Tony Romo Collapses in Shower From Rib Injury – Calls Off Punt Team on 4th and 1

Many Cowboys fans may have thought that things couldn’t possibly get worse after the team the left Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia Sunday night, tailed tucked firmly between their legs after a 44-6 drubbing.

But for a brief moment in the locker room on Sunday night, it appeared that things might get worse — much worse.

Quarterback Tony Romo collapsed in the shower after the game on Sunday night, much to the shock of everyone in attendance. Brian Davis of the Dallas Morning News was in the locker room and provided the following account of the scene:

“As someone who was standing there watching this whole scene unfold, I can tell you the players were shocked. They didn’t know what to do. Deon Anderson went out running for emergency help, but Maurer and associate athletic trainer Britt Brown were all over it.

Adam Jones, of all people, was standing there yelling at me, another reporter and a TV camera man to get back. Let me tell you, running into the shower was the last place we needed to be at that moment. Jerry Jones’ personal security chief, Roosevelt Riley, came out to push everybody back and an equipment staff member grabbed all of Romo’s things and headed to the training room.

When asked later what happened, Romo said, ‘Um, you know, I was just a little banged up, I guess.’”

Luckily for Tony Romo and the Cowboys, there were no catastrophic consequences of his shower fall. Unfortunately for Tony Romo and the Cowboys, his shower collapse was by far the easiest of the team’s collective collapses to bounce back from after Sunday night. In a game in which the Dallas Cowboys could have sewn up a playoff spot with a victory, the team basically rolled over and played dead against a division rival.

I know that Jerry Jones came out and said his coaching staff for next season was already in place, but I think Wade Phillips, Jason Garrett, and pretty much everyone on the field gave Jerry plenty of justified reason to rethink that proclamation. How you can lose 44-6 and show no heart, no focus, and no effort in such a huge game is beyond me.

And did anyone else notice when Tony Romo told the punt unit to go back to the sidelines on 4th and 1? It certainly looked like Wade Phillips was the one who was confused, rather than the one in charge. The Cowboys picked up the first down, although they did not score on the drive. So while the decision by Romo to go for it was spot on, it is not really his call to make. Both Joe Buck and Troy Aikman seemed to think it raised the question of who is really in charge in Dallas. We can completely discount Joe Buck’s opinion because he hates sports and I hate him, but Troy Aikman is not prone to talking bad about the Cowboys unless it is well deserved. And he seemed perplexed by Romo’s apparent, though successful, insubordination.

At the end of the day, there are too many failures and questions in the wake of Sunday night to list here right now. Luckily, everyone in Dallas will have a whole offseason to stew about the Disappointing Season of 2008 and pick apart every little detail.

One thing is for sure: the Cowboys are far too talented to miss the playoffs and to continue playing this poorly in December. When a team underachieves like the Cowboys did this year, it usually means a coaching change will be, or should be, forthcoming. Is there anyone out there who can really defend Wade Phillips after tonight’s mess?

My brother had a little slip of the tongue earlier today while watching the game and called Wade Phillips “Fade Whillips.” I do not think it was intentional, but it certainly is apt. And despite what Jerry Jones said last week or what he says in the immediate aftermath of this game, it is only reasonable to think that the tenure of Wade Phillips is about to quickly fade before the team is allowed to underachieve again in December in 2009.