Tony Romo might have played the best football game ever by a Dallas Cowboys quarterback for 58 minutes on Sunday afternoon against the Denver Broncos. On his first 35 throws, Romo completed 25 passes for 506 yards, passing Don Meredith for the team’s single-game record. He also tossed five touchdowns and racked up a bazillion fantasy points in those 58 minutes.
Unfortunately for Romo and the Cowboys, an NFL game is 60 minutes, and this team always finds a way to stumble at the end.
With the score knotted at 48 and the Cowboys facing a 2nd-and-16 from their own 14-yard line, Romo did what people always expect him to do in clutch situations: He threw an interception.
It’s never a good idea to give Peyton Manning, one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, a short field. But the Cowboys did just that, and a Matt Prater field goal as time expired gave the Broncos a 51-48 victory and the Cowboys their second straight loss.
The throw by Romo was not the best decision, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. But what’s new?
In last season’s finale against the Washington Redskins, Romo threw a late interception, setting up the Redskins to win the game and head to the playoffs. In Week 2 of this season, Romo diminished his solid game with his fourth quarter performance against the Kansas City Chiefs. And who can forget about the fumbled snap against the Seattle Seahawks back in 2007?
Romo is a very talented quarterback, and statistically, he is excellent. But this is what Romo does. This has been the story for Romo his whole career. He can never perform in pressure situations, and when it comes to clutch time, he falters.
While Cowboys fans are tired of seeing Romo make costly mistakes with the game on the line, the blame should not be all on Romo; the defense was also terrible.
After all, Dallas’ defense did give up a whopping 51 points Sunday. Moreover, DeMarco Murray and the rushing attack were nonexistent.
While Romo is falling on his own sword for the loss, it’s the entire Cowboys team that is stuck in a rut, finding creative ways to lose.
The Cowboys are 2-3 for the third straight season, a record that hasn’t taken them to the playoffs since the Jerry Jones era.
Despite all that occurred Sunday for the Cowboys, they still stand at the top of the National Football Conference East, tied with the Philadelphia Eagles. There are 11 games to be played, and when seven or eight wins could win them a division this year, there is still plenty of time to get better and forget about that one mistake Romo made.
