If someone told you that your team would be 3-4 at home with two games left, would you believe they had a chance to lock up the division? It might be hard to believe, but that is the case for the Dallas Cowboys.
Looking at their schedule, it's easy to come to the conclusion that Dallas isn't that good at home, attaching any excuse to it from the fans not showing up (see #DALvsSF) to AT&T Stadium being more of a tourist attraction.
You can point out the numbers showing that in the last two home games Tony Romo played he compiled an 18.2 QBR and 5 interceptions to only 2 touchdowns in the three home games he played. Or how the offensive line has given up 13 sacks in the games that were lost. You can even blame their biggest play maker – Dez Bryant – for being a no-show with less than 5 receptions in each loss.
Let's take a closer look at the four games that didn't go the Cowboys way.
In the first home game – a loss to the San Francisco 49ers – Tony Romo threw 3 interceptions on top of a DeMarco Murray fumble returned for a touchdown on the second play of the game, which was essentially over by halftime.
Same old Cowboys right?
Well take a closer look and you will see this was a rusty Tony Romo that couldn't move around, extend plays or put much zip on his passes due to a stiff back after two surgeries. With very little offseason and preseason work, it obviously wasn't the Tony Romo we've grown accustomed to seeing.
Against Washington, Dallas really struggled as a whole, but that isn't surprising coming against a division rival like the Redskins. Romo took a knee to the back in the 3rd quarter which pretty much summed up the kind of night the offensive line had protecting him. That hit resulted in two back fractures and knocked him out of the rest of the 3rd, and a big chunk of the 4th quarter before coming back late in the game. Ultimately the game was lost in overtime.
Even with how Washington was riding Romo all night, I don't believe Dallas loses that game if he doesn't get injured.
There really isn't much to say about the home loss to the Arizona Cardinals, other than Romo sat out because of the back fractures, leaving us to depend on Brandon Weeden. The Cardinal's offense wasn't overly impressive, which is one reason to believe the Cowboys beat this team with a healthy Tony Romo.
Finally, against Philly on Thanksgiving day.
This after a Sunday night game on the road vs Giants and the ‘Boys didn't get home until early Monday morning, giving them just 2 and a half days to prepare for a high-octane Philly squad while Romo was dealing with a stiff back.
Many look at the end result and simply decide Dallas isn't very good at home, but this is just a friendly reminder of the circumstances Dallas had to go through.
