The NFL gods giveth and taketh away. When you’re Tony Romo and it's playoff time, they tend to take more than they give. During his reign as King QB for “America’s Team,” his playoff misfortune’s been steady and unwavering. Jerry Jones’ favorite toy has always flirted with elite level QBing, but Romo’s moment of truth has never arrived. He has the fame and the laundry list of entertainment starlets he’s accumulated like passing yards in a game against the Redskins, but they don't compensate for his lack of championship hardware and the way he manages to unavoidably stumble into losing at this time of the year.
Sometimes it’s over his own feet and sometimes – like In the fourth quarter of the Cowboys-Packers divisional playoff game on Sunday – victory is snatched from his clutches by an element beyond his control. Either way you slice it the Cowboys have lost eight of their last 10 playoff games and seven straight road playoff games.
The Tony Romo Era in Dallas will forever be linked with unforeseen failure. How wretched have the NFL gods been to Romo, HC Jason Garrett and crew after teasing them by delivering them the Lions game on a platter with some janky refereeing and then ending their season so emphatically and controversially. You thought Romo's luck might be changing, but now we realize it was a wicked joke. One that makes Sunday's loss even more unbearable. When it comes to playoff games the name Romo is synonymous with controversy. Even when he plays well as he did in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, completing 6-of-7 passes, something had to go wrong.
For the second straight week, a questionable call dictated Dallas’ fate, but this time, the call did not go the Cowboys’ way.
It wasn’t the typical Romo pick or fumble or suspect decision. In fact, he played some of the finest playoff ball of his life. He displayed guts, a clutch gene and a superior grasp of the QB position throughout the entire season. Many sports head were touting him as league MVP.
Romo played with a ligament he tore in his left ring finger last week and played through a cleat to the left knee, limping out of the locker room. Most importantly, he made the clutch 31-yard 4th-quarter toss to Dez Bryant that should have sealed Green Bay’s fate and moved Dallas a step closer to a long-awaited Super Bowl appearance. The catch would have given Dallas, down 26-21, a first-and-goal with a chance to win — but after reviewing the play, officials overturned the initial call of a catch.
The Packers got the ball on downs and were able to run out the clock to advance to the NFC Championship game. What a way to go out.
“Just to lose in general is disappointing,” Romo said. “I have played long enough to understand that you don’t have these kinds of teams on your side to play in these games consistently. When you leave that opportunity, you want to take advantage.
