A Romo Low But A Cowboys High In Philly
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PHILADELPHIA (105.3 THE FAN) - The Cowboys had no time to feel sorry for themselves. But their owner did.
Dez Bryant was already out, having been lost in the Week 1 win over the Giants. Now here is was Week 2, at Philly, and Tony Romo goes down, too?
"I felt as low,'' Jerry said in the postgame locker room, "as a crippled cricket's ass.''
The feeling was low but the Cowboys are high in the standings, Dallas having recorded a 20-10 victory on Sunday over the Eagles to take an early but seemingly firm hold on the NFC East.
"Seemingly'' because with Bryant already sidelined for what the team hopes is fewer than eight games, he's now joined by MVP candidate Tony Romo, lost to the team with a broken left collarbone.
"It never feels good whenever you get hurt," said Romo.
Sources indicate to me that Dallas is prepared to be without Romo for as long as eight weeks, pending more tests on Monday to supplement the X-rays taken Sunday that clearly show a fracture to the same area that was broken in 2010.
Bryant, meanwhile, is working to come back from surgery on a broken bone in his foot that required a screw and a graft. Sources tell me that despite rumors of the surgery altering the team's timetable, Dallas continues to believe the All-Pro receiver can return in less than eight weeks.
You can feel sorry for yourself and you can feel Romo's pain when in the third quarter Eagles linebacker Jordan Hicks sacked him and drove his shoulder into the turf, causing the QB to almost immediately proclaim to medical personnel, "It's broken.''
Or you can accept that at QB, it's going to have to be Brandon Weeden, who was terrific here in making the different in Dallas' 10th straight road victory. The journeyman went 7 for 7 for 73 yards, including a 42-yard touchdown to Terrance Williams in the late going.
"We have a lot of weapons, a lot of good weapons,'' Weeden said, "so my job is to make it easy on those guys, let them do their jobs, get them those one-on-one matchups, and let them do what they do best."
Weeden is certainly capable of being a "bus driver'' but will benefit from an offense that plays sharper than it did here. Dallas was plagued by penalties (though not as plagued as 0-2 Philly) and was rescued by a punt blocked for a touchdown and coordinator Rod Marinelli's defense. Dallas embarrassed former Cowboy runner DeMarco Murray, limiting the big-money Eagle to 13 carries for an abysmal 2 yards. Linebacker Sean Lee was Philly's main tormentor, finishing with a team-high 14 tackles with two tackles for loss and an interception.
The Cowboys have now won seven of their last nine games at Philly.
"We just like Eagles meat," defensive lineman Jeremy Mincey joked. "That's all it is. Nothing wrong with a little bird on the table, a Philly cheese bird."
More "bird'' is next, as COO Stephen Jones pointed out.
"Not having Tony is a big deal," he said. "I don't want to underplay that. But I do like our team. Just gather the troops and suit up. We've got the Falcons next."
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