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NEW ORLEANS -- Into the gym bag at the foot of his locker in the emptied-out Superdome as Saturday turned into Sunday, Romo stuffed his possessions for the trip home after the biggest win of his young NFL career. Dallas 24, previously unbeaten New Orleans 17. If you saw it, you know it wasn't an upset. On this night the Cowboys were better than the best.
In the middle of the gym bag, a slightly scuffed NFL football peeked out.
"Game ball?'' I asked.
"Yup,'' he said, and smiled. "I'll be keeping that one for a while.''
Like, forever. We have a tendency in micro-examining this game to make judgments too fast on players at difficult positions to judge -- such as quarterback. A month ago, after two playoff games and 50 starts, Romo, a free-agent from Eastern Illinois in the eye of the constant America's Team storm, either couldn't rise to the occasion when times were big, couldn't win in December, couldn't win in January, was a bad leader because he took occasional quiet trips to Las Vegas, or ... well, does that about sum up the shortcomings of Tony Romo?
I'm going to take you to the moment when, in my opinion, we all just might draw the line of demarcation on Romo's career when we look back in 10 years. I think it came Saturday night in a place so raucous that even the nuns were standing and screaming. Yes, nuns attend the Saints' games -- eight of them. They're friends of owner Tom Benson, and they and three local monsignors come to most of the home games. There they were, in the crowd of 70,213, and midway through the fourth quarter all the locals were howling at the roof, and it was so loud, as I wrote Saturday night, that you couldn't read sign language.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Saints, trying to win 'em all for the first time in team history, trailed 24-3. Now it was 24-17. Cowboys running back Felix Jones just got stuffed for a two-yard loss by a blitzing Roman Harper, making it third-and-seven at the Dallas 23, with blood in the water. Every Saints player and fan smelled it. It was Cowboy blood. It was also only a matter of time before Dallas pulled another December el foldo and dropped out of the playoff race, getting Wade Phillips fired in the process.
Timeout, Dallas. So much at stake for both sides.
(Forty minutes later, as I walked off the field after the game alongside Romo, the first thing he said, "Loudest game I've ever been in, anywhere, anytime. Incredible.'')
So loud that Romo knew he wouldn't be heard by any of his teammates for the rest of the game, except in very close contact in the huddle. So loud that to save time in the huddle, he gave the snap count with hand gestures rather than yelling it two or three times. As he came to the line, with two wide receivers to the right, he liked the matchup he saw on the outside: Miles Austin, the deceptively fast emerging star, across from wily veteran Mike McKenzie.
With the crowd at full throat, Romo bobbed his right leg and started the silent snap count. All that was at stake here was everything, but all Romo could think about was what offensive coordinator Jason Garrett had drilled into his head over the past couple of years: If you throw this pass in a March workout, then throw it again in April minicamp, and again in June minicamp, then through training camp and again in September and October in games, don't make this play any different than any of them. Because that's all this is -- a football play, like the thousands and thousands you've made since high school.
Romo got the snap, looked over the coverage, saw Austin get inside McKenzie on a quick slant toward the post, and zzzzzip, he threw the ball to Austin in full stride eight yards past the line of scrimmage, just enough for the first down ... and more. Austin ran for 24 more yards.
"In that situation,'' Austin said later, "I can hear myself think, but that's all I can hear. You've just got to trust the route you run and the throw. Tony put the ball right where it needed to be.''
On the next play, Romo wheeled out of pressure, pirouetting to his left, rolled out and hit third-string tight end John Phillips for 23, and on the next play hit backup wideout Sam Hurd for six more on a simple out pattern at the sideline. Three plays, two minutes, 61 yards, air out of the crowd. Dallas got no points out of the drive because Nick Folk clanked a field-goal try off the right upright, but the defense saved Dallas on the Saints' last-gasp drive.
My point about the three plays that silenced a city: Romo did what very good players have to do when the times are most important: He played naturally, like it was an August practice.
My point about the three plays that silenced a city: Romo did what very good players have to do when the times are most important: He played naturally, like it was an August practice.
"Maturity,'' said Garrett. "It's so important for a quarterback. His approach is outstanding. He loves being in these situations. I'm a firm believer that you don't rise to the occasion. You just play like you always play. Why does Tiger Woods play so well in the clutch? Because he plays like he always plays, even at the biggest. That's how Michael Jordan was.''
One other interesting thing about Romo Saturday night: He said he does a lot of Sudoku. I told him he ought to try crosswords, but that would necessitate him listening to NPR on the way to work or watching the news semi-regularly. But that wouldn't fit his lifestyle, because he finds the best thing for him is to pretty much shut out the outside world.
"It's just best for me to put what everyone says and writes about us to the side,'' he said. "Like, I have no idea what you've written about me or said about me on TV. Have you been critical? I don't know. I don't care. It's all good. You've got a job to do, and sometimes that's going to entail being critical about us. But I just find it's best for me if I don't know any of it.''
Maturity, Garrett said. At 29, Romo has it, and the Cowboys ought to be the better for it over the next month -- and the next six or eight years.
The Fine Fifteen
1. Indianapolis (14-0). Deservedly, the best team in football. Colts have won low-scoring affairs and shootouts. The one thing that's getting no attention, wrongly, is the Colts' cornerback play. When Indy lost Kelvin Hayden and Marlin Jackson to injury, I was sure they'd have to play games in the 30s each week to win. But they've held 11 of 14 foes to 23 points or fewer, and rookies Jeraud Powers (third round, Auburn) and Jacob Lacey (free agent, Oklahoma State) have been clinging and tough, stunning for rookies playing quality time against the Randy Mosses, Andre Johnsons and, last Thursday, Torry Holt.
