Buzz Bar

Tim Cowlishaw Archive E-mail | Bio

The Cowboys' latest savior at quarterback had just thrown a terrible interception that set up a 24-yard end-around touchdown for speedy Steve Smith. That gave Carolina a 14-point lead.

The Romo Era looked more like the Romo Error.

And then 35 unanswered points later (anyone see that coming?), the Cowboys were back in business in the NFC East. They moved past Philadelphia to remain one game behind the Giants with a stunning 35-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

Tony Romo wasn't perfect. But he was awfully good when it mattered most.

His final numbers in his first start as Drew Bledsoe's replacement: 24-for-36, 270 yards, one touchdown, one interception. He also scrambled away from pressure and ran four times for 18 yards.

Typically, coach Bill Parcells, who made the bold move to switch quarterbacks near midseason, downplayed the magnitude of this one game.

"I know it was a big decision to make and a hard decision to make," Parcells said. "I'm glad it worked out ... temporarily, anyway. I thought he did a pretty good job. But we've got to work on a little management on some things."

In some ways, Romo didn't light up the Panthers so much as they blew themselves up.

After the early mistake, he played well and moved the team consistently, but the Cowboys couldn't overtake Carolina. After just missing Jason Witten in the end zone, the Cowboys had to settle for Mike Vanderjagt's short field goal – which cut the Panthers' lead to 14-13 with 9:52 to play.

	Cowboys 35, Panthers 14
	A quarter and change: Romo rallies Cowboys Cowlishaw: Romo looks like man for job but give an assist to Panthers Taylor: Parcells gets credit for this win, but he's still on hook for season Defense starts to get stingy Night to forget for Keyshawn Todd Archer's Cowboys report card Calvin Watkins' five plays that shaped the game Notebook Game photos Game summary Official NFL summary (.pdf) Grade the Cowboys' performance Tell Us: Who is your game MVP? Sports front page (.pdf) All-time vs. Carolina More Cowboys

Then Carolina unraveled with a fumble on a kickoff, an interception by Roy Williams, and a fumble by Jake Delhomme. Romo didn't have to do much more than just protect the football with the Panthers making so many late mistakes.

Still, it was an impressive starting debut and one that revives this team's hopes of getting into the playoff chase.

"You never know what's going to happen when you change quarterbacks, especially with me being untested and unproven," Romo said. "I was anxious to see what would happen, just like Bill was."

Several things emerged from Sunday night's game. One is that Terrell Owens has officially joined the offense and tight end Jason Witten has rejoined it.

Romo went to Owens early and often against Carolina. Owens finished with nine catches for 107 yards and also caught what would have been a key two-point conversion to make it 21-14 had Carolina not imploded.

Witten made several catches in traffic and caught Romo's only touchdown pass. He caught six balls for 80 yards. He looked like the Pro Bowler that he has been before this season.

Romo's arrival will be the story in Dallas this week, but he had lots of helping hands. An offensive line that offered him better protection than Drew Bledsoe almost ever got was the biggest.

Then there was a defense that kept Carolina scoreless the final three quarters. A drop by former Cowboy Keyshawn Johnson made that possible.

There was the solid inside running of Julius Jones and some late breathtaking runs by Marion Barber.

The Cowboys looked like a team Sunday night, even though they were losing most of the game. And Romo looked like a guy whose belief in himself despite a complete lack of NFL experience has a chance to lift a team that was in danger of being one of the NFL's major underachievers of 2006.

After the game, the players cheered in the locker room when guard Marco Rivera presented Romo with the game ball. They cheered even louder when Parcells gave them today off.

"We haven't had a lot of fun around here," Parcells said. "They're having fun right now. [But] we're seven weeks in. I'm not counting any chickens."

But because Parcells had the guts to make a controversial quarterback change, no one's counting the Cowboys out today, either.

E-mail wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com