Saturday, October 13, 2007

TIDBIT: Cowboys' Romo to face stiffest test

Las Vegas Review-Journal

In about a full year as an NFL starting quarterback, Tony Romo has taken the Dallas Cowboys on an entertaining ride.

Romo beat Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts last season, when he led the Cowboys to the playoffs and dropped a snap on a potential winning field-goal attempt at Seattle. He walked away from that game dirty and defeated.

He bounced back, though, and has carried the Cowboys to a 5-0 start this season, highlighted by his six-turnover fiasco that he overcame Monday night in a last-second 25-24 victory at Buffalo.

Romo survived the dictatorship of Bill Parcells and succeeded in his courtship of Carrie Underwood. And he has done it all after being undrafted out of Eastern Illinois four years ago.

One thing he has not done is face a Bill Belichick defense, and that sets up maybe the most intriguing game of the regular season as New England visits Dallas on Sunday.

The only matchup that can top it is the Patriots' game at Indianapolis on Nov. 4.

Because the Cowboys are coming off a miraculous victory over the Bills, and had a short week to prepare, most bettors are siding with New England as a 6-point favorite.

I'll also go with the Patriots because going against them seems insane. New England is 5-0 with wins by margins of 24, 24, 31, 21 and 17 points. Those pathetic former Miami Dolphins who annually toast after the last undefeated team goes down had better be sweating.

As exciting as Romo can be, he is no Tom Brady, and he has not seen a challenge as daunting as a Belichick defense. Belichick made Manning look clumsy for several years.

Brady has the steady hand of a surgeon, and he's operating the Patriots' offense with precision, completing 74 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions.

The addition of speed threat Randy Moss has allowed New England to spread the field and wear defenses thin, and Dallas will be hurting with its best cover cornerback, Anthony Henry, out with an injury.

Moss has 34 receptions and seven touchdowns. The other No. 81 on the field, Terrell Owens, has about 34 dropped passes this season.

The Cowboys are the best team in the NFC. But the Patriots are the best bet in the NFL almost every week.