GLENDALE, Ariz. -- After the game, with his body bruised from pulverizing hits and his spirits dampened from a weighty defeat, Tony Romo dressed at his locker with a huge bandage of ice covering his throwing hand. He labored with the little things, like putting on his socks, just as he had toiled evading the nasty rush from Arizona's defensive front.
Romo likely knew then what we all know now -- he had broken the pinkie finger on his throwing hand and is expected to miss at least the next four weeks and the next three Dallas games (at St. Louis, home against Tampa Bay and at the New York Giants). After that, Dallas has a bye and hopes Romo can return in Week 11 in a Sunday night affair at Washington.
Thus, the circus rolls on in Dallas.
The Cowboys entered against Arizona with the shadow of a possible suspension by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell of cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones for his fight last week with his team-imposed bodyguard in a Dallas hotel. Jones, suspended by Goodell for the 2007 season due to violations of the league's conduct policy, is on a short leash with the commissioner. Jones looks for more mercy. Goodell will decide soon whether it is warranted.
Now comes the temporary loss of their quarterback, who had started 32 consecutive games. How good has Romo been?
Insult and injury
Dallas heads to St. Louis in Week 7 a bit perplexed, plenty frustrated and -- thanks to Arizona for flipping the script on Sunday -- embarrassed, writes Thomas George. More ...
Even in losing to Arizona in overtime here on Sunday, Romo passed for a franchise-record 14th 300-yard game. Consider that in 32 starts he passed Troy Aikman's production of 13 such games that took Aikman 165 starts. Romo has meant more to the Cowboys than just simply big-play offense and victories (he is 23-9 as the Dallas starter). His effervescent smile and I'm-just-one-of-the-fellas demeanor had endured him to Cowboys fans and Cowboys marketing/business investors. This player, despite the lack of playoff success, had helped buff the enormous star logo and brand that is the Cowboys.
Now, life without Romo for a few weeks means 17-year veteran Brad Johnson must grab the reins.
Johnson last started a game in 2006, for Minnesota. He has made 122 career starts, won Super Bowl XXVII with Tampa Bay in 2003 and is 71-51 as a starter. His mobility is awful (what do you expect from a 40-year-old quarterback?) but his decision-making is pure and his leadership is unquestioned. Johnson walks into a fire with the 4-2 Cowboys, a team that in pockets of the locker room admits it is underachieving and lacking in enough unified and inspired play.
Add that some Cowboys players are beginning to mumble about the laid-back leadership of coach Wade Phillips, the fear that receiver Terrell Owens might go into the tank without Romo, and the loss -- at least for a week -- of rookie running back Felix Jones (hamstring tear), and Johnson inherits disarray mixed with a striking opportunity.
Because Johnson is a stand-up player and person, a smart and sound passer and a courageous one in the pocket, the Cowboys have an answer at quarterback. For Romo, the time off might do him good.
He looked worn and worried in his recent games. He looked as if the un-worldly pressures of being the Dallas quarterback had begun to sap him of his overflowing energy and optimism. Now -- like Vince Young, Matt Leinart, Tarvaris Jackson and other young NFL quarterbacks who were once starters -- Romo gets to refocus and refurbish while watching from the sidelines.
He talked after the Arizona loss about how this season was not going to be a smooth ride, that the Cowboys' fanatic followers should expect highs and lows, joy and adversity, and a sultry track on the way to the team's Super Bowl championship hopes.
It was a message meant for the outside.
But now it is one Romo must take to heart.
Going, going, Gonzo?
The frontrunners for a Tony Gonzalez trade with Kansas City are Philadelphia and the New York Giants.
Both teams appear willing to offer a fourth-round draft pick for Gonzalez. The team that moves to a third-round pick will likely snag him. And that appears to be the Eagles, though other clubs could make a final push before Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET trading deadline.
Gonzalez would be a luxury addition for the Giants and a true need for the Eagles, though it would make more sense for Philadelphia to enter the market for Detroit receiver Roy Williams. Here is the consensus skinny on Gonzalez from a few league pro personnel experts on this 32-year-old, 12th-year player who recently became the NFL's all-time leader in tight end receptions:
He has lost a step. He pushes off as the ball comes and gets away with it more frequently than others due to star treatment. Extremely strong hands. Not much of a blocker. Wins in one-on-one situations. Might play one more NFL season, tops. Clean off the field, but showed alarming selfishness recently over his desire to break the tight end receiving record sooner than it happened. Close to hitting the wall.
