Tony Romo’s bad back just made what was shaping up to be a fabulous Week 17 in the NFL a lot less fabulous.
But will it end up helping the Cowboys in the end?
Sure, Dallas squaring off against the Eagles in the prime-time nightcap to a day full of make-or-break games is still going to attract eyeballs, if for no other reason than to see Jerry Jones’ face if his team goes splat again with the season riding on the outcome.
The Cowboys might be perpetually .500 since winning their last Super Bowl nearly 20 years ago, but the whole “America’s Team” thing is still alive and well. Make no mistake about that.
Even so, it just won’t be the same without Romo, who provokes more intense reaction — positive and negative — from more people than just about any other quarterback in the modern era.
NBC has to be crushed that Sunday night’s matchup at AT&T Stadium now can’t possibly come down to the must-see TV of Romo with the ball in his hand and the NFC East’s lone playoff berth hanging in the balance.
Kyle Orton, who is tasked with replacing Romo, just doesn’t get the blood pumping like the quarterback who — depending on who you’re talking to — is either one of the best in the NFL or the sport’s biggest choke artist.
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett wouldn’t confirm it Monday (most likely because he wants to keep the Eagles in the dark), but Romo, according to ESPN, is now expected to require surgery to repair a herniated disk that will sideline him at least three months.
The latest injury isn’t thought to be related to the surgery Romo had in the offseason to remove a cyst from his spine, although the fact Romo will need back surgery twice in less than a year can’t be heartening to Jones.
You know it has to be truly serious for Romo to miss time, because the one thing Romo can’t be criticized for is a lack of toughness.
This is the guy, after all, who didn’t miss a start two years ago despite cracked ribs and a punctured lung. And Monday’s reported diagnosis means Romo threw the game-winning pass on fourth down against the Redskins despite a back injury that would have had most of us crying out for our mothers.
But while Romo’s expected absence Sunday night will lessen the drama for TV viewers, it might not be the worst thing for the Cowboys or be welcomed by the Eagles.
That’s because, for all of Romo’s passing yards, touchdowns and November dominance, the Cowboys are a sub-.500 team with him as the starter since the end of the 2009 season and have survived without him.
Dallas went 5-5 with the quarterback combination of Jon Kitna and Stephen McGee in 2010, an admittedly small and dated sample size. But it can be done, and Romo’s defenders would no doubt be holding it up as proof of his irreplaceability if those two had gone 0-10.
More importantly (if Garrett wants to keep his job), Romo’s absence would logically mean a heavier workload for dangerous running back DeMarco Murray against an undersized Eagles defense that ranked 30th in the league in total defense before Sunday night’s 54-11 destruction of the Bears.
Feeding Murray the ball — something Garrett and Romo stubbornly and mysteriously refused to do — would limit Orton’s possibility of mistakes, help the Cowboys control the clock and keep the Eagles’ prolific offense off the field.
It’s not the most exciting recipe for a victory, but the Cowboys surely would prefer that to all the “exciting” losses they have suffered with Romo in this same situation.
The only ones who will likely be short-changed are the millions of TV viewers denied another harrowing Romo finish.