Adams on Romo: 'He's one of the coolest under pressure'
By Larry Lage
The Associated Press
DETROIT — Flozell Adams has blocked for more quarterbacks than he can count in his decade with the Dallas Cowboys.
Tony Romo measures up pretty well.
The emerging star threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, including one to Jason Witten with 18 seconds left, to rally the Cowboys to a 28-27 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
"I've had something like 14 starting quarterbacks here, and he's one of the coolest under pressure. I admire him for that," Adams said. "When you see your quarterback cool, it keeps everybody else cool."
Romo was nearly flawless on the TD drives in the fourth that lifted the Cowboys (12-1) to a comeback that gave them their first NFC East title since 1998, when Adams started as a rookie teammate of Hall of Famer Troy Aikman.
Dallas coach Wade Phillips raved about Romo's latest performance — saying it was "Elwayesque" — after he helped his team rally for its seventh straight win.
"What he does in a pressure situation defines him," Phillips said.
After a teammate recovered his fumble, Romo connected with Witten for a 16-yard TD with 18 seconds left that put the Cowboys ahead for the first time.
The Lions led 10-0 after the first quarter, 20-7 in the second and 27-14 after the third, then collapsed in part because Romo picked them apart.
"You're not always going to get it done in those situations, but I do enjoy being in those situations," he said. "It gets your juices flowing and makes the game a lot of fun."
Romo was 35-of-44 for 302 yards and two TDs, taking what the defense gave him with short passes to Witten and running back Marion Barber.
"That's the cover two," Lions coach Rod Marinelli said of his bend-but-don't-break defense. "It opens up other things for the tight end, but not the deep stuff. But you have to tackle and you have to rush."
The Lions (6-7) have lost five straight and officially can't live up to quarterback Jon Kitna's predictions of a 10-win season.
"We got a great moral victory, I guess," Kitna said.
The latest loss delayed the inevitable, though. The Lions would've had trouble reaching the goal with a closing stretch that includes road games against San Diego and Green Bay, along with a home game versus Kansas City.
Detroit competed as a double-digit underdog Sunday, but the final score meant nothing to Marinelli.
"It's about winning," he said. "I'm just not going to throw bouquets out for a good hard effort."
The Lions had chances to win a game only they thought they could. It was a situation similar to the final week last season, when they went to Dallas with only pride at stake and beat a Cowboys team jockeying for playoff position.
Kevin Jones ran for 92 yards and two scores and T.J. Duckett had a 32-yard TD run Sunday.
"It was like a boxing match," offensive tackle Damien Woody said. "We had them on the ropes, but we didn't knock them out and that's what is most disappointing."
After Barber scored for the third time early in the fourth period, the Lions had an opportunity to go ahead by more than a TD. But Jason Hanson's 35-yard field goal attempt sailed just wide right.
"You don't say it's over, but that was the season," Hanson said.
The blown chance came back to haunt Detroit. After Witten fumbled inside the Lions' 1 and Detroit was forced to punt, Dallas got the ball back at its 17 with 2:15 and no timeouts left.
"I felt bad for (Witten)," Romo said. "I told him when we went to the sidelines that he was going to get another chance."
Notes: Cowboys WR Terrell Owens was limited to three catches for 21 yards. "The only thing that matters is this hat on my head," Owens said, pointing to the 2007 NFC East Division Champions cap. ... Lions PR Troy Walters (concussion), TE Casey FitzSimmons (leg bruise) and S Kenoy Kennedy (hamstring) were injured. ... Lions LB Boss Bailey was inactive because of flulike symptoms.
The Associated Press
DETROIT — Flozell Adams has blocked for more quarterbacks than he can count in his decade with the Dallas Cowboys.
Tony Romo measures up pretty well.
The emerging star threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, including one to Jason Witten with 18 seconds left, to rally the Cowboys to a 28-27 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
"I've had something like 14 starting quarterbacks here, and he's one of the coolest under pressure. I admire him for that," Adams said. "When you see your quarterback cool, it keeps everybody else cool."
Romo was nearly flawless on the TD drives in the fourth that lifted the Cowboys (12-1) to a comeback that gave them their first NFC East title since 1998, when Adams started as a rookie teammate of Hall of Famer Troy Aikman.
Dallas coach Wade Phillips raved about Romo's latest performance — saying it was "Elwayesque" — after he helped his team rally for its seventh straight win.
"What he does in a pressure situation defines him," Phillips said.
After a teammate recovered his fumble, Romo connected with Witten for a 16-yard TD with 18 seconds left that put the Cowboys ahead for the first time.
The Lions led 10-0 after the first quarter, 20-7 in the second and 27-14 after the third, then collapsed in part because Romo picked them apart.
"You're not always going to get it done in those situations, but I do enjoy being in those situations," he said. "It gets your juices flowing and makes the game a lot of fun."
Romo was 35-of-44 for 302 yards and two TDs, taking what the defense gave him with short passes to Witten and running back Marion Barber.
"That's the cover two," Lions coach Rod Marinelli said of his bend-but-don't-break defense. "It opens up other things for the tight end, but not the deep stuff. But you have to tackle and you have to rush."
The Lions (6-7) have lost five straight and officially can't live up to quarterback Jon Kitna's predictions of a 10-win season.
"We got a great moral victory, I guess," Kitna said.
The latest loss delayed the inevitable, though. The Lions would've had trouble reaching the goal with a closing stretch that includes road games against San Diego and Green Bay, along with a home game versus Kansas City.
Detroit competed as a double-digit underdog Sunday, but the final score meant nothing to Marinelli.
"It's about winning," he said. "I'm just not going to throw bouquets out for a good hard effort."
The Lions had chances to win a game only they thought they could. It was a situation similar to the final week last season, when they went to Dallas with only pride at stake and beat a Cowboys team jockeying for playoff position.
Kevin Jones ran for 92 yards and two scores and T.J. Duckett had a 32-yard TD run Sunday.
"It was like a boxing match," offensive tackle Damien Woody said. "We had them on the ropes, but we didn't knock them out and that's what is most disappointing."
After Barber scored for the third time early in the fourth period, the Lions had an opportunity to go ahead by more than a TD. But Jason Hanson's 35-yard field goal attempt sailed just wide right.
"You don't say it's over, but that was the season," Hanson said.
The blown chance came back to haunt Detroit. After Witten fumbled inside the Lions' 1 and Detroit was forced to punt, Dallas got the ball back at its 17 with 2:15 and no timeouts left.
"I felt bad for (Witten)," Romo said. "I told him when we went to the sidelines that he was going to get another chance."
Notes: Cowboys WR Terrell Owens was limited to three catches for 21 yards. "The only thing that matters is this hat on my head," Owens said, pointing to the 2007 NFC East Division Champions cap. ... Lions PR Troy Walters (concussion), TE Casey FitzSimmons (leg bruise) and S Kenoy Kennedy (hamstring) were injured. ... Lions LB Boss Bailey was inactive because of flulike symptoms.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:52 AM
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