Cowboys Fans Have New Scapegoat

                Wade Phillips is gone but Sunday night gave Dallas Cowboys fans across the world a new scapegoat, well, I guess more of a recycled scapegoat that has returned to attract the ire of those fickle Boys fans.

                Tony Romo, returning from a broken collarbone that ended his 2010 season early, had an absolutely terrific three quarters against a hyped Jets defence.  He was in control of the offense, making good decisions, looking for Miles Austin and Jason Witten once Darrelle Revis jumped onto Dez Bryant and took him out of the game, beautifully improvising in the way that has made Romo a star and fan favorite.  It was perfect Romo and the Boys had a 24-10 lead shortly after the start of the 4^th quarter.  Not even a TD drive by Mark Sanchez and the Jets to pull within 7 seemed like it would be enough to overcome the Romo-led Cowboys.  A 64-yard rumble from Witten to the Jets 3-yard line should have ended the game.

                Unfortunately, the bad Romo sprang up.  Instead of just going down and throwing it out of bounds, Romo tucked and ran.  Even that wasn’t a terribly horrible decision but he will be lambasted for it by everyone because of how the play ended, with the ball in the hands of Jets NT Sione Pouha.

                The Cowboy defence, a shell of its former self in 2010, made the plays it needed to make to keep the Cowboys ahead and put the ball back in Romo’s hands with a chance to hit field goal range.  Getting the ball at the Jets 47-yard line, Romo instead took the offense backwards.  This was the start of Romo’s unravelling.

                A 2-yard loss on a run by Felix Jones (who woulda thunk that Jones wouldn’t be the closer the 30lbs heavier Marion Barber was for them?) followed by two straight delay of game penalties as the offense just couldn’t get its act together.  Pushed back to their own 41, the Boys at least had the opportunity to make life incredibly hard for the Jets by pinning them back deep in their own territory.

                Instead, little-used Jets RB Joe McKnight burst through the middle of the Cowboys line on the punt and leaped just far enough to get a hand on the ball and send it bouncing back behind punter Mat McBriar.  The Jets scooped it up and ran it back for a TD.  Tie game, 24-24. 

                Sanchez and the Jets even gave Romo two more opportunities to get the lead back.  The first chance resulted in a punt for a touchback.  It was the second squandered opportunity that has everyone rankled.

                The drive lasted one play.  Picked off by Revis on a horribly thrown pass well behind Bryant.  And he’s lucky it didn’t go back the other way.  Romo admitted after the game that it was a “dumb decision” and he’s right.  But he wasn’t quite done yet.

                Nick Folk booted what would be the game winning FG and the Boys got the ball back with little time to get down the field and at least get in FG position.  Getting a first down at their own 34 with 8 seconds remaining, the Cowboys again looked disorganized, C Phil Costa snapping the ball before Romo was even ready.  The ball bounced around for a second before Romo grabbed it and threw incomplete.  Instead of getting some yardage and possibly stepping out of bounds and stopping the clock, the Boys had to call their last time out with 3 seconds remaining and the game basically over.

                Romo stepped up after the game and took responsibility for the loss.  Leaders step up and take responsibility.  He’s the QB, that’s a cross he has to bear as the QB.  But is it all his fault?  Let’s not forget that Romo carried this team for 3 quarters.  Tossed 2 TD and kept the offense moving despite Jones proving pretty obviously that he’s not cut out for lead back duties.  Jones had 44 yards on 17 carries, good for 2.6 yards a pop.  What about Bryant, who absolutely disappeared as soon as Revis started blanketing him.  Bryant’s not the only receiver to get lost on Revis Island but after 3 catches for 71 yards a TD in the 1^st quarter, Bryant went catchless the rest of the way.  How about Bryant standing around watching Revis pick off that pass?  That’s some great effort fighting for that ball there Dez.  What about Witten’s offensive pass interference penalty on the first play of the final drive that erased Austin’s 22 yard catch?  Or how about a defence that knocked around the Jets offense for 3 quarters and then couldn’t make enough plays at the end to keep Sanchez and the Jets from getting the points they needed?  What about the special teams breakdown that led to the game tying TD, is that Romo’s fault?

                Did Romo make some mistakes?  Yeah, some real ugly ones that a QB in his 5^th year as a starter, with 3 Pro Bowl selections under his belt, probably shouldn’t make.  We all know the old saying about quarterbacks: “they get too much credit when things go right, and too much blame when things go wrong.”  At least Romo had the balls to stand up and accept that responsibility.  Let’s assign blame where blame is due.  The Dallas Cowboys couldn’t beat the Jets in the clutch.

                Good thing Romo got them that far.