Romo didn't know it was fourth down on Sunday....

[phidelt649]

Funny... not a whisper of this on ESPN... AKA the Dallas and New England Network...

Oh, don't worry, they already got their boy covered:

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/news/story?id=4537797

I'd rather them report on the World Scrabble Championship then this trash but hey.....two huge deals go down (Crabtree & Edwards) but I can certainly see how this is newsworthy.

[Mr. Scot]

The Cowboys are denying it, but the story they're using doesn't quite ring true :skep:

From PFT: Cowboys say Romo knew it was fourth down

In the wake of the possibility that Romo didn't know that it was fourth down when it was fourth down in the closing seconds of Sunday's loss to the Broncos, the Cowboys contend that Romo knew that it was indeed fourth down.

And the team has actually issued a written statement to explain away video evidence suggesting that Romo was under the impression that he had one more play.

"As Tony was walking off the field after the fourth down play, he saw that the down marker on the Dallas sideline read '3.' As it turned out, the marker was in the process of being changed, sequentially, from the number '4' to the number '1' for the Broncos ensuing possession," according to the statement.

"The marker on the Cowboys side read '3' temporarily. When he saw the '3,' he thought there might have been the possibility of an error on the down count."

We're not 100-percent sure how an official NFL down marker works, but we doubt that the shift from "4" to "1" requires the user of the marker to manually cycle back through "3" and "2".

Moreover, with all of the cameras that are present during an NFL game, shouldn't there be images of the down marker showing the "3" that apparently caused Romo to think that he had another crack at tying the game?

You know those denials that are so badly crafted they actually serve to confirm a story?

This is one of them

[PhillyB]

Yahoo Sports' take is similar:

IRVING, Texas (AP)—Tony Romo(notes) really can count to four, at least the Dallas Cowboys say so.

A video shot on Sunday by KDFW shows Romo holding up three fingers following a fourth-down incompletion that sealed Dallas’ loss to Denver on Sunday. It is an indication he thought there was another down left.

The tape shows Romo appearing to tell his offensive linemen to get ready for another play, then signaling to refs that the last play was third down. He is told it was fourth down, and then he swears.

The Cowboys had burned their second down by spiking the ball to stop the clock. On third and fourth downs, Romo threw to Sam Hurd(notes) in the end zone, but Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey(notes) broke up both tries, denying the Cowboys of a potential tying touchdown.

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said Monday he didn’t know of any confusion Romo might’ve had about the number of downs. But on Tuesday, the team issued a statement to try to explain the quarterback’s confusion.

“As Tony was walking off the field after the fourth down play, he saw that the down marker on the Dallas sideline read ‘3.’ As it turned out, the marker was in the process of being changed, sequentially, from the number `4’ to the number ‘1’ for the Broncos ensuing possession,” according to the statement. “The marker on the Cowboys side read ‘3’ temporarily. When he saw the ‘3,’ he thought there might have been the possibility of an error on the down count.

“After asking the officials (holding up three fingers), he then saw the down marker move through the progression from 3 to 2 to 1. He told the offense it was fourth down in the huddle prior to the last play.”

do they realize how obvious it is they're trying to cover up for dumbnuts?

[Fireball77]

Well if he actually told the guys prior to the 4th down play it was 4th down, then it is true. But I wouldn't expect that any of his teammates would out him on that. And it wouldn't make sense with the swearing he did when he heard what the ref said.

[thefuzz]

Whoa...

That is HORRIBLE.

Romo's star is burning itself out rather quickly.

[Fireball77]

Parcells leaving is the single worst thing that happened to Romo's career. Having a HC like Wade is killing him.

[thefuzz]

Parcells leaving is the single worst thing that happened to Romo's career. Having a HC like Wade is killing him.

Next big conversation for Phillips.

Wade: Hey Norv, wanna shore up that 3-4?

[Fireball77]

Wade as a DC is good. He needs to go back to that.

[thefuzz]

Wade as a DC is good. He needs to go back to that.

He is one of the only guys in the league that can run the 3-4 very well.