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Pastimes : The new NFL -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (19783)	11/28/2007 12:36:19 PM
From: Lost1	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 90328

What if Romo had never dropped the ball Things wouldn't be quite the same in Dallas today. By Cedric Golden AMERICAN STATESMAN STAFF Wednesday, November 28, 2007 Imagine. Tony Romo doesn't drop the potential game-winning field goal snap in the wild card playoff game at Seattle last season. Imagine. Martin Gramatica kicks the field goal and the Dallas Cowboys defeat Seattle 23-21 and advance to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs where they meet the Chicago Bears. Imagine. Bill Parcells with at least one playoff win under his belt, an emerging superstar at quarterback and a playmaking defense that needs just a little tweaking in the secondary to get better. Ah, imagine. Parcells comes back. He's gone from a would-be failure in Dallas to the venerable old coach of a veteran ballclub that's poised to make a run at its first Super Bowl this decade. But imagine. With Parcells back in 2007, there are no sideline changes in Dallas. Jerry Jones keeps it status quo and decides not to shake up the offense. He doesn't hire Jason Garrett as offensive coordinator. And maybe, just maybe, he decides not to pull the trigger on free-agent offensive guard Leonard Davis. Imagine. With the Tuna still ruling the locker room with an iron fist, his relationship with petulant wideout Terrell Owens remains icy at best. T.O. continues to feel ignored by his crusty head coach, and Parcells goes another season without calling his star receiver by name. What's the point of all of this, you ask? Simply put, when Tony Romo dropped that field goal snap in Seattle last January, it was the best thing that could have happened to these Dallas Cowboys. The absolute best thing. Had Dallas won in Seattle, this team would not be 10-1 today. Thursday's game against Green Bay would not be a showdown for home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. Dallas would probably be 7-4, needing a win to make sure it was playoff-bound. Am I crazy? Probably, but here are a few reasons why Romo's bobble could lead to Super Bowl baubles: • Without the bobble, Garrett would not have been hired. The Romo-Garrett collaboration is one of the best offensive partnerships in this league, and it's led to Dallas becoming the most dangerous offense in the NFC. Phillips is giving Garrett carte blanche on play calls, something that would not have happened under Parcells, who obsessed over ball control. As a result, Romo is averaging 32 pass attempts per game, 11 more than last season under Parcells. And Dallas is averaging 32.5 points per game, a touchdown more than last season. • Today's chemistry would not exist. To hear Dallas players talk about the improved locker room chemistry is as noticeable as that 10 in the "W" column. Sure, winning is a panacea and a 10-1 team is a happy team, but you can't put a value on chemistry, particularly in Owens' case. T.O.'s influence is being felt in a positive way off the field. Could you imagine Parcells naming T.O. a team captain, as Phillips did three weeks ago? Parcells barely acknowledged one of the league's all-time receiving talents. Phillips mentioned Terrell by name in his first news conference. His first words to T.O.? "We're going to get you the ball." Instant chemistry. Hall of Fame coach that he is, Parcells had lost his team in the locker room, and the drama surrounding his relationship with Owens was starting to take on a life of its own. It was a small distraction that would have eventually exploded, either in the locker room or worse, on the sideline. • Phillips' influence on the 3-4 defense. Parcells' record with the 3-4 speaks for itself, but Phillips is getting good results this season. Credit Parcells for emphasizing toughness and accountability, but give Phillips some praise for bringing the house more than the Tuna ever did. The Cowboys are still vulnerable to the pass, but Phillips has been able to mask that weakness by putting players such as DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis in positions to make plays at critical times. The result? Dallas has 30 sacks through 11 games, just four less than the Cowboys registered in 16 games last season. So we've imagined: A dream season created from the rubble of a special-teams nightmare. A potential conference champion with Super Bowl aspirations arises from a horrific playoff ending. Two suggestions: If you're a Time Warner cable subscriber, find a friend with a satellite dish and supply the chips, dip and drinks for Thursday's festivities. And while you're at it, go ahead and thank Romo for dropping the ball.