Cowboys-Bucs Recap

Posted September 16th, 2009 by Kyle Dalton No Comments »

When wide receiver Terrell Owners left Dallas for the Buffalo Bills this off-season, a debate ensued among Cowboy fans. On Sunday at Tampa Bay, early returns indicate any concerns were unfounded as quarterback Tony Romo threw touchdowns to three different receiversóMiles Austin, Patrick Crayton, and Roy Williamsóand a career-high 353 yards in a season-opening 34-21 win.

After the Bucs took a 7-6 lead in the second quarter, Romo delivered a pass to the back shoulder of Austin. After making the catch, the speedy third-year receiver broke a tackle then made a great stutter-step move to elude one Buccaneer tackler en route to a 42-yard touchdown and a 13-7 lead going into halftime.

The momentum from the first half carried over into the second and on the third play from scrimmage Romo connected with Williams in between a pair of Tampa defenders. The former Longhorn, who finished with three catches for 86 yards, hauled in the pass, broke a would-be tackle and raced 66 yards for the score.

Romo wasnít finished. In fact, he saved his best TD pass for last.  Just a few minutes into the fourth quarter and Dallas leading 20-14, the Tampa Bay defense sent a blitz. Instead of dumping the ball to his trusty go-to guy, tight end Jason Witten, Romo pumped short and threw over the top of the Tampa Bay coverage to Crayton down the right sideline. Crayton caught the ball and ran 80 yards untouched to the end zone and a convincing 27-14 lead. The pass play was a career long for both Crayton and Romo. Crayton finished the game with 135 yards.

For the game, Romo completed 16 of 27 passes. He connected with six different receivers and had eight completions of 10 or more yards. All combined the numbers are hardly indicative of a quarterback or an offense lacking a serious scoring threat.
Following the game, Williams, who has been the poster boy for criticism since Owens departed, summed up Romoís performance best.

A career-high passing yards? Without T.O.? Wow!î he said facetiously. ìItís good, man. Itís good for this team to get a win. Iím proud of our receivers.î
Sounds like things are going to be fine in Big D.

Posted in NFL Football

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