T.O. Is Right: There Are Plenty of Cowboys Who Share in the Blame

At a post game news conference, Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens defended his quarterback Tony Romo from the sure-to-be upcoming criticism.

"You guys can point the finger at him," T.O. said. "You can talk about the vacation, and if you do that, it's really unfair. It's really unfair. That's my teammate. That's my quarterback. If you guys do that, man, it's unfair. We lost as a team. We lost as a team, man."

He's right. It is unfair. But so go the spoils of being the Dallas Cowboys QB (just as it is dating Jessica Simpson). Over at The Boys Blog, they break down where some of the blame should go.

Obviously, there were too many turnovers (eleven of them, total) for the Cowboys. Everyone has 'em, sure, but some of these were horrible. A Demarcus Ware offsides penalty that extended a drive. The unecessary roughness call on Leonard Davis that not only cost Dallas 15 yards but negated a 10-yr Jason Witten reception. Patrick Crayton (who spent all week talking smack) dropping a wide-open third down pass. Jacques Reeves getting torched three times plus getting called for a facemask penalty in the Giants TD drive at the end of the first half. How about the Cowboys' coverage teams who were as poor today as they've been all season?

The biggest one may be have made by Wade Phillips. This is open to debate, but the decision to start Marion Barber may have cost the Cowboys the most. Barber made his first start of the season (over regular starter Julius Jones) and it began beautifully. He ran for 101 yards by halftime. However, Barber gained just 28 yards on 11 carries in the 2nd half ... usually the time when Barber dominates. Did starting him (a) tire him out late in the game and rendered the Cowboys run game effective or (b) took him out of his normal routine and doom his offense's normal game plan?

From the Boys' Blog:

He's not such a 4th quarter beast when he's as tired as the defense, is he? Plus, he missed a blocking assignment on a key 4th quarter sack.

This one really stings for Cowboys fans who saw a golden opportunity slip away. This team will most likely see its coaching staff raided in the coming weeks and the support system should look vastly different.

Previously on FanHouse
T.O. Implores You: It's Unfair to Blame Loss on Romo's Mexican Vacation
It's Eli, Not Peyton, Who Is the Manning in a Conference Championship

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-13-2008 @ 11:11PM

joe wallace said...

Sirst of all, Mr. Blogger, let's learn basic subject-verb agreement, shall we? It's "there ARE plenty of Cowboys."

Secondly, Tony Romo, on several ocassions, made HORRIBLE decisions in this game. It appears that he is unable to understand when to throw the ball away, or how to do it. He seems to think that he can turn every play into a "broken" play and somehow create magic. His last series was terrible, and he threw the ball into TRIPLE coverage on his last interception. No, his vacation didn't cause this loss, but here is a young man with a great deal of talent, but, apparently, no desire to get better. He likes showing up and fooling around, and that may be good enough during the regular season, but he needs to get a grip if he will ever be counted with the likes of Brady or Manning. Brady, in particular, was a sixth round pick who, it could be argued, got where he is through hard work. He shows up first for every practice, and is the last to leave. He has a meeting with his offensive line and skill players the night before the game. Manning works hard, as well, and this is well documented. If Romo really wants to be named in the same breath as those two, he can still have fun with his starlets, when the season is over.

Yes, there are plenty of people to blame for this loss, but the reason why he is dating Jessica Simpson is because, HELLO, he is the quarterback! It falls on his shoulders. Period.

1-14-2008 @ 12:07AM

gmbgc said...

Hey....Hey..the better team won..no tears

1-14-2008 @ 12:38AM

Rusty said...

not a cowboys fan, but werent the masses clammoring for marion to start all season? cant get what you want and then point fingers.

1-14-2008 @ 1:38AM

cowboy fan said...

Rusty, did you not see that M.B got 129 yards? I do not know what game you were watching, but M.B did very well in my eyes. Too bad the rest of the team didn't. What sucked is that they chose to abandon the run in the second half. I think M.B got about 100 yards in the first half. What game were you watching?

1-14-2008 @ 1:56PM

Danno said...

Can't see coaches being canned...just promoted to other positions with other teams.

1-14-2008 @ 1:55AM

Play calling and team management leading up to this game is to blame. For, boys will be boys if you let them. And, a lax attitude is not ment for a game with so much intensity. I saw it coming. What a shame with so much talent. Now I can get stuff done for I do not have to watch my team play well for another 10 or so years. I am afaid they blew it.

