Romo’s response to doubts: ‘Just win’
By Tim MacMahon, ESPNDallas.com

IRVING, Texas — Tony Romo understands that there is only one way to quiet the questions about the Dallas Cowboys’ December difficulties.

“Until we win football games here,” Romo said, “it’ll be a nice topic of conversation.”

Romo insists that the Cowboys’ problems winning in past Decembers doesn’t weigh on his mind. He’s 5-9 in December and 0-2 in the playoffs as a starter.

“We’re going to go out there and try to win this football game and go forward, and we don’t look at last year,” Romo said. “We look at today, how can we get better, how can we win this football game this weekend. If we do that, that’s all our job is right now.”

If they don’t do that, their NFC East lead is gone and the December talk picks up a few decibels.

Saw this column by one of Cowboys fans favorite media guys, Ed Werder, but it obviously makes sense.

Romo Protection .

David Smoak

Dallas Cowboys’ dreams rest on Phillips, Garrett, Romo
Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News

You will find out everything you need to know about Wade Phillips, Jason Garrett and Tony Romo during the next three weeks.

At New York. San Diego. At New Orleans.

It’s time for the Cowboys’ triumvirate to show us they can make Dallas an elite team again.

Phillips has a .580 winning percentage and one losing season in eight seasons as a head coach. Still, last December, he presided over the most gutless performance in franchise history against Philadelphia. He was also in charge of the 2007 team that became the first No. 1 seed in the NFC to lose in the divisional round since the postseason expanded in 1990.

Did I mention that team had a record 12 Pro Bowl players?

Phillips gained some trust with last month’s road win over the Eagles, and he will gain more with a win over the Giants on Sunday. Get the Cowboys mentally and physically prepared this week, and it bodes well for Phillips getting Dallas prepared to end its wretched 12-year stretch without a playoff win.

Garrett, once the NFL’s hottest assistant coach, faces a different kind of pressure as he tries to remain relevant.

Too many times this season, the offense has been all or nothing as he tries to find the right balance between running and passing.

Yes, the Cowboys have some gaudy offensive numbers, but they’re averaging only 23.2 points. Thirteen teams average more.

Clearly, there’s a disconnect.

All you need to know is Garrett must figure out a way to effectively get the ball to Miles Austin and Felix Jones over the next three weeks because those are his two biggest playmakers.

To do so, Garrett must be at his creative best. Motion. Shifting. Play selection. Whatever it takes to make Jones and Austin the epicenter of the offense, Garrett needs to make it happen.

Romo also needs to make it happen.

There’s no better place to end his national reputation as a big-game choker and improve his 5-8 December record than with a superb performance in the nation’s largest media market.

Romo, playing some of the best football of his career, has only four interceptions in the last nine games. He’s making plays to win games instead of lose them.

Still, he needs a signature win in December. For now, beating New York would provide that.

No one is saying the Cowboys need to sweep the next three games because that’s not happening after what New Orleans did to New England, but the Cowboys can certainly win the next two games.

For us to view them as serious contenders in the NFC, they must.

Uh huh. That’s right.

There’s no reason the Cowboys shouldn’t go to Giants Stadium and end New York’s season. The Giants, losers of five of six games, are waiting to be put out of their misery.

Seriously.

Eli Manning’s foot injury has compromised him. Their front seven no longer dominates. And Brandon Jacobs is just a loudmouth instead of the NFL’s most punishing runner.

It won’t be easy. Nothing worth having ever is, but a loss drops the Giants three games behind Dallas with four to play. That’s why New York will play with desperation.

Win this game and the Cowboys won’t have to spend the next week talking about their awful record in December. Fans won’t be saying, “Here we go again.” And Romo and Phillips won’t have to answer tough questions about their inability to perform in football’s toughest month.

This team has a good vibe to it. Listen to the players, and they all seem to be embracing the moment. They’re not running from their failures in December as they’ve done in the past, they’re confronting it.

This is good.

For the first time in years, the Cowboys seem ready to play their best football when it matters most.

Phillips, Garrett and Romo must lead the way.

