Romo And Dallas Cowboys Make Statement By Winning Ugly

In the NFL, "winning ugly" is a common experience. Fans hate it but coaches love it. In the case of the Dallas Cowboys, "winning ugly" sums up Monday night.

Before we write off Tony Romo, again, as just another mistake-prone quarterback who looks brilliant one play and silly the next, consider that he essentially beat the Washington Redskins single-handedly behind a wretched offensive line, depleted receiving core and bruised running back. Oh yeah, he has a broken rib and a punctured lung.

In our fantasy-football-obsessed world, we tend to focus on statistics as the barometer of a player's performance, especially a quarterback's. If you do that for Romo, then he was rather ordinary Monday, throwing for 255 yards, one interception and zero touchdowns.

But for the second week in a row, the 31-year-old willed Dallas to victory, while wearing a motion-limiting vest. It wasn’t sexy to watch, but a gutsy performance was exactly what his team -- no, what his franchise -- needed. Let's not forget that the Cowboys organization with just one playoff win in the last 15 years. For all the glitz and glamour of "Big D," for all the hype around the billion-dollar stadium, "America's Team" has offered one colossal disappointment after another since the mid 1990s.

The game Monday night, when seemingly everything was going against Dallas, was precisely the type of game it would have lost in the past. Former head coach Wade Phillips made it a habit to lose these games, as did his predecessors Chan Gailey, Dave Campo and even Bill Parcells.

The ability to win ugly is what makes the Cowboys especially scary this season. While Washington surely isn't Pittsburgh or Green Bay, it is a markedly improved team capable of making a run at the NFC East. Philadelphia is 1-2 and quarterback Michael Vick is already complaining, while the New York Giants -- fresh off a monster win over the Eagles -- have a patchwork secondary and injury-ridden receiving core themselves.

Dallas, meanwhile, will get healthy. Receivers Dez Bryant and Miles Austin give Romo one of the most devastating 1-2 punches in the league, with Bryant the playmaking burner on the perimeter and Austin the possession genius. Running back Felix Jones clearly demonstrated he still has the dramatic burst of speed that made Marion Barber expendable this off-season.

The big question mark is the offensive line, which looked downright awful against the Skins. Center Phil Costa had three fumbles and a barrage of bad snaps, while Doug Free looked completely overwhelmed at left tackle. But this is a young line, and adjustments will be made. If they can just be average, Romo -- with one of the quickest releases in the league -- will make do.

An 18-16 win on "Monday Night Football" wasn't pretty and not what owner Jerry Jones pays for, but it was a benchmark. For the second consecutive week, Dallas played poorly and won.

Just as I wrote before the season started, watch out for them 'Boys.

Ed. Note: Originally, this text ran as: Dallas being "one colossal disappointment after another since the early 1990s." The correct version is mid 1990s.

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Comments

[frank day]

02:53 PM on 09/27/2011

What was with that Center?

Holy cow, I haven't seen that many bad snaps in a High School game.

[shiny73]

02:01 PM on 09/27/2011

I'm just so thrilled to finally have somebody that can kick a stinking field goal!

[Sam Winchester]

01:28 PM on 09/27/2011

I've been a Cowboys fan for years, and I didn't think that was ugly at all. Austin didn't play. They were beat up at other positions, Romo, and they still got the W against a viscous divisional rival. They should be 3 and 0! When they get healthy, they can beat anyone in the league on any given Sunday!

[frank day]

02:52 PM on 09/27/2011

Those bad Snaps were Ugly.

[jaye27]

12:57 PM on 09/27/2011

Romo deserves the accolades, but so does the defense. No one is giving them any credit and they did a great job. They are sooooo much better than last year. Costa...well, I don't know how Romo kept from punching him.

[mgcanfi]

03:42 PM on 09/27/2011

I tell you what I loved seeing last night was Romo showing fire and passion when people were messing up; especially Costa. His skills have been there from the beginning, but he really showed me something he hadn't really showed before. In years past he would have given up on the ball, fumbled, and/or walked back to the sideline with his head down. Last night he turned some of the ugliest snaps into positive situations or at least not nearly as negative as they could have been. When he would return to the huddle/line he let Costa and the rest know exactly how he felt about it. You are right, he looked like he wanted to k1ll Costa after the 4th or 5th bad snap. To some people it may have looked like infighting, but it was a leader telling his men what he expected of them. That is what has been missing from the Dallas Cowboys; leadership, guts, accountability, and passion. Their defense and Bailey were both on point as well.

[getoffmedz]

12:14 PM on 09/27/2011

Romo is one tough hombre.

And the new Cowboys field goal kicker is not bad either.

Dallas is under-rated this year.