Redskins-Cowboys: Big Game For Both Struggling Offenses

With Tony Romo returning things will certainly be less dicey for the Dallas Cowboys. Without him, the past three games have been far from what people expected the Cowboys to look like.

Dallas won one of their three games without Romo, as Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger both struggled mightily to fill in the for the pro-bowler. They combined for six interceptions in three games while Romo only tossed five in six games. Cutting your interceptions per game in half really changes things.

Romo was playing well before the Cowboys picked up Roy Williams—who was acquired after Romo’s injury. Now coming off a bye with Jason Witten healthy, and a receiving corps of TO, Williams, Miles Austin, and Patrick Crayton, the Cowboys have quite the arsenal.

To me the biggest problem for the Cowboys was the lack of another big, talented, outside receiver. Crayton is a solid player, but he doesn’t demand special attention. Roy Williams does. And so does TO. And so does Jason Witten.

The Williams addition will really show now that Romo is back. It should crank that offense into overdrive, spreading opposing defenses out, and opening up a sluggish running game.

Teams had begun to load up the box, challenging Romo to beat them—and for the Redskins and Cardinals it worked. Now it’s looking like most teams will have to pick their poison as to who they want to cover.

Of course it might take a week or two for the offense to kick off some rust, but believe me the ‘Boys are back.

The Redskins, on the other hand, are wishing they had a two week bye. They have six starters who could miss this week’s game, including running back Clinton Portis. They too are coming off a stretch of offensive ineptitude so both offenses could struggle early on while trying to find their feet.

With Portis and backup Ladell Betts possibly missing the game, the pressure will be on Jason Campbell this week. Campbell has been on a roller coaster ride of a season thus far and he’ll need to steady the ship this Sunday after it was swamped by the Steelers in week nine.

Campbell in two career games against Dallas has been spectacular, throwing for 579 yards and four TDs. With Santana Moss returning, alongside Chris Cooley, and with Antwan Randle El, look for Campbell to let it rip against a suspect Cowboys secondary.

The Skins should definitely look to rest Portis or give him a light load at the most this week. He is Jim Zorn’s bread and butter. Without him, playoff hopes are diminished, so the Skins will have to use him wisely this week. Granted, this week’s game is pretty close to being a must win. But figure this: the Skins have four very winnable games left against the Ravens, Bengals, Niners, and Seahawks.

With Portis playing, they should win all four. So, is playing him this week worth the risk? I say sit him. There are seven games left; wouldn’t it be better to have him for six of those rather than one?

In this tight NFC race, both the Skins and Cowboys can’t afford to struggle offensively much longer. It’s a big game for these offenses and both need to regain consistency or else two teams will be watching football at home come January.

So who’s it going to be? Which offense will roll out of the grave?

We’ll find out Sunday night!