Tony Romo feeling better
Todd Archer/Reporter, Dallas Morning News

Wade Phillips did not have an official injury update because players did not have to report to Valley Ranch until 1 p.m. but he said a phone call was placed early Monday morning to Tony Romo.

Romo suffered a lower back injury when he was kneed when making a tackle of DeAngelo Hall in the first quarter.

“Tony says he feels a lot better today,” Phillips said. “He has a little bit of stiffness; had a quite a bit of stiffness [Sunday} but says he’s a lot better.”

With a short week to get ready for Thursday’s game the Cowboys do not do much physically in practice. In effect, they have sped-up walkthroughs but they are not in pads until gameday.

Romo will receive treatment through the course of the week but Phillips was not sure if Jon Kitna would necessarily take more or any first-team snaps in practice.

Williams: ‘Good starting point for us’
By Calvin Watkins, ESPNDallas.com

IRVING, Texas — One week later, everything’s fine for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Roy Williams.

“I was comfortable with him a week ago,” Romo said Thursday. “It’s about improving every day. [Just] because in the game it looked better, it didn’t mean that we hadn’t been practicing a certain way or that we weren’t improving on the practice field.”

Romo and Williams finally seemed to develop a connection during Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, with the receiver catching five passes for 75 yards.

It was the most catches in a game for Williams since the Cowboys dealt three draft picks to the Detroit Lions for him last October.

Last week, Romo and Williams worked after practice to help improve their chemistry after Williams had voiced his frustrations publicly. During games this season, Williams said Romo threw better passes to the team’s other receivers, and passes to Williams were either high or behind him.

How Williams got out of his breaks, Romo’s trust in him and defensive coverages were other issues.

Before Sunday’s game, Romo had completed just 14 out of 37 passes to Williams, while the quarterback had better numbers with tight end Jason Witten (37-48), receiver Miles Austin (26-72) and Patrick Crayton (20-39).

“For me, I practice at the same tempo in practice that I do in the game,” Romo said. “So if I’m doing it out there and I’m seeing things out there, I expect it to be the same in the game. That’s what I believe, that’s how I’ve always practiced and that’s how I believe you can get better.”

Williams said his comfort level is getting better with Romo. The emergence of Austin — who has six touchdowns in the last four weeks — has forced defenses to pay attention to him. The Eagles tried to slow Austin down, holding the receiver without a catch until his 49-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.

The extra work in practice and Austin getting more defensive attention might open the door for Williams to produce more.

This Sunday, the Packers host the Cowboys and they have an aggressive set of corners in Al Harris and Charles Woodson.

“You have to understand, my catches were all slants,” Williams said. “It really wasn’t nothing else. That’s a good starting point for us. We’ll only get better, and we’ll see what happens this Sunday.”

By Ed Werder, ESPNDallas.com

IRVING, Texas — While he will never win enough games, Tony Romo has already won a lot of them as the Dallas Cowboys’ starter, although none was like Monday night’s victory.

In the evolution of a young quarterback, Romo achieved a potential milestone, one that went mostly unnoticed and remains little-known. In his two-plus full seasons as their starter, the Cowboys had never won a game in which Romo failed to throw a touchdown pass until they achieved precisely that against the Carolina Panthers.

What is important about that development is that it should reinforce the point Romo’s coaches have been making — that Romo should emulate Brett Favre only when channeling the current purple-clad version and not the Favre he remembers from his Wisconsin youth. With the Cowboys’ personnel, it is not always necessary for the quarterback’s performance to determine the team’s success. Let the defense play, allow the most formidable running game in football to dominate. Romo heard the same advice from the offensive coaches before games against defensive heavyweights Pittsburgh and Baltimore last season — both awful defeats in which Romo was intercepted on the first offensive series.

“It’s been a point of emphasis for him and by us for a long time,” offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. “But one thing that happens to you as a player is you go out and play, and you react a certain way. The other night, Tony did a good job of managing down plays. When it wasn’t there, he took a sack, went somewhere else or threw the ball away. He kept us in good down and distance situations. When we had a penalty or a negative play, we punted and our defense played well.”

