Romo leads the Cowboys' renaissance
'He extends the play' — and Dallas' chances to make the playoffs
Mike Stone / ReutersDallas improved to 4-1 under Tony Romo after the quarterback threw a team-record tying five touchdowns in a 38-10 Thanksgiving Day win over Tampa Bay.
Linebacker Bradie James came to the Cowboys with Romo in 2003, except Romo was an undrafted free agent from Eastern Illinois who impressed people at the Scouting Combine but not enough to warrant a draft pick.
"The way he's been playing is what we've always seen with him on the practice field," James told Dallas reporters this week. "We all knew what he could do, but when you've got 11 beasts on the other side of the ball, we never knew how he would respond. He's responded well."
Now that he's performed on the field, Romo's next challenge seems to be the bright spotlight off the field.
"I'm a football guy 24-7, so, for me, all the other stuff off the field is just for you guys to talk about," Romo said.
Four games does not a season or a career make, but Romo's play has been so consistent and unflappable that even Parcells seemed excited after the Indy win.
Detroit, Dallas, Indy will win Thanksgiving Day games |  |
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"I told the team that ought to tell them something about what they are capable of doing," Parcells said.
Parcells loves to talk about players who have "it."
"I don't know what 'it' is," Romo said. "I think you try to work hard, try to get better each week. I think I play the game with a little bit of passion. I enjoy the game a lot, it's a lot of fun when I'm out there. I think that's the way I play. For some reason, people like me."
Nearly lost in the excitement over the quarterback is the play of the defense. It wasn't Romo who held Manning and the Colts to 14 points and collected four turnovers, most ever for the Colts in the Tony Dungy era.
The defense pressured Manning all day, sacked him twice, and forced him to fumble. It was a bit surprising since the Cowboys were playing their first game without linebacker Greg Ellis, out for the season.
"When you can play defense like that," owner Jerry Jones said, "you can be in a lot of games."
Q: What's the NFL worst division? I can't decide between the NFC South and NFC West.
— Barry Hollar, Augusta, Ga.
| NFL divasTake a look at some of the league's top divas at their best … and worst. |
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A: I'm surprised you didn't include the NFC North, which happens to be the only division in football with three losing teams at the moment. At least the NFC South and West have more than one team with legitimate playoff hopes. The North has only Chicago at 9-1 plus three teams — Detroit, Green Bay and Minnesota — with more losses than any three teams in any other division. So the North gets my vote as the worst in football. Between the South and West, I give the nod to the West as worse than the South. The South has won more games. They have two winning teams in 6-4 Carolina and New Orleans. Their current last-place team, Tampa Bay, is better than the West's worse, Arizona. For some reason, the NFC overall remains inferior to the AFC, as the current interconference record of 28-20 in favor of the AFC indicates. This includes a 9-2 advantage by the four AFC division leaders. You are probably disenchanted with the Falcons for good reason, but the NFC South includes three teams that have been to recent Super Bowls, and a real surprise team this year in New Orleans. Tampa Bay won the division last year and turned into the weak link this year. It is a division of parity, which you might want to call mediocrity, but get used to it. There simply aren't a lot of powerhouse teams in this league anymore.
Q: Are the 49ers for real, or have they just been playing some bad teams lately?
— Alex, Fresno, Calif.
A: They're for real whether they're taking advantage of bad teams or not. Remember, they were considered the worst of the bad not too long ago, so they can't start apologizing for the quality of the opponent. Since falling behind 41-0 in the first half against the Bears on Oct. 29, the 49ers defense has allowed only three touchdowns in the past 14 quarters. The catalysts of their three-game win streak are linebacker Brandon Moore and safety Keith Lewis, both inserted into the starting lineup after that blowout to the Bears. Also, the continued improvement of quarterback Alex Smith, who has the advantage of a first-rate running back in Frank Gore, gives 49er fans a reason for optimism. Just wait until rookie right end Vernon Davis gets well enough to contribute.
Q: Can you give me more information on the NFL Excessive Celebration Rule? I'm doing a research project, so any information you can give me would be appreciated.
— Dean, West Union, Ohio
A: Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1 includes this paragraph: "Individual players involved in prolonged or excessive celebrations. Players are prohibited from engaging in any celebrations while on the ground. A celebration shall be deemed excessive or prolonged if a player continues to celebrate after a warning from an official." Dean, the reason for this is mainly to prevent fighting. It has been the thinking of the rules committee that celebrations usually tend to get out of hand if not curtailed and that opposing teams usually end up taking exception, considering them taunts. Retaliation follows and the bad feeling escalates into fights. Players argue they are just having fun, but the fun too often is at the expense of the opponent. Thus the need for limitations. It is also prohibited to use the ball as a prop or to join in group celebrations. The NFL justifies this not only because it limits cause for fighting, but because it receives considerable support from college, high school and pee-wee leagues imploring the NFL to crack down because young players always imitate the pros. NFL players need to take a lesson from San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson, who has scored 22 touchdowns already, more than 17 entire teams, yet celebrates by tossing the ball to an official. While I can understand that many players see no harm in sincere celebrations, I believe individual celebrations almost always ignore teammates who always play a part in any touchdown in the ultimate team game.
Don Pierson writes regularly for MSNBC.com and covers the NFL for the Chicago Tribune.
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