Romo's return sparks Dallas victory over Redskins

Cowboys QB Tony Romo was far from 100% physically or statistically, but he was good enough to help his team to a 14-10 victory over the hated Washington Redskins in his first game back from an absence caused by a broken pinky finger.  The victory allowed the Cowboys to keep pace with Washington for second place in the NFC East at 6-4.

Despite wearing a heavy bandage and a splint on his injured thumb, Romo kept Dallas in the game and threw a 25 yard TD pass to Martellus Bennett early in the fourth quarter to but the Cowboys ahead for good.  Romo finished 19 of 27 for 198 yards with one TD pass and two interceptions.  Statistics notwithstanding, however, the emotional boost he gave to his teammates just by returning to the lineup was palpable.

Romo’s performance was even more impressive considering that he’s had to learn a new throwing technique that involves gripping the ball with four fingers instead of five.  An errant throw that was picked off by Washington was likely the fault of his lack of mastery with the new grip but Cowboy owner Jerry Jones was nevertheless impressed with Romo’s commitment:

"You really wouldn't be reading the tea leaves right if you didn't understand that it took a lot of work on his part to where he could put the pressure with the four [fingers] rather than the pressure with using the little finger."

Romo wasn’t discouraged by his struggles, however, as he implored his teammates that this game was a “must win” situation:

"We had to have this one. I told the guys the time is now. It's a show-me game, we had to go out there and show ourselves and show each other that we can play good football."

While the result might not have been *great* football, it was good enough to win the game which is the most important thing after all.  Dallas had gone 2-4 in Romo’s absence after starting the season 3-0 and had looked particularly inept on offense.  Wide receiver Terrell Owens was guardedly optimistic after the game:

"Are we back to the old Cowboys? Who knows? But this is definitely a step in the right direction."

Dallas will enjoy a favorable stretch of scheduling in the next couple of weeks that should allow them to gain ground toward a wildcard spot.  They’ll play their next two games at home against San Francisco and Seattle, who have combined for a 5-15 record so far this season.  That’ll be followed by a tough test on the road as they travel to Pittsburgh for a game against the Steelers.

Washington will travel to Seattle for a game against the lowly Seahawks this Sunday before returning home on 11/30 for a big matchup against the defending Superbowl champion New York Giants.  They’ll then travel to Baltimore on 12/7.