Romo embraces pressure
IRVING, Texas – With a monster contract, a sexy girlfriend and all the other perks of being the star quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, Tony Romo has a life most would envy.
Except this weekend.
The Cowboys’ playoff game today against the New York Giants is as much for a spot in the NFC championship game as it is a fork in the road for Romo’s reputation. There’s a steep difference between the paths.
Get the win and it’ll be the first of his postseason career, the best medicine for the sting of last year’s loss in Seattle when he bungled the hold of a chip-shot field goal. Another reward: a spot in the Super Bowl play-in game against Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, the quarterback and team he grew up watching.
A playoff win also would be a first for coach Wade Phillips, validating Jerry Jones’ decision to hire him and Phillips’ treat-them-like-men approach that has worked so well all season but come under scrutiny this week – mainly because of Romo.
Most of all, a win would be the Cowboys’ first in the postseason since Dec. 28, 1996. Ending that drought would make Jones feel better about the $68.5 million contract he gave Romo a few months ago.
Now think of what happens if Dallas loses.
Romo will be 0-2 in the playoffs, Phillips will be 0-4 and the franchise-worst postseason skid will drag to 12 seasons and counting. The Cowboys’ 13-3 regular season will have been nothing but a tease.
“It’s all for naught if you lose,” cornerback Terence Newman said.
A loss would make Jones hiss – and that’d be tame compared to what the critics say about Romo’s south-of-the-border beach bash with his sweetie Jessica Simpson and some teammates last weekend.
Romo knows the deal and welcomes it. He loves being challenged, couldn’t care less about perception and is eager to see if his best is good enough.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun just because it’s the playoffs,” he said. “This is why you play. This is why you work as hard as you do during the off-season.”
Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin and the Giants are looking forward to this game, too, especially after relieving their playoff pressure by beating Tampa Bay last weekend.
Manning did an efficient job en route to his first playoff win after two straight first-round losses. It also gave him some family bragging rights – big brother Peyton didn’t win a playoff game until his sixth season; this is Eli’s fourth.
The win also likely helped Coughlin get a new contract. His agent said this week talks are on hold until after the playoffs, but it’s always a good sign when the issue is “when,” not “if.”
The big knock against New York is the quality of its wins. Last weekend’s road win over a division champion is a good one, but not great considering Tampa Bay wound up 9-8. The Giants beat only one other team that finished with a winning record: Washington, also 9-8.
Still, it’s impressive that the Giants have won eight straight road games since losing the season opener, on Sept. 9 – at Texas Stadium.