The New England Patriots defeated the Dallas Cowboys 20-16 on a final touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Aaron Hernandez with 0:22 left in the game.
Romo led his team back from a 13-3 deficit in the second quarter with a 1-yard TD pass just before the half to cut the lead 13-10, and then engineered two more scoring drives in the second half that ended in FGs to take the lead 16-13. Romo finished the day 27 of 41 for 317 yards and 1TD and 1 INT.
Once the Cowboys took the lead with 5:13 left in the fourth quarter, it was Tom Brady time.
After exchanging punts, the Patriots got the ball back with 2:31 left in the game down by 3. Just enough time for another Brady miracle, a sight we’ve gotten all to accustomed to seeing.
Brady marched the Patriots 80 yards down the field in 2:09. On the final drive, he was 8 of 9 for 78 yards and a TD, plus he ran for 2 yards on a third-and-one to keep the drive alive.
He finished the day 27 of 41 (exactly the same as Romo) for 289 yards and 2 TDs and 2 INTs, but it was the heroics in the last 2 minutes of the game that ultimately made the difference.
“We kind of squandered away some opportunities throughout the game, but we came up big when we needed it,” Brady said after the game.
He gave credit to the defense for keeping the game low scoring, “The defense was really incredible today. That’s a good offense, with a lot of damn good football players.”
Romo said after the game, “It’s never good enough when you lose. We’re judged off winning and losing.”
The Cowboys fall to 2-3 and get their next chance for a victory next weekend at the 0-5 St. Louis Rams.
The 5-1 Patriots head into a bye week, after which they head to Pittsburgh for a tough game against the 4-2 Steelers, in a game matching the Pats top ranked passing offense against the Steelers top ranked passing defense.
