The Sports Xchange
Sep 20, 2015
PHILADELPHIA – The Dallas Cowboys won the game, but they may have lost their season after quarterback Tony Romo was knocked out of the game with a fractured left clavicle in the Cowboys' 20-10 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Romo, who was injured in the third quarter on a play in which he was sacked and fumbled, did not return to the game and the Cowboys said his future status will be determined at a later date. Romo missed the final 10 games of the 2010 season after fracturing his left clavicle. He was replaced for the rest of Sunday's game by Brandon Weeden.
The victory gives Dallas (2-0) a two-game lead over the Eagles (0-2) in NFC East. The Cowboys held Eagles running back DeMarco Murray, who led the NFL in rushing last season for Dallas, to just two yards on 13 carries. And the Cowboys won despite being flagged for 19 penalties.
Dallas jumped in front late in the first quarter on Dan Bailey's 20-yard field goal, after the Eagles put on a spirited goal-line stand. A 13-yard pass to tight end Gavin Escobar put the ball on the Eagles 1, and after running back Joseph Randle was stuffed by defensive tackle Beau Allen, Romo passed incomplete twice. The second was to tight end Jason Witten, who appeared to beat linebacker DeMeco Ryans in the back of the end zone, but Ryans got a hand on the ball at the last second and the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead with 1:30 left in the opening period.
The Cowboys had a 6-0 lead at halftime.
The Eagles offense sputtered to start the second half and once again they had to punt, for the sixth time in the game. This time, the Cowboys' Danny McCrary blocked it and teammate Kyle Wilber scooped up the loose ball and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown to give Dallas a 13-0 lead.
The Eagles blew a great chance to get back into the game late in the quarter. They drove down to the Dallas 3-yard line, helped along by a couple more Cowboys penalties, but linebacker Sean Lee intercepted Sam Bradford's pass in the end zone. Then Dallas put it out of reach late in the fourth quarter when Weeden connected with Terrance Williams on a 42-yard touchdown pass to make it 20-3 with 4:13 left to play.
NOTES: Eagles LB Kiko Alonso left in the second quarter with a left knee injury and did not return. Alonzo, whom the Eagles acquired in a trade with Buffalo for RB LeSean McCoy, missed all of last season with a torn ACL in his left knee. Multiple outlets reported Sunday night that Alonso was out for the season. … The blocked punt for a TD by Dallas was the Cowboys' first since Ken Norton Jr. did it vs. the New York Giants on Sept. 13, 1992. … Mackenzy Bernadeau started in place of Ronald Leary at LG for Dallas, but La'el Collins also played some series there. Leary, who has a groin injury, had started 34 of the Cowboys' last 35 games. … Eagles LB Marcus Smith III was deactivated again. Smith, a first-round pick last year, had been slowed with a hamstring injury in the preseason, but he practiced all week and was listed as probable for Dallas.