By Balraj Dhillon (Contributor) – Email
Date Posted: October 7, 2011
Print Edition: October 5, 2011
It was a story Cowboys fans have seen played out one to many times. Their quarterback Tony Romo gets off to a good start, the team gets a big lead and critics begin to change their minds about Romo’s abilities – then he chokes. What has become the “norm” for the Cowboys occurred again on Sunday; Romo and the Cowboys built a 20-point lead at halftime, only to see it diminish in the second half. How much more can The Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, tolerate after investing over a billion dollars into his franchise? The billionaire had some words for Romo on the sidelines during the game.
The Detroit Lions, who only a couple seasons ago recorded a winless 0-16 season, came into Sunday’s affair putting their undefeated record on the line. Wide receiver Dez Bryant and the Cowboys got off to a quick start, with Bryant catching two touchdown passes from Romo and establishing a 20-point lead at half time. The Lions recouped and it was their defence who led the way by chipping away at the deficit, picking off two Romo passes and returning them for touchdowns; then Megatron showed up. Calvin Johnson, who has been dubbed “Megatron,” began to tear apart the Cowboys secondary, catching eight passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cowboys offence was moving the chains down the field late in the fourth quarter, and for a short-lived moment, it seemed that a last second touchdown to win the game was not out of the question for Tony Romo. However, the game took a weird and unusual turn. On a fourth down and 20, with 11 seconds left, Romo dropped back and threw a check down pass to running back Felix Jones. Unaware that it was fourth down, Jones picked up some yards, not enough for the first down, and ran out of bounds to stop the clock. The Lions got the ball back due to turnover on downs and kept their perfect record intact. It was the largest blown lead in Cowboys history, and the Lions are 4-0 for the first time since 1980. Tony Romo finished the game having completed 34 passes for 331 yards, throwing three touchdowns along with three interceptions. Lions QB Matthew Stafford completed 21 passes for 240 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Around the League: The Philadelphia Eagles, the self proclaimed, “dream team,” fell to a 1-3 record as the San Francisco 49ers came from behind and won 24-23 despite Vick throwing for over 400 yards. The Cincinnati Bengals also came from behind and kicked a last second field goal to beat the Buffalo Bills 23-20 and erased their perfect record. Cam Newton had another big week for the Panthers, throwing for over 350 yards, but the defence was unable to stop Chicago’s run game as Matt Forte ran all over Carolina’s defence for an astonishing 205 yards.
