Madden Crystal Ball: Cowboys Need Romo to Win

Before each regular season Cowboys game, we're simulating the game with Madden NFL 12 to get an outlook on what we might see on Sunday. Read more on the method behind our Madden-ness here.

Want a blow-out victory over the Redskins? Our Madden simulations say the Cowboys will need Romo in the game to do it.

The injury-plagued Cowboys are already missing two star recievers with Miles Austin and Dez Bryant sitting on the sidelines for the upcoming battle against Washington. We took them both out of rotation in our simulations. If Tony Romo's broken rib and collapsed lung keep him out of the lineup, our Madden sims show a significant difference.

In our first simulated game, we left Romo in the QB slot -- and he delivered at 47 to 6 victory over the Redskins, scoring at least one TD every quarter. Jessie Holley, who connected with Romo in overtime last Sunday, lead the Cowboys with seven catches -- though yardage was spread with Holley, Ogletree, and Witten all getting over 70 yards each. In total, the offense pulled 398 yards in the first sim, including 104 rushing yards for the 'Boys.

Our second sim took the injured Romo out, replacing him with second-string QB John Kitna. That switch alone dropped the Cowboys score to 24, while the Redskins were able to put 30 points on the board. Washington's defense nabbed three interceptions from Kitna, each of which turned into a scoring opportunity for the Redskins. Those turnovers were the real key to the Skins' second sim victory and don't seem to out-of-character for Kitna, who was picked off twice in the last outing against San Francisco.

So far this season, the Madden Crystal Ball has been spot on against the Jets, but failed to predict the overtime win against San Francisco. Check below for details on each of those simulations.

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