Just a few days ago, the talk was that the Dallas Cowboys should hold out Tony Romo and his fractured back for not only Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals, but also for this week's trip to London for the 1-8 Jaguars and then have him return two weeks after that with the bye on tap after London.
On Sunday afternoon against a very good Cardinals team, backup quarterback Brandon Weeden pretty much blew that theory out of the water.
Weeden's final line as the "most prepared backup quarterback in football" was even better than his actual performance, if you can believe it. The strong-armed former Oklahoma State star didn't show much of his strength, completing just 18 of 33 pass attempts for 183 yards, two picks and a late, meaningless touchdown.
In actuality, Weeden was awful and failed to manage the game with any efficiency. He leaned on Jason Witten, which is fine, but he didn't even attempt to get the ball outside to Dez Bryant or Terrance Williams, who had two catches apiece and each finished with less than 20 yards receiving.
Would Tony Romo have beaten the Cardinals on Sunday? It's debatable, but I'd guess not. Will Romo beat the Jaguars on Sunday in London? He should. Would Weeden? That's far from a lock judging by his performance Sunday. Sure the Jaguars are 1-8, but they might be better than their record shows. Several of their losses have been fairly close games, and if they catch Sunday's version of Weeden, they just might get their second win.
After Sunday's game, both Jerry Jones and Romo himself said he'd be on the airplane that leaves Monday night and he would prepare to start on Sunday at Wembley Stadium. And that's a good thing, because the Cowboys need him.
