Football Round-Up: Romo’s Picks, Cruz’s Play & The Sanchize

Oct 2: Detroit Lions defensive end Willie Young, right, brings down Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) in the final minutes of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas. The Lions won 34-30. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (AP)

– Like A Rhinestone Cowboy: Dallas Blows 24-point Lead Behind Romo’s Interceptions

It’s hard to be a Dallas Cowboy’s fan this season (I am guilty as charged). After two spectacular comeback games in which quarterback Tony Romo showed grit and toughness by playing with a broken rib and punctured lung to lead his team to victory, he decided to revert back to week one by throwing three interceptions including two which were returned for touchdowns by the Detroit Lions.

After smashing my living room TV and pulling out my backup 13 inch, that I happened to have in my closet, I then finished watching the game which saw the Lions win 34 to 30 and the Cowboys blow a franchise worst 24 point lead in the 4th quarter. The Lions go to 4-0 as the Cowboys fall to 2-2.

It seems like this season has been the tale of two Romo’s as he’s had some great numbers but has showcased that not only can he win the game single handedly for the Boys, but also in the blink of an eye he can be god awful.

Victor Cruz the Center of Controversy in a New York Giants Comeback Win

Let’s look past the fact that the Arizona Cardinals blew a very winnable game once again by letting the New York Giants come from behind to win yesterday 31 to 27.

With the NFL’s constant rule changes you never know what is what in the game anymore.

In the 4th quarter Cruz caught a 29 yard pass that would eventually set up a 29 yard touchdown to give the G-men the lead and the win.

Problem is that Cruz went down a little awkwardly and the Cardinals thought it was a fumble. The refs saw it differently and thought of it more as a slide. If you watched NBC’s analysis by Sport’s Illustrated’s Peter King you got the impression that the ruling was good even if some people didn’t like it. As defined in the rulebook… it wasn’t a fumble. The play was dead because allegedly Cruz had “given himself up” according to SportsGrid.com.

According to ESPN, if you listened to former NFL officiating director and Fox Sports analyst Mike Pereira, he thought Cruz stumbled into his slide and it should have been ruled a fumble.

Get it? Me neither.

Bottom line is the Cards had this game well in hand and blew it in the 4th quarter. Make the call on the Cruz play for yourself.

Offensive Line trouble leads to an offensive performance from “The Sanchize”

One of my old football coaches in High School always said that an offense starts with the offensive line. Mark Sanchez has been reminded of that for the second straight game.

With no Nick Mangold at center for the New York Jets and makeshift line, Sanchez was brutalized and pulverized as they lost 34-17 to the Baltimore Ravens, known for their staunch defense.

With a measly 119 yards passing and one interception for Sanchez, the Jets have reason to worry about the rest of their season. They better pray Mangold comes back next week against the New England Patriots.

If you watch all the times Sanchez was hit in the game, he looked like a victim in the horror movie ‘Hostel.’ Both were scary to watch.

49ers come back to beat Eagles

If you’ve noticed there’s sort of a theme with this week's Round up.

The Philadelphia Eagles were winning the game and the San Francisco 49ers came back to win 24 to 23.

The Philadelphia Inquirer describes the defense as the “soft underbelly” of the team and the implication is that first year defensive Coordinator Juan Castillo may be to blame for the so-called “dream team’s” 1-3 start.

Other Latino Football Notes

Possibly the greatest scoring Latino in NFL history, Tony Gonzalez, caught 7 receptions for 56 yards including a 1 yard touchdown. The Atlanta Falcon’s beat the Seattle Seahawks 30-28.

First time head coach Ron Rivera’s Carolina Panthers played in the city and stadium where he played on probably one of the most dangerous defenses of all-time and where he won a Super Bowl. The Panther’s lost to the Chicago Bears in Chicago 34-29. Cam Newton was still
pretty impressive and the Panthers seem to be more of the team to watch next season as this season they are trying to figure out how to get into the win column.

Victor Garcia is a freelance reporter with Fox News Latino.