Dallas fans should be cheering a 4-0 start as the Cowboys head into their bye week, but because of Tony Romo the team is 2-2 and going nowhere fast.
The Cowboys fell to Detroit 34-30 after Romo threw three interceptions in the second half that led to 21 Lions’ points, preventing Dallas from remaining tied for first in the NFC East.
The Cowboys were on their way to an easy win over Detroit, leading 27-3 early in the third quarter. The game was on the verge of becoming a laugher, with Dallas seemingly having their way against the Lions.
But as he’s done throughout his career, Romo began to make stupid decisions that ultimately cost Dallas the victory.
On consecutive third quarter possessions, Romo threw interceptions that were returned for touchdowns to cut Dallas’ lead to 27-17.
With Dallas clinging to a 30-27 lead late in the fourth quarter, Romo threw off his back foot in the direction of Jason Witten on the first play of their third possession.
In what was a classic Romo gaffe, his pass was short and picked off by Detroit’s Stephen Tulloch with 4:22 left, setting up the Lions game winning score.
In the Cowboys’ two losses this season, Romo has been responsible for five turnovers that have led to 35 points that cost Dallas wins against the New York Jets and Lions.
The loss to Detroit was the second time this season that Dallas blew a lead of at least 14 points, and both of those losses can be directly attributed to Romo’s mistakes.
Predictably, Cowboys’ coach Jason Garrett came to Romo’s defense, as did owner Jerry Jones. Both of them expressed their support for Romo, but their words fell on deaf ears.
“He knows that I believe in him,” Garrett said. “Our staff believes in him. His teammates believe in him.”
Believe in what? That at a crucial point in the game, Romo will implode?
“There’s no issue about faith in Romo in any place in this organization. Period.” Jerry Jones said. “We have a lot of faith in Romo. This doesn’t touch that.
“If you’re going to try to make some plays, then you’re going to have some bad plays. As Tony goes, we’ll go.”
Some bad plays? Eight turnovers in four games doesn’t qualify as “some,” especially when five of those turnovers directly resulted in the Cowboys losing two games.
In their effort to explain why Dallas blew a 24-point lead to a Lions’ team they had beat, neither Garrett or Jones gave us an honest answer.
In a game the Cowboys were dominating in every way, there’s simply no defense, no argument or no amount of excuses that can attempt to explain why Dallas lost.
The fact is, there’s no defending Romo for this debacle. The only plausible explanation why Dallas blew its largest lead in franchise history was because Romo gave the game away.
When Jones decided to make Garrett the Cowboys permanent head coach following the end of last season, Garrett spoke about changing the culture in Dallas.
Unfortunately, Garrett hasn’t been able to change Romo’s propensity to do stupid things that costs Dallas wins.
For a franchise that hasn’t enjoyed any sustained success since Jimmy Johnson departed in the mid 1990′s, Cowboys’ fans have to be wondering if this team will ever get back to being relevant.
It’s a valid concern, because with Romo as the Cowboys quarterback no lead is safe. Opposing teams don’t have to do much to stop Dallas because all they have to do is wait until Romo throws an interception or fumbles.
Not that Dallas was considered to be serious contenders for a playoff berth this season, but the Cowboys can certainly put aside any hope of getting into the postseason until Romo stops doing dumb things that loses games.
If you’re a Cowboys’ fan, I’d advise you don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
