Romo Revival

The collapse in Columbus was soon forgotten when the Dallas Cowboys mustered a mercurial win to revive this football fan’s disheartened spirit Sunday. Dallas quarterback, Tony Romo and his rocket arm romped all over the Tampa turf in a 34-21 ripping of the Buccaneers. Romo launched a career-best 353 yards through the air and fired three touchdown passes that keyed the road victory for Dallas in week one.
Romo endured the post-T.O era with a new cast of characters. Patrick Crayton teamed with Romo for four catches, including the longest of the quarterback’s career. Romo tossed an 80-yard pass in the fourth quarter to the 30 year old receiver for a late touchdown that put the game out of reach for Tampa. Crayton compiled 135 total yards as Dallas stymied the Bucs. Last season’s trade deadline acquisition, Roy Williams, had a standout day as the team’s leading receiver. The 6’3” Williams caught a pass in the third quarter to give the Cowboys a 20-7 lead. He also used his tackling and blocking prowess to allow the Dallas running game to flourish. The speedy former Detroit Lion receiver amassed 86 yards on three receptions and looked very much like a complete player. Miles Austin and Jason Witten were both additional positive performers during the Cowboy’s electric start to the NFL season.
Romo completed touchdown passes of 42, 66 and 80 yards to his open men. The Cowboys dominated the clock in Romo’s third straight opening day win in a row. Romo didn’t throw an interception during the game. He found Austin for the go-ahead touchdown, a 42 yarder, just before the half. In the second half, Williams punched in six points after he split Tampa’s secondary. Cornerback, Ronde Barber and safety, Jermaine Williams, were beaten in their attempt to cover Williams, and the Cowboy skated into the endzone. Romo flicked the deepest toss on the second play of the fourth quarter to Crayton. Romo pump-faked a pass to Witten, leaving Clayton to run 50 yards untouched. A penalty wiped out an interception by Mike Jenkins before the 11 play, 84 yard drive. Dallas collected two field goals in the first quarter and added a six yard run by the talented Marion Barber in the final minutes of the game.
The Bucs were unable to find the endzone in the first quarter. Tampa Bay scored on a one yard run by Carnell Williams to finally get on the board in the second quarter. Byron Leftwich, the veteran Bucs signal-caller, passed for 276 yards behind center. His one touchdown pass occurred during the last quarter, a 2 yard spiral to Kellen Winslow, Jr. Tampa won the net rushing yard and penalty yard margins, but the Cowboys were too swift on defense. The Bucs had to abandon the running game as Dallas continued to rack up digits. Interestingly, Dallas did not record a sack led by 7th year pro, DeMarcus Ware’s defense. A year after their December collapse, both teams looked shaky in the start. The Cowboys bounced back and the Bucs were unable to put together solid drives with significant results. Williams had a beastly 97 yards on the ground with his 13 carries. Tampa showed it has the temperament to be a dangerous team with more time to coordinate. Dallas exploited the weaknesses in the secondary to gather the big plays that made the difference.
The Cowboys host the New York Giants in week two and will play their first regular season game in their beautiful new stadium. The Cowboys showed their explosiveness, All-pro enormity and offensive talent yesterday. They should be ready for their nasty New York NFC nemesis.

Parting points: Kudos to Clisters; Boo-hoo to Serena.
Song of the day- “Rockabye” by Shawn Mullins (for you Mom)