By Tyler Alley
Sports Editor
Let it be said upfront that I am a Houston Texans fan and, therefore, I love seeing the Cowboys fall apart on opening night yet again.
Having said that, can Cowboy fans calm down, turn off the panic alarm and get off quarterback Tony Romo’s back? It’s getting annoying, and I think your irritation is misplaced.
Are Dallas fans really blaming Romo for their loss to the New York Jets? Tony Romo threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns against one of the best defenses in the league. The Jets’ defense allowed the sixth-lowest passing yards per game last season. New York held Tom Brady to under 300 passing yards in their 28-21 playoff victory over the Patriots (queue Bart Scott saying, “Can’t wait!”).
Romo was hurt the second half of last year, and then the lockout canceled most of the offseason training, yet Romo still led the Dallas offense to scoring 24 points.
Here is where Cowboys fans everywhere say, “Well, he did not show up in the fourth quarter.” Let me take you through the fourth quarter and show you how that’s not completely accurate.
The quarter began with Dallas running back Felix Jones running in a 1-yard touchdown to bring the score to 24-10 in favor of the Cowboys. The very next drive, Mark Sanchez and company go 84 yards in only 2:54 and score a touchdown. I am pretty sure Romo had nothing to do with that.
The next drive, the Cowboys kept possession of the ball for 2:57 and took the ball down to the New York 2-yard line. On third down, Romo was sacked, fumbled, and the Jets recovered.
Sanchez ended up fumbling the next drive anyway, so other than lost points, no real harm done. Cowboys still have the lead.
By the way, before you whine about a quarterback fumbling, give Colts fans a call. Kerry Collins had two fumbles on two consecutive drives against the Texans.
The next drive, New York blocks the Cowboys’ punt and recovered it for a touchdown. Again, I do not think Romo was involved.
On the following Cowboys drive, Romo throws for a first down, then the coaches call three straight run plays before punting. Why is Dallas calling three run plays with under 5:00 to go in a tie game?
The final issue for Cowboys fans was the final interception. I’ll admit that was a bad decision, but Dallas fans, you need to realize something: Tony Romo is not Tom Brady. If anything, he is a young Brett Favre. He goes for the big play. Sometimes he will win you a game and sometimes he will lose it for you.
