Dallas Cowboys: Why Jerry Jones Is Responsible for Romo's Injury

Most Dallas Cowboys fans will remember where they were when Tony Romo was injured. Most Cowboys fans can tell you their reaction to Tony breaking his clavicle and seeing the Cowboys Super Bowl hopes slip away with Romo as he headed to the locker room.

Most ‘Boys fans can also tell you what went wrong with the 2010 Dallas Cowboys and they’ll tell you with conviction: Wade Phillips.

Yes, Wade bears his share of the blame for the Cowboys downfall. There is the ridiculous amount of penalties, the inconsistent play of the defense and their relentless use of Tony Romo’s arm as a means to win every single ballgame since Jason Garrett was hired as offensive coordinator.

But this isn’t Wade’s, Jason’s or Tony’s fault; this all falls on the shoulders of the Dallas Cowboys world-famous owner, Jerry Jones.

Four years ago Wade was hired to replace the departed Bill Parcells as the Cowboys head coach. He was the exact opposite of Bill, running a looser program and holding what the media titled, “cupcake training camps.” He would bring a breath of fresh air to a team that was ruled with an iron fist under Parcells as Phillips would take a softer approach.

That strategy worked in Wade’s first season as the Cowboys went 13-3 and earned a first-round bye in the playoffs. The next season the Cowboys struggled to a 9-7 record mostly due to a broken pinky finger on Tony Romo’s hand. Yet last season things seemed to look up for the ‘Boys from Valley Ranch. The Cowboys went 11-5, won their first playoff game since 1996 and Jones awarded Phillips with a contract extension.

However, this offseason the writing was already on the wall about Dallas but fans were just too blind to see it. The football Web site footballoutsiders.com stated in their preseason preview that Dallas would finish 9-7 due to injuries and an aging offensive line.

Under Phillips, the Cowboys have routinely exercised recklessness and a lack of mental toughness, so their playoff win last season against Philly probably gave them a sense of entitlement to something that didn’t belong to them—the Super Bowl.

After all of that, this debacle of a season should be placed squarely on the shoulders of Jerry Jones.

The offensive line has been an issue for Dallas since their 2007 playoff loss to the Giants. The offensive play calling has never had an equal balance under Jason Garrett, and the Cowboys have struggled with penalties for four years now.

With Parcells in Dallas, Jones had to take a backseat to Bill’s larger-than-life personality. He was no longer the face of the franchise and the decision making went through Bill and not Jerry.

With Wade as head coach Jerry was back to being the man in charge. He made the decisions on the draft, which players to sign, the direction of the team, and so on. Last week before a team practice, it was Jones who addressed the team and not Wade. In the war room on draft day, it was Jerry pulling the trigger on Dez Bryant and not Phillips.

In the end, Jones wanted a Super Bowl for the team that he loves so dearly. But his ego got in the way in the end. He’s the one who hired Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett and he’s the one who said that Dallas should be the first team to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium.

He's also the one who put in place the offensive line that got Tony killed against Minnesota last season, against the Giants in 2007 and again last night against New York. The line has been a problem for years and Jerry has neglected to address one of the team's most glaring issues.

Think about it. It makes sense.

With the Cowboys season halfway down the tubes as their record sits at 1-5, maybe Jerry will finally realize that it’s him that’s the main issue in Dallas and not everyone else.

-JH

Join Jason every Monday night at 8pm ET for “Monday Night Quarterback” on www.blogtalkradio.com/cowboyjay.

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