USAToday Inside Slant
Inside Slant
Posted 10/30/2006 11:48 PM ET
Bill Parcells won't tell you he expected Tony Romo to play this well in his first start since a 2002 Division I-AA playoff game at Eastern Illinois.
And he doesn't know yet if this was the beginning of the Romo era or just one lucky game.
But he will tell you he is not surprised by Romo's success, passing for 270 yards and leading the Cowboys to a 35-14 victory over the Panthers.
"You don't know what to expect exactly," Parcells said. "You just hope the course of action you decided to take is for the good of the team, and you hope it turns out that way. I told you all along, I'm hopeful the path we chose to get him ready for pro football was correct. I'm hoping that turns out to be the right one, too. I still don't know for us other than the fact if we had done it a lot sooner I don't think it would have worked. And I don't think he thinks it would have worked now. He may have thought then, that it might have, but I don't think so now."
Parcells carefully groomed Romo for this moment.
He watched him mature from practice squad player in 2003 to third-string quarterback in 2004 to backup in 2005 and to now being ready to be the starter.
Sure, Romo has more mobility than the benched Drew Bledsoe. He also has a quicker release. Both of those characteristics showed against the Panthers and played a role in the Cowboys' victory.
But mostly Romo was prepared for this. He had put in the work. And although he had his ill-advised moments and will continue have moments because of his inexperience, he proved that the game is not too big for him.
"Look, Tony is like any young kid." Parcells said. "He's been around here, he knows what this process has been better than anyone. He knows he's been waiting in the wings. He knows that opportunity won't stay forever either. I think he's mature enough guy and a smart enough guy to realize that."
NOTES, QUOTES
—They are calling Cowboys coach Bill Parcells the kissing bandit in Dallas, following Sunday's emotional victory against the Panthers. Parcells told the team to start having a little more fun at a meeting Saturday night. Many of Parcells' former players expressed concern to him that he wasn't having any fun on the sideline. Former Giants star Jim Burt even flew to Charlotte to check on Parcells personally.
After the win, Parcells let it all hang out, kissing multiple players on the sideline.
"I just do things once in a while," Parcells said. "I'm not ashamed of that. I never have been. I'm really not ashamed of it. I've done plenty of other things I'm not proud of, so every once in awhile you've got to, you know ..."
—The Cowboys' charter plane from Charlotte made an emergency landing in Nashville early Monday when assistant strength coach Tony Ollison became ill on the flight.
Ollison is believed to have suffered heart-related problems. He stayed in Nashville on Monday for continued tests and observation.
His situation cast a pall over what was a festive atmosphere following the victory against the Panthers
"I don't think anybody was feeling all that good about it when you see somebody not doing well and kind of in a captive environment where you can't get immediate assistance," Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said. "I think we all had concerns there but we did about the best we could do. We were on the ground in 10 minutes after the time we decided to do that."
Expected to land at 3 a.m., the Cowboys didn't get back to Dallas until 5 a.m.
PLAYER NOTES
—TE Jason Witten recorded his first touchdown reception of the season with a three-yard scoring catch against the Panthers. Witten had a season-high six receptions for a season-high 80 yards.
—WR Terrell Owens recorded a season-high nine receptions for a season-high 107 yards against the Panthers. He now has 753 career receptions, moving him past Michael Irvin and Charlie Joiner (750 career receptions) into 19th place on the NFL's all-time reception list. With his 107 yards, he reached the 11,000-yard mark for his career, the 17th player in NFL history to reach that mark, finishing the game with 11,017 career receiving yards. Owens' 107 receiving yards marked his first 100-yard game of the season and the 37th of his career.
—QB Drew Bledsoe saw his streak of 70 consecutive starts ended when he was replaced by Tony Romo against Carolina. It was the fourth-longest active streak among NFL quarterbacks.
—S Roy Williams recorded his team-leading third interception of the season against the Panthers.
—LB Greg Ellis recorded two sacks and a forced fumble against the Panthers, his second multi-sack game of the season and the 13th of his career.
