tony romo

Dez Bryant leads explosive Cowboys to blowout win

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By Nick Shook | NFL.com
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Sunday of Week 17 offered us an appetizing slate of extremely important matchups for more than a few road squads. Some prospered, and some faltered.

Carolina’s defense played the game of its collective life, terrorizing Matt Ryan, the Atlanta Falcons‘ offense and the tri-county area of Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett on Sunday. If I could give the award to the Panthers‘ defense I would, but I have to pick names, and it’s hard to decide between Roman Harper‘s 31-yard pick six, Tre Boston‘s 84-yard pick six and Thomas Davis‘ 33-yard fumble return.

San Diego, on the other hand, choked away the simplest of paths to a playoff berth, falling to the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium when all they needed to do was win, and they were in.

And then, of course, there’s the career performance put on by Geno Smith in Rex Ryan‘s final stand, a statistical masterpiece in Ryan’s swan song.

I can tell you can’t wait to scroll down. Let’s get to the stars of Sunday, the best away from home. Continue reading →

Tony Romo calm, clutch in Dallas Cowboys’ win

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By Nick Shook | NFL.com
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This week was rough on the eyes.

Four road teams won games Sunday: Cleveland, Cincinnati, Green Bay and Dallas.

Three of those wins were pretty darn ugly.

Brian Hoyer attempted to toss away the Browns‘ postseason chances late in the Georgia Dome, but thanks to the inept clock management of one Mike Smith, Hoyer got one last shot and Cleveland escaped with a victory.

Andy Dalton threw a touchdown and a pick-six, but the Bengals controlled the game against a rookie quarterback making his second career start, and possibly his first career start with a serious pectoral injury. That muscle is pretty important for football players.

Green Bay beat Minnesota in a way you’d expect a superior team to handle a trap game: Not too well, but not poorly, either.

Dallas, on the other hand — that one was fun.

In all, it was a ho-hum Sunday for visiting squads. But we still had at least a few bright spots during an otherwise dreary afternoon.

Here are your stars of the suitcase for Week 12.

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Carson Palmer leads Cardinals to big win over Cowboys

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By Nick Shook | NFL.com
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We’re beyond the point of intervention with road squads.

Look, it’s obviously difficult to get a win on the road in the NFL — the crowds are hostile, the sleeping conditions aren’t the comfortable, deluxe mattresses and Egyptian cotton sheets players have at home, and the locker rooms are never quite as spacious and cozy as those at home. But here in Week 9 it’s like a relationship on the rocks, and we’re going one of two ways: demand change, or learn to love them for who they are.

Well, they’re teams away from home, and they struggled again this week. Visiting squads won three of 11 games on Sunday, including a St. Louis Rams victory that was a few eyelashes and droplets of forearm sweat away from being a crushing loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

But we love them for who they are, because amid the despair of defeat, there exist silver linings and bright spots, both big and small. Now that I’ve captured your heartstrings, here are the best professional football players who suited up and played the game on a field that didn’t feature their team’s markings.

Greatest on the Road …

Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals

 

In accordance with a theme that has prevailed throughout most of his career, Brandon Weeden struggled mightily on Sunday. Dallas was encouraged by Weeden’s acceptable outing in relief of Tony Romo last week, but Cowboys fans didn’t get a full four quarters of Weeden — which is bad Weeden.

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