Channeling His Inner Jake Taylor

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We all knew that it was going to be tough sledding for the Cowboys for the next seven games when Tony Romo went down; definitely the first four or five in October without Dez Bryant as well.Leb Romo

But who saw a big goose egg in the win column coming over that stretch? I think most of us figured the Cowboys would at least be within a couple of games of .500. But 2-7? No.

And in a weak NFC East, even one or two wins while Romo was out would mean staying within striking distance of the division lead. Sorry, Charlie, you lose. Thanks for coming, though.

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Romo finally returns to action this week as the Cowboys face the Dolphins. Anyone think that he can reverse Dallas’ record and fortunes for the season over the next seven games? Daunting, yes? Impossible? Maybe.

Ah, but someone does believe — Romo himself.

Romo rarely tweets but he decided to channel his inner movie fan on Tuesday morning and tweeted out the memorable clip from Major League in which catcher Jake Taylor stands up in front of the team, immediately after finding out that the only way to save the Indians from being moved to Florida is to win the World Series, and proclaims, “Well I guess there’s only one thing left to do. Win the whole (expletive) thing.”

Surely, he can’t be serious (gotta follow up one classic movie line with another). How about just win Sunday at Miami? Maybe even get through that game with Romo healthy.

OK, let’s humor ourselves with Tony’s claim. Maybe they can go 7-0, or maybe even 6-1, and still have a shot at the NFC East. Is it possible?

Well, let’s check out the remaining schedule, shall we? Let’s start with the good news. And it’s also bad news – Dallas plays the Redskins twice. I say bad news because these two seem to split the season series very often. Four of the remaining seven games are on the road, including trips to Green Bay and Buffalo in December (pack your mittens). Mix in home games vs. the Jets and the undefeated Carolina Panthers and you have a schedule that’s, in a word, brutal.

I don’t see any way that the Cowboys go 7-0 with this schedule, which is probably the only way to the playoffs. And to win the Super Bowl, Romo and Dallas would probably have to win 11-straight. But, hey, they’ve done something similar before, winning each of their final seven games of the 1971 season and three more in the playoffs.

The biggest problem for the Dallas isn’t at quarterback any longer. It actually wasn’t their biggest issue over the last couple of games. This team can’t run the ball. And with Darren McFadden as the only real option left back there, why would it immediately improve in week 10?

Romo was at his best last year when he had a running game boosting the team’s fortunes on offense and a defense that was overachieving. Now? DeMarco Murray is in Philadelphia and the Cowboys have added a defensive lineman who should be in jail. We’ve seen Romo have to carry the team on his back before, and that might be a little tough to ask of him this time around.

Of course, Romo’s the one who called it. Tom Brady and Cam Newton have led their respective teams to undefeated seasons thus far. Both are probably headed toward No. 1 seeds and a heck of a regular season. But I’ll say this about Romo – if, somehow, someway, he guides this team to the playoffs, just hand him the MVP trophy over both of them and anyone else in the NFL.

After all, if you’re going to lead this team in this mess to any chance to “win the whole (expletive) thing,” there’s some hardware that should automatically come with it.

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Rob Scichili (shick-lee) has worked in professional sports for over 31 years in PR and communications, including time with the Dallas Stars, Anaheim Ducks, MLB.com, Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks. A journalism graduate of Texas A&M, he is co-owner and editor at ScoreboardTx and VP at Tony Fay Public Relations. Scichili is a consultant to New York Islanders ownership and was recently named to the Dallas Stars Hall of Fame Selection Committee.