—RB Marion Barber scored his fifth and sixth touchdowns of the season. It was his first multiple-touchdown game of the season and the third multiple-touchdown games of his career. Barber's six rushing touchdowns this season tie him with Clinton Portis for third in the NFL in that category behind just LaDainian Tomlinson (9) and Larry Johnson (8).
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
REPORT CARD VS. PANTHERS
PASSING OFFENSE: B — Tony Romo passed for 270 yards. He got good protection up front. But he also bought time with his mobility and quick release. Terrell Owens had a season high nine catches for 107 yards. Tight end Jason Witten also recorded season highs with six catches for 80 yards.
RUSHING OFFENSE: A — The Cowboys were very strong on the ground. Julius Jones rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown. Marion Barber added 49 yards and two touchdowns.
PASS DEFENSE: A — Dangerous receiver Steve Smith recorded six catches but no big plays through the air. He and the other Panthers receivers dropped a lot of passes. But cornerback Terence Newman did a good job covering Smith with Cover 2 help over the top. Greg Ellis notched two sacks. Quarterback Jake Delhomme passed for just 149 yards.
RUSH DEFENSE: A — The Panthers tallied just 76 yards on the ground. Most of that came on an end around by receiver Steve Smith that went for a 24-yard touchdown. Credit nose tackle Jason Ferguson for bottling thing up in the middle of the defense.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A — Tyson Thompson jump-started the comeback with a 37-yard kickoff return. The Cowboys also forced two Panthers fumbles on kickoff returns, with one resulting in a turnover. Matt McBriar averaged 48.3 yards per punt and kicker Mike Vanderjagt made field goals of 38 and 24 yards.
COACHING: A — Bill Parcells said he made the quarterback switch because he felt Tony Romo gave the Cowboys a better chance to win than the immobile and mistake-prone Drew Bledsoe. At least for one game he was right. Romo made the right plays and extended plays, something Bledsoe could never do. He was also unflappable for a player making his first start.
Posted 10/30/2006 11:48 PM ET
Bill Parcells won't tell you he expected Tony Romo to play this well in his first start since a 2002 Division I-AA playoff game at Eastern Illinois.
And he doesn't know yet if this was the beginning of the Romo era or just one lucky game.
But he will tell you he is not surprised by Romo's success, passing for 270 yards and leading the Cowboys to a 35-14 victory over the Panthers.
"You don't know what to expect exactly," Parcells said. "You just hope the course of action you decided to take is for the good of the team, and you hope it turns out that way. I told you all along, I'm hopeful the path we chose to get him ready for pro football was correct. I'm hoping that turns out to be the right one, too. I still don't know for us other than the fact if we had done it a lot sooner I don't think it would have worked. And I don't think he thinks it would have worked now. He may have thought then, that it might have, but I don't think so now."
Parcells carefully groomed Romo for this moment.
He watched him mature from practice squad player in 2003 to third-string quarterback in 2004 to backup in 2005 and to now being ready to be the starter.
Sure, Romo has more mobility than the benched Drew Bledsoe. He also has a quicker release. Both of those characteristics showed against the Panthers and played a role in the Cowboys' victory.
But mostly Romo was prepared for this. He had put in the work. And although he had his ill-advised moments and will continue have moments because of his inexperience, he proved that the game is not too big for him.
"Look, Tony is like any young kid." Parcells said. "He's been around here, he knows what this process has been better than anyone. He knows he's been waiting in the wings. He knows that opportunity won't stay forever either. I think he's mature enough guy and a smart enough guy to realize that."
NOTES, QUOTES
—They are calling Cowboys coach Bill Parcells the kissing bandit in Dallas, following Sunday's emotional victory against the Panthers. Parcells told the team to start having a little more fun at a meeting Saturday night. Many of Parcells' former players expressed concern to him that he wasn't having any fun on the sideline. Former Giants star Jim Burt even flew to Charlotte to check on Parcells personally.