Credit the Colts' excellent scouting process -- led by director of player personnel Tom Telesco and new GM Chris Polian, with president Bill Polian overseeing the whole deal -- for uncovering an undersized guy like Lacey, who made the interception that clinched the win over Jacksonville Thursday. "He's small but with really good cover ability,'' Bill Polian said over the weekend. "Just great ball sense. Remember the Bill Bradley book, A Sense of Where You Are? That's what this kid reminds me of.''
2. San Diego (11-3). Chargers have won the close ones (a pair of three-point victories and a seven-point win the past three weeks), and the routs (back-to-back 29-point margins the two weeks before that) during their nine-game winning streak.
3. New Orleans (13-1). Past three weeks: Foes 77, Saints 76. Now the question is, how will the Saints respond to adversity?
4. Minnesota (11-3). Past three weeks: Foes 66, Vikings 54. Now the question is, how will the Vikes respond to adversity?
5. Dallas (9-5). For one night, at least, the Cowboys were the best team in football. Now they have to win Sunday night at their nemesis, Washington, where they've lost three of the past four.
6. Philadelphia (10-4). Tough call, Dallas leapfrogging Philly. But it comes down to Dallas' 20-16 head-to-head win six weeks ago and the quality of Dallas' win Saturday night. Still, Philly has a fighting chance to beat the Vikings for the second seed in the NFC playoffs.
7. Cincinnati (9-5). These are not your father's lay-down Bengals.
8. Baltimore (8-6). Starting to get the feeling this is a very dangerous fifth or sixth seed, unless the Ravens get torn apart physically at Pittsburgh on Sunday.
9. New England (9-5). There's still something wrong with that offense, but the beat-up defense responded by pressuring Buffalo consistently and forcing two quarterbacks to look awful in Orchard Park.
10. Arizona (9-5). Just a weird game in Detroit, a game the Cardinals could well have lost. In fact, two grim games in a row for Arizona on the road, which is where it will have to win a pair of games for a return trip to the Super Bowl.
11. Green Bay (9-5). Saints, Vikes, Pack. Maybe three of the four best teams in the NFL two days ago, but now with gigantic weekend zits.
12. Tennessee (7-7). Past eight games: 7-1, with the one being a fourth-quarter loss at Indy.
13. Denver (8-6). In six of the past eight weeks, Kyle Orton hasn't put up more than 17 points on the board. Yikes.
14. New York Giants (7-6). We'll see if they can survive some more secondary injuries tonight in Washington -- and we'll see if the line can protect Eli Manning against what's going to be an onslaught from 'Skins defensive coordinator Greg Blache.
15. Vacant. I don't know. You pick from among Pittsburgh, Carolina, Houston, Miami ... or about five other teams.
Quote of the Week III
"Tony said we had no chance. No chance? None? He was a coach. He should know you always have a chance.''
-- Dallas quarterback Tony Romo. The Cowboys had played to them NBC analyst Tony Dungy's statement from last week's "Football Night in America'' pregame show --that they had "no chance'' to beat New Orleans -- before beating the Saints Saturday night.
The Award Section
-- Dallas quarterback Tony Romo. The Cowboys had played to them NBC analyst Tony Dungy's statement from last week's "Football Night in America'' pregame show --that they had "no chance'' to beat New Orleans -- before beating the Saints Saturday night.
The Award Section
Defensive Player of the Week
DeMarcus Ware, OLB, Dallas.
Sermonize if you wish about the intelligence of Ware playing six nights after being removed from the field on a body board, fully immobilized. But Ware was a force all night. At the end of the first half, he stopped a Saints' drive with a strip-sack of Drew Brees, leading to a Dallas field goal and a 17-3 halftime lead. Then, with the Superdome crowd exploding with 12 seconds to go at the Dallas 42, Brees went back on a last, desperate throw, and he never made it. Ware stripped him again, nose man Jay Ratliff recovered, and the Saints weren't unbeaten anymore. Ware saved his best game of the year for the most important game of the year.
DeMarcus Ware, OLB, Dallas.
Sermonize if you wish about the intelligence of Ware playing six nights after being removed from the field on a body board, fully immobilized. But Ware was a force all night. At the end of the first half, he stopped a Saints' drive with a strip-sack of Drew Brees, leading to a Dallas field goal and a 17-3 halftime lead. Then, with the Superdome crowd exploding with 12 seconds to go at the Dallas 42, Brees went back on a last, desperate throw, and he never made it. Ware stripped him again, nose man Jay Ratliff recovered, and the Saints weren't unbeaten anymore. Ware saved his best game of the year for the most important game of the year.
Coach of the Week
Jason Garrett, offensive coordinator, Dallas.
I thought he had a brilliant gameplan, well-executed by Tony Romo and well-designed by himself. The Cowboys put up 439 yards and went 8-of-15 in third-down conversions in the deafening maw of the Superdome, where offensive players had trouble hearing adjustments by Romo at the line of scrimmage.
Jason Garrett, offensive coordinator, Dallas.
I thought he had a brilliant gameplan, well-executed by Tony Romo and well-designed by himself. The Cowboys put up 439 yards and went 8-of-15 in third-down conversions in the deafening maw of the Superdome, where offensive players had trouble hearing adjustments by Romo at the line of scrimmage.
Tweet of the Week
"McKinnie attending the Flozell Adams school of pass pro?''
--@markschlereth, ESPN's Mark Schlereth, at 9:29 Sunday evening, around the time Minnesota left tackle Bryant McKinnie was being used as a turnstile and cardboard cutout by Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers.
"McKinnie attending the Flozell Adams school of pass pro?''
--@markschlereth, ESPN's Mark Schlereth, at 9:29 Sunday evening, around the time Minnesota left tackle Bryant McKinnie was being used as a turnstile and cardboard cutout by Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/12/20/mmqb/#ixzz0aKxNgzH4
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