1-14-2008 @ 5:05AM

Rick Vogt said...

Why do fans always blame play calling? Why do the talking heads on TV always talk about play execution and point to the Patriots as the example? Better teams execute with greater consistancy. If Crayton(spell check) catches that ball we're not having this conversation....are we? Hmmmm, makes sense to me.

1-14-2008 @ 7:44AM

Roseada said...

Romo was not the one who dropped the balls thrown to him the receivers did. It takes 11 players to play the game blame all of them as they did not have their minds on the game. The Giants came to play ball and they played ball. So no Romo is not the only one to blame for the loss. So try again next year and when it is game day give it all you have and you will win.

1-14-2008 @ 8:10AM

chris2sons said...

The the Cowboys self distructed .... They have the best offenseive players in T.O and Barber , Witten ... but the team fell apart and trhe week off hurts a team that was not playing good andthe end of the year anyway .... their will be one more upset next week and i hope its the Giants over green bay if not then the Pats better watch OUT because LT and company are knocking on the door .... I hope its big BLUE ......

1-14-2008 @ 9:15AM

gene said...

Could t.o. become any stranger??? is anyone buying that little act? Typical of him i guess, what a fake, but hey i m happy, i love seeing them boys get beat.

1-14-2008 @ 9:31AM

OldManSurly said...

Thank God somebody else understands the importance of this blown call. Free 7 points for the giants. I don' want to ehar any crap from Giant fans saying it was too early in the game to have an impact. The same thing happened when Dalles played Green Bay. Ware flew off the line (with the snap), sacked Favre and forced a fumble. Refs called him offsides, but replays showed that he just got an incredible jump. I believe the NFL admitted the bad call, but I cannot find confirmation on that

1-14-2008 @ 1:00PM

j1ntsfan said...

It was too early to have impact. You can't hear it but you can see it. I really think the Cowboys did the Giantss job by having those long drives. How do you attack the Cowboys - by trying to limit the number of times TO and Romo get a shot to score. Well those two long drives really cut into the times the cowboys got the ball. Long drives is not their game.

1-14-2008 @ 1:10PM

cowboy fan, did you read the article above? because that is what i was obviously responding to. It posited that Wade starting Marion was a huge mistake that he should have seen coming, in that he was possibly too tired (or his rhythm thrown off) from starting... which when that is what everyone wanted from week 1.
For the record, i'd kill to have Marion starting for my bears.

1-14-2008 @ 2:20PM

henry said...

I love Dallas, always have. But when they did Tom Landry the way they did, part of my feelings for this team died.

Okay as far as Romo, I have said all along he was over rated, now add over paid to that quote. Along with that add 0-2 in playoff appearances. Any dim witted a@@hole would have known that taking your girlfriend to Mexico, and I dont care if it had been Marge Simpson, would cause un-due pressure on him and his team. He shows no leaderships skills of a Staubach, White, or Aikman. I bet Jerry Jones ass is as tight as his face now knowing what he has paid this goober pyle looking goof ball.

1-14-2008 @ 2:28PM

I bet starting Barber was Boss jones's call!

1-14-2008 @ 2:42PM

Tim said...

Seeing Jerry Jones at the end of the game clearly pissed off seeing his team lose was classic, or should I say classless. I guarantee you have never, or will you ever see one of the Rooneys acting that way. Perhaps Mr Jones should have called a " 60 stretch farlaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh" hehehehe

1-15-2008 @ 2:53PM

red hott said...

Whether you love the Cowboys or hate them, just give them their props. I guess you have to look at it from a mature point of view by saying that the Giants didn't beat the Cowboys, the Cowboys beat the Cowboys. I love the Cowboys but they performed poorly against the Giants. As a former basketball point guard, I do understand the pressure that Romo had on him. But he is expected to step up to the plate and to be a leader for his team. I hope Dallas' management looks at this season as a learning experience. Romo played great up until he signed the "big" contract. Maybe next time they should wait until the season is over before they blow his mind with all of those zeros. I've been a Cowboys fan since childhood but if T.O. leaves, that's it for me. I love me some T.O. Hopefully, we'll bounce back and be successful next year.

1-14-2008 @ 4:28PM

EskinSux said...

TO is a total fraud, everything he does is orchestrated, as was this....."That's my QB" act...Give me a break, hell TO how many catches you have in second half?...That's right......ZERO........How bout dem CowGirls