After the win, Parcells let it all hang out, kissing multiple players on the sideline.
"I just do things once in a while," Parcells said. "I'm not ashamed of that. I never have been. I'm really not ashamed of it. I've done plenty of other things I'm not proud of, so every once in awhile you've got to, you know ..."
—The Cowboys' charter plane from Charlotte made an emergency landing in Nashville early Monday when assistant strength coach Tony Ollison became ill on the flight.
Ollison is believed to have suffered heart-related problems. He stayed in Nashville on Monday for continued tests and observation.
His situation cast a pall over what was a festive atmosphere following the victory against the Panthers
"I don't think anybody was feeling all that good about it when you see somebody not doing well and kind of in a captive environment where you can't get immediate assistance," Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said. "I think we all had concerns there but we did about the best we could do. We were on the ground in 10 minutes after the time we decided to do that."
Expected to land at 3 a.m., the Cowboys didn't get back to Dallas until 5 a.m.
PLAYER NOTES
—TE Jason Witten recorded his first touchdown reception of the season with a three-yard scoring catch against the Panthers. Witten had a season-high six receptions for a season-high 80 yards.
—WR Terrell Owens recorded a season-high nine receptions for a season-high 107 yards against the Panthers. He now has 753 career receptions, moving him past Michael Irvin and Charlie Joiner (750 career receptions) into 19th place on the NFL's all-time reception list. With his 107 yards, he reached the 11,000-yard mark for his career, the 17th player in NFL history to reach that mark, finishing the game with 11,017 career receiving yards. Owens' 107 receiving yards marked his first 100-yard game of the season and the 37th of his career.
—QB Drew Bledsoe saw his streak of 70 consecutive starts ended when he was replaced by Tony Romo against Carolina. It was the fourth-longest active streak among NFL quarterbacks.
—S Roy Williams recorded his team-leading third interception of the season against the Panthers.
—LB Greg Ellis recorded two sacks and a forced fumble against the Panthers, his second multi-sack game of the season and the 13th of his career.
—RB Marion Barber scored his fifth and sixth touchdowns of the season. It was his first multiple-touchdown game of the season and the third multiple-touchdown games of his career. Barber's six rushing touchdowns this season tie him with Clinton Portis for third in the NFL in that category behind just LaDainian Tomlinson (9) and Larry Johnson (8).
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
REPORT CARD VS. PANTHERS
PASSING OFFENSE: B — Tony Romo passed for 270 yards. He got good protection up front. But he also bought time with his mobility and quick release. Terrell Owens had a season high nine catches for 107 yards. Tight end Jason Witten also recorded season highs with six catches for 80 yards.
RUSHING OFFENSE: A — The Cowboys were very strong on the ground. Julius Jones rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown. Marion Barber added 49 yards and two touchdowns.
PASS DEFENSE: A — Dangerous receiver Steve Smith recorded six catches but no big plays through the air. He and the other Panthers receivers dropped a lot of passes. But cornerback Terence Newman did a good job covering Smith with Cover 2 help over the top. Greg Ellis notched two sacks. Quarterback Jake Delhomme passed for just 149 yards.
RUSH DEFENSE: A — The Panthers tallied just 76 yards on the ground. Most of that came on an end around by receiver Steve Smith that went for a 24-yard touchdown. Credit nose tackle Jason Ferguson for bottling thing up in the middle of the defense.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A — Tyson Thompson jump-started the comeback with a 37-yard kickoff return. The Cowboys also forced two Panthers fumbles on kickoff returns, with one resulting in a turnover. Matt McBriar averaged 48.3 yards per punt and kicker Mike Vanderjagt made field goals of 38 and 24 yards.
COACHING: A — Bill Parcells said he made the quarterback switch because he felt Tony Romo gave the Cowboys a better chance to win than the immobile and mistake-prone Drew Bledsoe. At least for one game he was right. Romo made the right plays and extended plays, something Bledsoe could never do. He was also unflappable for a player making his first start.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:16 AM
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