And that is the overriding question on Gonzalez -- how much does he have left? NFL general managers are cautious in today's market about plopping down high draft choices for aging players close to their decline. That coupled with Kansas City's asking price might mean that Gonzalez remains with the Chiefs (how do you think that will play in the locker room since he has already bailed and asked to be moved?) Gonzalez certainly considers the aforementioned analysis of him rubbish. He may have the chance on a new and contending team to prove his critics wrong.
Houston, we have touchdown!
Here was Houston coach Gary Kubiak on Sunday going for it all on fourth down at the Miami 3-yard line with the game in the balance.
Kubiak scanned his play-sheet and dialed a Matt Schaub quarterback draw. This took guts, considering the week prior Texans quarterback Sage Rosenfels on a bootleg run was blasted, pin-wheeled and coughed up the ball that was returned for a touchdown in a collapsing Texans loss to the Colts.
And, remember, before this Schaub call, the Texans were 0-4 staring at 0-5.
"No, you can't worry about any call you have made in the game before, you just realize that you have to do something there that either results in a score and a win or a failed play and a loss," Kubiak said by phone Monday morning. "(Offensive coordinator) Kyle Shanahan and I worked on it together. On the previous three snaps, we got a defense from Miami that we thought the quarterback draw would work. But you can't call that on the first three downs, not make it, and with no timeouts fail to give your team a chance to win.
"So, it's fourth down, and now we could roll the dice on it and hope we got the same look. Our quarterbacks have been turning the ball over and that has been a weakness of our football team. We've been struggling there. Yeah, we were 0-4, but we lost in overtime to Jacksonville and were in position to beat the Colts with four minutes to go. For this young football team, this was a tremendous win. It is so darn hard to win in this league. Every week you work the same hours, give the same effort. But doing that after winning a football game? It sure helps."
Schaub's 3-yard scoring run up the middle with three seconds left helped lift Houston to its 29-28 victory at home over Miami.
Texans general manager Rick Smith called a meeting of the team front office and players after the shocking late loss to Indianapolis in Week 5. Smith told them that though NFL teams thrive on routine, Hurricane Ike had made that impossible for the Texans. He implored them to stay together and focused on the task of overcoming obstacles. Against Miami, Houston did.
Both the Texans and Rams (over the Redskins) on Sunday won for the first time this season and are 1-4. The relief of winning after opening the season on such a draining skid is immeasurable. A losing start is one thing, a winless one insufferable. Ask Cincinnati (0-6) and Detroit (0-5), the lone winless NFL teams remaining.
When East meets West
NFL teams know well before each season which division they will encounter. For the NFC West, the draw was the NFC East.
And in this instance when East met West, the East was doing the pummeling. Entering Sunday, the NFC East had won all three of its matchups vs. the NFC West.
But then St. Louis toppled Washington and Arizona snuffed Dallas on Sunday. Philadelphia did its part for the East in beating San Francisco.
That makes the series thus far 4-2 in favor of the NFC East.
This series has revealed that if an NFC West team has hopes of being successful against an NFC East club, it had better come prepared to battle in treacherous, rugged line play.
"Any division with the Giants in it has to be considered a dominant division," Cardinals general manager Rod Graves said. "You throw in the rest of the teams in that division and it is fair to say it is the best one in the NFL right now. "When you play those teams, it's all about, on offense, ball control while looking for the big play. We felt our best defense against Dallas was an offense that kept the ball and kept that group off the field. We had some success with that and the special teams play put us over the top."
Arizona's starting defensive line -- Antonio Smith and Travis LaBoy at ends, Bryan Robinson and Darnell Dockett at tackles -- were dominant against Dallas. Backups, including end Bertrand Berry, contributed extra pressure. Romo said afterward that it was a game-changing, relentless group. And a season-changing one for Dallas, with Romo knocked out now, apparently due to a Dockett hit.
"We have a special group on the defensive line that has talent, ability and leadership," Graves said. "Some of the veterans we added there in the offseason like Robinson and LaBoy have helped create a new mindset and approach by the group. There is a new intensity and preparation among them. We just beat a very good team on a big stage and we are hoping this victory gives us what we have been searching for psychologically here for a long time: That we can handle good teams on such a big stage. We are hoping we are poised to do that now not only at home, but also on the road."
