the balance of power shifts and how fortunes change in today’s National Football League. The Washington Redskins produced a stunning 20-17 overtime upset Monday night as the Dallas offense failed to produce so much as a first down in its only possession of the extra period.
But the defeat itself was nearly overshadowed by the loss of Tony Romo, who was helped from the turf and taken to the locker room in the third quarter, only to return late in the fourth quarter.
After he returned, he was shaky, and so was the team. The Cowboys were forced to punt near the end of regulation after a Romo fumble was rescued by DeMarco Murray. Then the offense was stopped on a fourth-and-3 desperation incompletion that had no chance for success in overtime, ending the game and the Cowboys’ win streak at six. This is how it happens. One moment Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is being interviewed by ESPN’s broadcasters, telling the world how this retooled offensive line is “really, frankly, what Tony Romo deserves.”
Two plays later, Romo is supine on the turf, having taken a knee from linebacker Keenan Robinson in the small of his back.
“He just caught me pretty good,” Romo said. “I think even if I hadn’t had back surgery, I would have felt that one. It was just a direct shot.”
It was the fourth of five sacks for Romo, the second most the Redskins had produced in any game this year and the most Dallas has allowed.
Yes, these Redskins (3-5) sacked Chad Henne 10 times in Week 2, but that was Jacksonville. This was the team with the NFC’s best record and the NFL’s longest win streak on its way to ... somewhere special.
“They were able to get pressure on the quarterback, get us behind the chains,” coach Jason Garrett said. “You have to do the things that winning teams do.” The Cowboys did not.
Much of the feeling that thishis would be a winning team escaped AT&T &T Stadium as Romo was tended to by trainers Britt Brown and Jim Maurer and orthopedist Dr. Drew Dossett, who performed Romo’s offseason back surgeries.
While Romo was gone, Weeden would get his first playing time and lead Dallas to a tying touchdown on a 25-yard pass to Jason Witten, left unattended by the Washington defense.
With the score 17-17 and just over four minutes to play in the fourth quarter, the crowd cheered as Romo was seen back on the sidelines throwing passes. X-rays of his back did not reveal any damage, and Romo said after receiving a shot, he felt good to go.
Sure enough, after the Dallas defense forced Washington to punt, Romo trotted onto the field to try to save the day with the ball at the Dallas 3-yard line.
But the Cowboys’ efficiency was gone. They got only as far as the 34 before being forced to punt, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra period, following Kai Forbath’s 40-yard field goal, the Cowboys needed three points on their first possession to extend the game or a touchdown to close it out for their seventh straight win.
Murray gained 8 on first down, giving him 141 on the night. You figured he would just pile up more yards as the team worked its way down the field.
But a pass to Murray went for a 1-yard loss, and Romo’s third-down pass for Witten was broken up by linebacker Perry Riley. On fourth-and-3 at the Dallas 27, the Cowboys had no choice but to go for it under the league’s revised overtime rules.
The play was a disaster. Romo looked as if he would get sacked, then fired an off-balance pass that had no real chance of getting to Dez Bryant as Bashaud Breeland—a rookie cornerback who played an exceptional game—swatted it away to seal the upset.
At the season’s halfway mark, Murray has 1,054 yards rushing and is poised to make Cowboys history. But what about his quarterback?
Romo has played somewhere between good and great ever since halftime of the season opener against San Francisco. But the suspense about his surgically repaired back and his staying power as a 34-year-old quarterback in a violent league came roaring back to life Monday night.
“Obviously, Tony’s our quarterback,” Garrett said. “If Tony’s healthy and ready to go, he’s going to play.”
Was he really healthy or just functioning on pain relief late Monday night? Will he be healthy Sunday when the NFC’s only 6-1 team comes to town?
I don’t have that answer. Neither does Garrett nor anyoney else.