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Archer: Tony Romo feels like Cowboys' win was taken away from them
01:25 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Column by TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News | tarcher@dallasnews.com
Todd Archer
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LANDOVER, Md. – Tony Romo had his bag slung over one shoulder as he held a box of Popeye’s chicken in one hand early Monday morning. His steps to the team bus were slow as his mind raced with what he had just happened.
“Can you believe that?” Romo asked.
He was so close to being the hero – again – for the Cowboys.
Instead, he left leaving FedEx Field with a 13-7 loss attached to his resume.
With three seconds left, he stepped up, dipped, moved to his right and saw out of the corner of his eye an uncovered Roy Williams . It was all very similar to how he beat the Redskins last year at Cowboys Stadium and how he turned nothing into something against Atlanta, too.
Oh, the grief he could have given LeBron James, noted Cowboys fan, for leaving the stadium before the Cowboys took over for their final drive.
But as he started to celebrate, he noticed nobody running on the field. Then he saw the Redskins celebrating and heard the crowd.
“It’s a tough one to take,” Romo said. “Leaves a bad taste in your mouth for sure.”
Romo’s emotional ride was felt by every player. Marion Barber jumped on Williams’ back, thinking the Cowboys had won. Miles Austin, whose 31-yard catch helped set up the game winner not-to-be, did the same.
Defensive players thought the offense came through.
“We were ready to celebrate and run into the locker room,” safety Gerald Sensabaugh.
Wade Phillips did not have that exhilarating feeling.
“I saw the flag,” Phillips said.
Alex Barron corralled Brian Orakpo for an obvious holding penalty that referee Tony Corrente could not ignore, even on the last play of the game. It was the 12th accepted penalty of the game for the Cowboys, and it cost them the victory.
Just like a facemask penalty in 2006 cost Romo and the Cowboys a chance to win at FedEx Field in another bizarre ending. That game was Romo’s second start. He took the Cowboys from their 39 with 31 seconds remaining to the Washington 17 with six seconds to go, but Mike Vanderjagt’s 35-yard field goal try was blocked by Troy Vincent.
Sean Taylor returned the kick 30 yards. Add a 15-yard face mask penalty on Kyle Kosier, and Nick Novak was able to kick a 47-yarder to win it on an untimed play.
Instead of talking about Romo directing an 81-yard drive Sunday against Washington, Dez Bryant’s two catches to start the drive, Miles Austin’s incredible 146-yard game three days after signing a six-year, $54 million extension, and Williams’ game-winning catch, we’re talking about penalties.
You’re left talking about Barron’s holding penalty, wondering how things would have been had Marc Colombo been able to return quicker from knee surgery, and an offense that put up a lot of yards, like last year, without scoring points, like last year.
“We didn’t get nearly as much out of it as we should have,” Romo said. “Give them credit. That’s a really, really good defense and football team. There’s a lot of stuff you can’t paper for in the first game, but I thought our guys handled stuff pretty well. We made far too many mistakes, and we weren’t able to overcome it.”
After that crazy loss in 2006 to the Redskins, the Cowboys won their next four games to make the playoffs. These Cowboys have to have the same short memory.
“It’s a difficult feeling because you thought you won, and it’s kind of taken away from you,” Romo said. “That was in some ways a first, I guess you could say. But we’re going to have to get back and be ready to go to beat Chicago.”
• • •
01:25 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Column by TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News | tarcher@dallasnews.com
Todd Archer
Archive | E-mail
LANDOVER, Md. – Tony Romo had his bag slung over one shoulder as he held a box of Popeye’s chicken in one hand early Monday morning. His steps to the team bus were slow as his mind raced with what he had just happened.
“Can you believe that?” Romo asked.
He was so close to being the hero – again – for the Cowboys.
Instead, he left leaving FedEx Field with a 13-7 loss attached to his resume.
With three seconds left, he stepped up, dipped, moved to his right and saw out of the corner of his eye an uncovered Roy Williams . It was all very similar to how he beat the Redskins last year at Cowboys Stadium and how he turned nothing into something against Atlanta, too.
Oh, the grief he could have given LeBron James, noted Cowboys fan, for leaving the stadium before the Cowboys took over for their final drive.
But as he started to celebrate, he noticed nobody running on the field. Then he saw the Redskins celebrating and heard the crowd.
“It’s a tough one to take,” Romo said. “Leaves a bad taste in your mouth for sure.”
Romo’s emotional ride was felt by every player. Marion Barber jumped on Williams’ back, thinking the Cowboys had won. Miles Austin, whose 31-yard catch helped set up the game winner not-to-be, did the same.
Defensive players thought the offense came through.
“We were ready to celebrate and run into the locker room,” safety Gerald Sensabaugh.
Wade Phillips did not have that exhilarating feeling.
“I saw the flag,” Phillips said.
Alex Barron corralled Brian Orakpo for an obvious holding penalty that referee Tony Corrente could not ignore, even on the last play of the game. It was the 12th accepted penalty of the game for the Cowboys, and it cost them the victory.
Just like a facemask penalty in 2006 cost Romo and the Cowboys a chance to win at FedEx Field in another bizarre ending. That game was Romo’s second start. He took the Cowboys from their 39 with 31 seconds remaining to the Washington 17 with six seconds to go, but Mike Vanderjagt’s 35-yard field goal try was blocked by Troy Vincent.
Sean Taylor returned the kick 30 yards. Add a 15-yard face mask penalty on Kyle Kosier, and Nick Novak was able to kick a 47-yarder to win it on an untimed play.
Instead of talking about Romo directing an 81-yard drive Sunday against Washington, Dez Bryant’s two catches to start the drive, Miles Austin’s incredible 146-yard game three days after signing a six-year, $54 million extension, and Williams’ game-winning catch, we’re talking about penalties.
You’re left talking about Barron’s holding penalty, wondering how things would have been had Marc Colombo been able to return quicker from knee surgery, and an offense that put up a lot of yards, like last year, without scoring points, like last year.
“We didn’t get nearly as much out of it as we should have,” Romo said. “Give them credit. That’s a really, really good defense and football team. There’s a lot of stuff you can’t paper for in the first game, but I thought our guys handled stuff pretty well. We made far too many mistakes, and we weren’t able to overcome it.”
After that crazy loss in 2006 to the Redskins, the Cowboys won their next four games to make the playoffs. These Cowboys have to have the same short memory.
“It’s a difficult feeling because you thought you won, and it’s kind of taken away from you,” Romo said. “That was in some ways a first, I guess you could say. But we’re going to have to get back and be ready to go to beat Chicago.”
• • •