The Dallas Cowboys blew a 24-10 lead and lost to the New York Jets 27-24 Sunday night in their season opener. Not only were they up 24-10 in the fourth quarter, but they were also up 24-17 when quarterback Tony Romo lost a fumble at the Jets’ one-yard line. The Jets ended up returning a blocked punt for a touchdown to tie the game at 24.
With under a minute left, Romo’s first pass following the blocked punt was intercepted by Darrelle Revis. The Jets kicked the tie-breaking field goal shortly thereafter. With eight seconds left, the Cowboys snapped the ball before Romo was ready and he had to throw the ball away. After throwing the ball away, cameras caught him smiling. I couldn’t believe the reaction.
How could Romo be smiling after his team blew that lead? They were up 24-17 and all set to make it a two-score game when Romo fumbled. Then there was a blocked punt, interception, and botched snap all in the span of less than 10 minutes. I haven’t seen a bigger debacle since Sage Rosenfels went human helicopter against the Colts.
In the past I’ve defended Romo for his behavior, but I can’t defend this. There is something wrong with a guy who’s smiling when his team botches a snap during the desperate moments of a game. It reminds me a lot of the game in Denver two years ago when Romo had the downs wrong. Can you picture any other top quarterback in the league reacting to a botched play by smiling like that? Only one quarterback comes to mind, and he’s now a backup. That’s not good company for Romo.
