D
Deuce
Guest
by David Moore
Dallasnews.com
ARLINGTON — A Cowboys team that has done its best — or worst — to lower expectations over the past six weeks sunk to disturbing depths Sunday afternoon.
Tony Romo played so poorly that questions no longer concerned his surgically repaired back. They were about his head.
This was not an inauspicious regular-season debut. It was an inept one. A series of poor decisions by Romo and an early fumble by running back DeMarco Murray doomed the Cowboys to defeat before the game was 30 minutes old.
San Francisco’s 28-17 victory at AT&T Stadium doesn’t tell the tale of the Cowboys degradation. Owner Jerry Jones said he regrets that the team’s fans had to witness this performance — based on the sea of red among the 91,174 at the stadium, not all were Cowboys fans — and that he was disappointed.
He’s been saying that after more and more games since the middle of last season.
“This was not what I thought it would be,” Jones said. “I thought we could be more competitive out there, but when you start off like that, it’s a hard challenge to come back.”
Murray rushed for 118 yards, averaged 5.4 yards a carry and scored a touchdown. But the back who lost the ball only once all last season fumbled the first time he touched the it Sunday. Cornerback Chris Culliver happily returned it 35 yards for a touchdown to stake the 49ers to a lead before the game was one minute old.
“You can’t start the game off like that,” Murray said. “That was all me.”
It was all Romo after that.
The Cowboys settled for a field goal on their second possession when on second-and-1 from the 2-yard line, the quarterback audibled out of a run play and was sacked for a 9-yard loss.
Romo forced a pass into double coverage to Dez Bryant on the team’s third possession. It was intercepted by safety Eric Reid and returned 48 yards to give the 49ers offense the ball two yards away from another touchdown.
San Francisco took a 21-3 lead into the second quarter even though they had only 1:34 in possession time and didn’t run the ball once from scrimmage.
Romo came back and marched the Cowboys down the field to give his team a first-and-goal on the 5-yard line. Receiver Dwayne Harris came open.
The play was designed to go to tight end Jason Witten.
“By the time I spotted it, I was peeking out of the corner of my eye for Witten because we thought we were going to get him,’’ Romo said. “In that process, I missed Dwayne. It was a little different coverage than I thought going into it.”
Not only did Romo miss Harris, he threw yet another interception as he tried to force the ball to Witten in the end zone.
“It was one of those things where you couldn’t believe he actually threw it,” linebacker Patrick Willis said. “I just remember my eyes got really big and the ball got really small. I was thinking just hold onto it.
“It felt good.”
Romo threw another interception before the half was over. It was the first time he had thrown three in a game since the Cowboys ended the 2012 season with a loss to Washington.
The ragged performance sparked questions about how the team handled the quarterback in his return from back surgery. Romo didn’t throw in organized team activities or mini-camp and never practiced more than two consecutive days in training camp. He played in only two of the four preseason games and was on the field for a total of 48 snaps.
Asked if the limitations put on Romo in camp led to this performance head coach Jason Garrett said, “we’re not going to get into that.” Romo doesn’t believe it was a factor.
“I’ve got to look at each one [interception] separately and figure out what was going on and why I made those decisions and correct it,” Romo said.
Garrett offered some generic responses about how his team battled and did some good things. The Cowboys did outscore San Francisco 14-0 in the second half and held the Niners to 116 yards.
But the performance of Romo and the Cowboys offense in the first half made that irrelevant.
“I didn’t do a good enough job in this game,” said Romo, who had averaged 33.4 points in his last 11 games at AT&T Stadium. “I think our team played well enough to have a chance to win. I just have to play at a higher level.
“I’ll do that going forward.”
Dallasnews.com
ARLINGTON — A Cowboys team that has done its best — or worst — to lower expectations over the past six weeks sunk to disturbing depths Sunday afternoon.
Tony Romo played so poorly that questions no longer concerned his surgically repaired back. They were about his head.
This was not an inauspicious regular-season debut. It was an inept one. A series of poor decisions by Romo and an early fumble by running back DeMarco Murray doomed the Cowboys to defeat before the game was 30 minutes old.
San Francisco’s 28-17 victory at AT&T Stadium doesn’t tell the tale of the Cowboys degradation. Owner Jerry Jones said he regrets that the team’s fans had to witness this performance — based on the sea of red among the 91,174 at the stadium, not all were Cowboys fans — and that he was disappointed.
He’s been saying that after more and more games since the middle of last season.
“This was not what I thought it would be,” Jones said. “I thought we could be more competitive out there, but when you start off like that, it’s a hard challenge to come back.”
Murray rushed for 118 yards, averaged 5.4 yards a carry and scored a touchdown. But the back who lost the ball only once all last season fumbled the first time he touched the it Sunday. Cornerback Chris Culliver happily returned it 35 yards for a touchdown to stake the 49ers to a lead before the game was one minute old.
“You can’t start the game off like that,” Murray said. “That was all me.”
It was all Romo after that.
The Cowboys settled for a field goal on their second possession when on second-and-1 from the 2-yard line, the quarterback audibled out of a run play and was sacked for a 9-yard loss.
Romo forced a pass into double coverage to Dez Bryant on the team’s third possession. It was intercepted by safety Eric Reid and returned 48 yards to give the 49ers offense the ball two yards away from another touchdown.
San Francisco took a 21-3 lead into the second quarter even though they had only 1:34 in possession time and didn’t run the ball once from scrimmage.
Romo came back and marched the Cowboys down the field to give his team a first-and-goal on the 5-yard line. Receiver Dwayne Harris came open.
The play was designed to go to tight end Jason Witten.
“By the time I spotted it, I was peeking out of the corner of my eye for Witten because we thought we were going to get him,’’ Romo said. “In that process, I missed Dwayne. It was a little different coverage than I thought going into it.”
Not only did Romo miss Harris, he threw yet another interception as he tried to force the ball to Witten in the end zone.
“It was one of those things where you couldn’t believe he actually threw it,” linebacker Patrick Willis said. “I just remember my eyes got really big and the ball got really small. I was thinking just hold onto it.
“It felt good.”
Romo threw another interception before the half was over. It was the first time he had thrown three in a game since the Cowboys ended the 2012 season with a loss to Washington.
The ragged performance sparked questions about how the team handled the quarterback in his return from back surgery. Romo didn’t throw in organized team activities or mini-camp and never practiced more than two consecutive days in training camp. He played in only two of the four preseason games and was on the field for a total of 48 snaps.
Asked if the limitations put on Romo in camp led to this performance head coach Jason Garrett said, “we’re not going to get into that.” Romo doesn’t believe it was a factor.
“I’ve got to look at each one [interception] separately and figure out what was going on and why I made those decisions and correct it,” Romo said.
Garrett offered some generic responses about how his team battled and did some good things. The Cowboys did outscore San Francisco 14-0 in the second half and held the Niners to 116 yards.
But the performance of Romo and the Cowboys offense in the first half made that irrelevant.
“I didn’t do a good enough job in this game,” said Romo, who had averaged 33.4 points in his last 11 games at AT&T Stadium. “I think our team played well enough to have a chance to win. I just have to play at a higher level.
“I’ll do that going forward.”
