ShareThisARLINGTON, Texas - One minute, he's Troy Aikman -- the next minute, he's Ryan Leaf.
Love him or hate him, that's just who Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is.
To appreciate the good, you have to endure the bad.
And it was about as bad as it can get here Sunday.
This was the mother of all Romo collapses. Or at least the worst one since opening night in Jetsville three weeks ago.
Romo's three second-half interceptions turned 27-3 Dallas into 34-30 Detroit.
"Turnovers are the most important stat there is in the game. That's why you protect the ball. It's my No. 1 job, and I didn't do a good enough job of that today," the Cowboys quarterback said.
"They made the plays when they had to, but I shouldn't have allowed them to have that chance. It will be very tough to watch the tape knowing the lead we had and the ending. It's tough."
For the first 35 minutes of this game, the Cowboys were doing everything right. They were playing the best football this team has played since Jimmy Johnson left town.
And in doing so, they made the new and improved and undefeated Lions look those same pitiful Lions who make us throw up our Thanksgiving turkey every year.
But with 10:30 left in the third quarter, Aikman disappeared and Leaf showed up.
Romo tossed a short pass to Dez Bryant, and former Cowboy Bobby Carpenter picked it off and went 34 yards for a touchdown.
"I thought I threw it high enough to get it over him, but he went up and got it," Romo said. "I can't pull the trigger on that. I needed to launch it over his head and move on to the next play."
That was bad.
But some five minutes later, bad turned to worse.
Romo aimed a short pass at Laurent Robinson. Cornerback Chris Houston intercepted it and returned it 54 yards for another pick-6.
"It was a slant call, and the corner did a good job of staying inside," Romo explained.
Even so, the Cowboys marched right down the field and kicked a field goal to go up 30-17 with 41 seconds left in the third quarter.
But all of a sudden, the Dallas defense had a fourth-quarter collapse that might not receive the criticism that Romo will, but certainly deserves it.
Some bonehead plays of their own by the Lions made them settle for Jason Hanson's 51-yard field goal with 4:22 to play that kept the Cowboys on top 30-27.
But on Dallas' very first play, Romo did it again.
He aimed a pass at Jason Witten and instead threw it to middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch.
With gift field position at the Dallas 40, the Lions drove in for the winning touchdown.
"It was going to be a big one," Witten said. "The safety didn't get out on the back side. There was a big hole over there where I was. It looked like he (Romo) had a little pressure. He left it short a little bit."
"We got what we wanted on the play, and I thought it was going to be a big play. I just had to hold the ball a little longer than I wanted to let him get over the top, and my feet weren't as set as they needed to be. I just didn't get enough on the throw," Romo explained.
A lot of Cowboy fans are ready to crucify Romo after watching him give away games to the Jets and now the Lions.
But I feel sorry for him.
The guy has played three weeks with a broken rib. I have had a broken rib. I appreciate his toughness and his leadership.
So I must accept dumb days like this one.
Witten, his best buddy, does, too.
"Tony is a competitor. He is a tough player," the Cowboys tight end said. "We've been down this road a lot with him this year. But I wouldn't trade him for anybody in the world. We believe in him. He's our guy. We will fight through it."
With a bye week coming up, the Cowboys must now endure this agony for two long weeks before they can try to end what Witten calls "this roller coaster ride."
"It sucks right now, and over the next week or two, it's going to be difficult when you look back at it," Romo said. "But at some point, we are going to move on. There are a lot of guys doing a lot of good things. We will evaluate it and get better from it."
We have heard those words before -- just three weeks ago.
That's the problem.
Who will show up at New England in two weeks -- Troy Aikman or Ryan Leaf?
(Contact Wichita Falls Times Herald-news sports editor Nick Gholson at gholsonn(at)timesrecordnews.com.)
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