Mexico Trip Had Nothing To Do With This Defeat
(AP Photo / Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens gets emotional during a postgame news conference after losing to the New York Giants 21-17 in an NFC divisional playoff football game, Sunday. "This is not about Tony. You guys can point the finger at him, you can talk about the vacation, and if you do that, it's really unfair," Owens said, his voice cracking. "It's really unfair. That's my teammate. That's my quarterback. You guys do that, it's not fair. We lost as a team. We lost as a team, man."
IRVING - Stop it. Just stop it, OK!
The Dallas Cowboys' divisional playoff loss Sunday at Texas Stadium had nothing to do with Tony Romo's trip to Mexico.
The Dallas Cowboys' divisional playoff loss Sunday at Texas Stadium had nothing to do with Tony Romo's trip to Mexico.
Given permission to get away for a few days after the Cowboys earned a first-round bye, Romo and tight end Jason Witten did just that, each with their significant other. Romo said he thought that was better than going to Las Vegas and drinking for two days.
We all know that America's Team lives in a fish bowl, and it's no surprise Romo was criticized for not burning the midnight oil every minute of every day preparing for the New York Giants, who advanced to the NFC Championship Game with a heart-stopping 21-17 victory.
Joe Buie covers sports for the Tyler Paper.
Romo played well in the first half, not as well in the second. Maybe that had something to do with the Cowboys losing some of their explosiveness with Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn both coming back from injuries.
"We were worried about that. That's why we wanted to get the running game going again," said Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips, who gave Marion "The Barbarian" Barber his first start of the season to the tune of 129 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries. "We made some big plays, but we left some out there."
Again, Romo did not leave his game somewhere on a beach in Mexico. But the Cowboys obviously lost momentum with their flat ending to a 13-3 regular season. The Giants, meanwhile, continued their late-season surge and won their ninth straight road game.
Romo, who finished 18-of-36 for 201 yards, one touchdown and one interception, knows he will be criticized.
"I don't think I'll be reading or listening to anything for a while," he said.
Speaking in front of a throng of reporters and TV cameras, Romo sounded terribly disappointed to be put in a situation similar to last year's playoff loss, and fail to come through again.
Instead of dropping the hold on a potential game-winning field goal, he threw a game-ending interception in the end zone on fourth-and-11 from the Giants' 23 with nine seconds left.
Glenn was the intended target in the middle of the end zone, but R.W. McQuarters stepped in front to pick it off.
"They kind of doubled T.O. on the outside and Terry had a guy running with him up the middle," Romo said. "He was the only guy I think that was single-covered on the play. Any other time in the game, you check it down, but you really can't there. I had to throw it."
Despite making history with their first-ever 12-1 start, and setting an NFL record with 12 Pro Bowl selections, the Cowboys' well ran dry late in the season.
"We didn't score as many points, certainly," Phillips said of the 1-3 finish. "That's what it comes down to. We didn't get the turnovers we needed to help us score points. We didn't get the field position we needed to help us score points."
So this is what we are left with: Dallas still has not won a playoff game since 1996 and it has never defeated a team three times in the same season.
Remember 1998? The Cowboys swept Arizona during the regular season, then lost to the Cardinals in the wild-card round of the playoffs at Texas Stadium. That was the Cowboys' last home playoff game before Sunday. Sounds unbelievable, doesn't it.
"I just think we've got to keep getting there," said Phillips, who is now 0-4 in the postseason. "That's what the Giants did. They've been there (three) years in a row (and won this year). San Diego did that this year."
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