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INSIDE SLANTS: Should Tony Romo sit out Thanksgiving game?

ADRIAN BRIJBASSI
NFLPosts.com Editor

No time is a good time for your quarterback to get hurt. It’s especially bad, though, if it happens on a short week. With only three days of rest before facing the Oakland Raiders on Thanksgiving, the Dallas Cowboys have to be worried about Tony Romo’s health.

He was in obvious pain after tackling the Redskins’ DeAngelo Hall, who had recovered a Marion Barber fumble in the first quarter of Sunday’s game. Romo finished with a woeful stat line (15-for-27 passing, 158 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) and barely pulled out the 7-6 win over a Washington team missing Albert Haynesworth and its top two running backs. The 158 yards was the lowest total Romo has ever had in a win.

You can’t knock a guy for playing hurt. What you can do is question whether he should be in the lineup come Thursday afternoon. Romo says he’ll definitely play, but he needed an injection to kill the pain in his bruised back and he was so off target with his throws it concerned his teammates.

“He kind of got up slow and you could tell he was sore,” tight end Jason Witten said. “I could tell by his throws he was bothered.”

Two weeks ago, when the Cowboys were averaging 30.3 points during their four-game winning streak, the playoffs seemed likely. Now, after two pathetic seven-point performances, the old worries about December meltdowns are back. Even worse for Dallas, its schedule in the last five weeks of the season could be the toughest in the NFL: at the Giants, home to the Chargers, at the Saints, at the Redskins and home to the Eagles. Only Washington is below .500 and it just proved it’s no easy W.

Despite all the jokes about the Raiders, they also have fight in them, as their win over the Bengals showed, and with Bruce Gradkowski replacing the bewildered JaMarcus Russell at quarterback there’s a semblance of an attack. Yet, why risk Romo when you brought Jon Kitna in for a situation like this? When Romo is not 100 percent and your team is facing a beatable opponent?

Thanksgiving has also been auspicious for Dallas backups, remember. This year is the 15th anniversary of Jason Garrett’s momentous performance against the Green Bay Packers. A third-stringer who started because Troy Aikman and backup Rodney Peete couldn’t play, Garrett led the Cowboys to a come-from-behind 42-31 win over Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. This is also the 35th anniversary of Clint Longley’s heroic 24-23 victory over the Redskins.

When asked what would keep him from playing, Romo said just about nothing would. “As long as it’s not a broken bone that keeps you from missing time.”

He’s not going to take himself out against the Raiders. That’s a call for Wade Phillips and the training staff to make. So, you know Romo will start. It’s how he finishes that Dallas has to be concerned about going forward.

CHARGERS MAKE A STATEMENT
It’s hard to take the San Diego Chargers seriously. They’ve teased us for a decade only to pull a Marlon McCree time and again, letting Super Bowl-worthy seasons escape their grasp.

While fans of the Bolts have to wonder if they’re headed to heartbreak again, you can’t blame them for getting excited after their team reeled off a fifth straight win and took over first place in the AFC West for the first time this season.

What’s more impressive is how far San Diego has come defensively. The Chargers (7-3) gave up 72 points in back-to-back losses to the Steelers and Broncos in October. Since then, they’ve surrendered 68 points during the five-game streak that included Sunday’s dominating 32-3 win in Denver.

In a game that could send the Broncos (6-4) spiraling out of the playoff picture altogether, San Diego made its case as a title contender. Whether anyone is willing to bet on the Bolts is another thing. Their Super Bowl odds are 12/1, around where they were at prior the season.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY, AL
The Oakland Raiders played the first post-merger Thanksgiving Day game on November 26, 1970, losing to the Lions 28-14. The Silver and Black haven’t been featured during the holiday festivities until this week. Thirty-nine years to the day. That’s a long time — you have to wonder if Al Davis thinks he’s being dissed.

FOUR AND OUT
Proof of disorder in the universe: Jeremy Shockey, journalist. At least that’s according to the Associated Press, which quoted Shockey’s Twitter page when debunking any notion that LeBron James might make a run at an NFL career. Shockey wrote: “Everyone trust me Lebron James could not play in the NFL! espn is crazy to even think he could even make a practice squad. hes a 4.9 40 time.” Nowhere in its report did AP say why it was quoting the Saints’ tight end. Maybe they’re just following NFLPosts.com’s lead on Twitter madness in the football world.

You know you’re an evil Republican if …: You’re Mitch McConnell and you tell CNN that you and your colleagues will give the proposed health-care bill “extensive debate” because “The Senate doesn’t do things quickly.” Unless, of course, it’s declaring war on a country that hasn’t attacked you because your president and vice-president snap their fingers and tell you the invasion has to happen for the safety of their oil interests the country.

iPhone app you’ll never live without (if you’re a Dallas Cowboys fan): Cowboys 09 ($3.99). Go inside Valley Ranch and get access to all things America’s Team, including swimsuit photos of the cheerleaders.

Coolest song of the week: Cure for Pain by Morphine (last week: Loser by Beck)

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