At least for the moment, Romo seems to be embracing the challenge of playing against his instincts. With this week’s playbook under his arm, Romo was walking from the locker room to the coaching offices for his quarterbacks meeting when I asked what most impressed him when he reviewed tape of his relatively unspectacular performance against Carolina. “That we won,” Romo replied. “The objective is go out there and win and move chains.”

Put that in 3-inch headlines, as Jimmy Johnson might say.

A shortened week of preparation, the defensive style of the opponent and the Dallas injury report will test Romo’s willingness to play with patience. The undefeated Denver Broncos have allowed a league-low 16 points, although the accomplishment is diminished somewhat based on the lack of quality opponents.

First-year head coach Josh McDaniels is a Bill Belichick disciple who learned the importance of making the opponent win a different way. So the Cowboys will likely find the Broncos emphasizing coverage on tight end Jason Witten, who could be held without a reception this week and still rank higher among the league leaders than the player who is 150th — Buffalo’s Terrell Owens.

The predicted absence yet again of running back Felix Jones — who in terms of durability is beginning to make Reggie Bush look like Bronko Nagurski — eliminates much of the speed from the Dallas offense.

Jones has provided the Cowboys with three 20-yard runs, more than any other NFL player except Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson even though both have at least 34 more carries. There will not be as many big plays for the Cowboys’ offense even if Marion Barber returns.

But Garrett insisted that Romo’s role should not change and the playcaller will be imploring his quarterback not to let any injury-related absences influence his decision-making.

“Tony is always in the same position,” Garrett said before meeting with his quarterback. “When he has a chance to make a big play, he will and when it’s not there, he will move along. He’s done a great job of that since he’s been here. I thought he played a really good game the other night.”

The Cowboys will be reminding Romo of winning without a touchdown pass for quite some time.

This will be year fans start supporting Romo again

http://www.star-telegram.com/332/story/1525430.html

for about 15-minutes after practice.

He answered several questions, and we should have the audio available sometime soon.

Second practice starts at 3:15pm, Wade Phillips press conference at 2:45pm.

Smoaky

No pads, but a little competition.

Romo throws wide of Jason Witten to the right sideline.

No true pass rush, but Demarcus Ware is always in the vicinity of the quarterback.

WR’s are Patrick Crayton and Roy Williams
TE’s are Witten and Bennett
RB’s rotating among Barber, Choice, and Felix Jones

Defense with no linemen include: Ware, Brooking, James, Jenkins, Hamlin, Sensabaugh, Newman, and Spencer.

Romo 5-step drop, finds Barber in the flat who is touched—keeps running and the fans go crazy as if he scored.

Romo with Bennett in motion, quick pass left side to Witten.

Romo left side for Bennett—no one covering him.

Kitna quick out for Jefferson…seems like Jefferson is getting a lot of reps.

Kitna deep middle post—-intercepted by CB Michael Hawkins who had it bounce off his chest and then jumped up and caught it again.

Kitna left sideline for Kevin Ogletree who was bobbling out of bounds.

Kitna left flat to Alonzo Coleman.

McGee underneath through the wickets of Rodney Hannah, incomplete pass.

McGee slant to Willie Reid–short pattern but complete.

Romo misfires to M. Bennett, not sure if bad pass or bad pattern.

Romo 7-step drop, deep right sideline for Witten, incomplete pass.

Maybe I don’t normally pay this much attention, but it seems as if a lot of passes are hitting the ground today.

First day jitters, yeah right.

Romo with two tight end set right, slant to Crayton, nice hands and catch and it was thrown behind him.

Romo deep post of Miles Austin, tipped by Michael Hawkins, intercepted by Mike Hamlin.

Romo underneath for Bennett.

I’ll do a couple more and then take a nap.

Okay, let’s see something special…

Actually, anything without pads bores me.

Romo left sideline for Stanback, covered well by Mike Mickens, Stanback nice grab.

Kitna back in–I’m getting a few zzz’s.

Smoaky