Second thoughts

With quarterback Tony Romo in the lineup, the Dallas Cowboys have a third consecutive chance to win the NFC East. Without him, one columnist wrote the team and the organization is a house of cards.
With quarterback Tony Romo in the lineup, the Dallas Cowboys have a third consecutive chance to win the NFC East. Without him, one columnist wrote the team and the organization is a house of cards.

No Romo frightening for Dallas

For all the attention Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo gets, both positive and negative, columnist Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News wrote he found an explanation why team owner Jerry Jones gave Romo a $108 million contract last March.

“The Dallas Cowboys glimpsed a snapshot of life without Romo on Monday, and it frightens everyone at Valley Ranch. As well it should,” Gosselin wrote.

“ESPN reported that a back injury suffered by Romo on Sunday in the [Washington] Redskins game would end his season, thus preventing him from playing in this weekend’s NFC East winner-take all finale against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“Coach Jason Garrett said nothing has been decided on Romo, that he will undergo rehabilitation on his back and that a determination on his playing status would be made at week’s end.

“The Cowboys without Romo?

The betting line for the Eagles game jumped on the underdog Cowboys from 2 ½ points to 6 ½ points shortly after the ESPN report. There isn’t much confidence outside Valley Ranch that the Cowboys can accomplish anything without Romo taking the snaps.

“Jones wants to keep Romo around as long as he possibly can because as long as he’s wearing that number 9, the Cowboys will be viewed as a contender and max out their national television appearances every season. Romo has been and will continue to be the major asset of the Cowboys brand.

“That’s why Jones generously gave Romo a six-year contract that locks him up through 2019 at the age of 39. Without Romo, Valley Ranch is a house of cards.”

Coal for stocking

Another team that has struggled this season is the Detroit Lions, who were eliminated from playoff contention after Sunday’s loss.

As for why they’ve struggled, columnist Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press wrote they need only look at themselves.

“A lump of goal. An empty stocking. Meaningful football just took the rest of the year off in Detroit. In a game Sunday that, for a while, nobody seemed to want, the New York Giants finally looked at the Ford Field scoreboard, saw a fourth down in overtime, and decided, ‘Why not?’

“Moments later, Lions fans were once again crying, ‘Why us?’

“Or ‘Why again?’ Or ‘Why, Lord, this close to Christmas?’ Take your pick. As the Four Tops once sang, it’s the same old song. It goes like this: That’s that.

“The Lions are done, out of playoffs after watching someone else’s winning field goal sail through the uprights for the second week in row. We can talk about Matthew Stafford’s two interceptions. We can talk about the disappearance of Calvin Johnson, whose injuries are as mysterious as an NSA news conference. We can talk about Reggie Bush’s fumbles and subsequent Hamlet-like funk or the defense’s inability to close third downs in the first half.

“But in the end, a team that had nothing left to play for came into Ford Field and beat a team that had everything to play for.

“That’s all you need to know.”

Quote of the day

“Winning on the PGA Tour is something on the bucket list of things to accomplish. ... I was able to get a taste of Augusta in 2009 and I want to get back there.” Arkansas native Ken Duke on his first PGA Tour victory

Sports, Pages 22 on 12/25/2013

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