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DETROIT -- There have been days this season when the Dallas Cowboys have looked like the best team in football. This was not one of those days. This was a day when the Cowboys looked like the luckiest team in football.
They'll take it.
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| Tony Romo's so lucky, he could have beaten Detroit with his eyes closed. (US Presswire) |
Owens pointed to his baseball cap, which had the words "Dallas Cowboys" and "NFC East champions." The hat didn't specify whether the Cowboys are lucky or good -- not because the distinction is irrelevant, but because the distinction is impossible. Good teams are lucky. Lucky teams are good. You are either both or you are neither, and this season Dallas is both.
Dallas was certainly both on Sunday, picking up a win that its quarterback, Tony Romo, acknowledged it didn't deserve.
"The way (Detroit) fought and played, they probably deserved to get a win," Romo said. "We were fortunate to come out of here with the victory."
This deep into an NFL season, it's well past the time to be picky with adjectives. Lucky, good ... who cares? Numbers now matter more than words, and for Dallas the numbers are staggering. This team is 12-1, and if it weren't for the potential all-time greatness of undefeated New England, the Cowboys would be celebrated as one of the better teams in recent years.
On Sunday that greatness was on display, and his name was Tony Romo. After last season's incredible playoff gaffe, when his dropped snap of a 19-yard field goal attempt cost Dallas a victory against Seattle, Romo has not suffered any sort of post-traumatic letdown. He has instead become a much better quarterback -- a much more confident quarterback -- and that was on display at the end of both halves Sunday when he led the Cowboys to long touchdown drives in less than two minutes each.
"That's when a quarterback shows what he can do," Dallas coach Wade Phillips said. "He was Elway-esque, I guess you could say, at the end of the half and the end of the game."
Romo put on a clinic against the Lions' cover-two defense, which was designed to take Owens out of the game. Detroit won the battle -- he had just three catches for 21 yards -- but lost the game. With Owens covered by a cornerback and safety on most routes, Romo completed 15 passes to tight end Jason Witten and 10 to running back Marion Barber.
Barber caught Romo's first touchdown pass, an 8-yard lob with 29 seconds left in the first half. Witten caught the second, a 16-yard dart with 18 seconds left in the game.
"Tony's just playing unbelievably right now," Witten said. "The way he's executing, managing the game, is just unbelievable."
Romo also caught the luckiest break of the game. It happened with 57 seconds left and the Cowboys trailing 27-21. On third-and-6 from his 40, Romo fumbled after being hit by Jared DeVries. The ball rolled to Lions linebacker Paris Lenon, who was the only player near it. Instead of falling on the ball, Lenon tried to scoop it up and succeeded only in kicking it directly to Cowboys guard Kyle Kosier for a net gain of zero yards.
