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With 1:21 left in what would be an astonishing 37-36 defeat to the Aaron Rodgers-less Green Bay Packers–after being up by 23 points–Dez Bryant did what many Dallas fans did and his teammates probably wanted to as well. He left the playing field.
He later claimed through Twitter that he was “emotional,” so he left. How or why the Cowboys would accept that is beyond reason. But in the wake of their monumental collapse, not too much attention or criticism publicly by the team was hurled at Bryant, the talented, enigmatic wide receiver who did not speak to reporters after the game.
“I walked back to the locker room because I was emotional,” he tweeted. “it had nothing to do with my teammates we had it. . . We fought and didn’t finish.”
“It’s an emotional game,” quarterback Tony Romo said about Bryant. “It’s not fun for either of us to lose a football game. It’s not an enjoyable process when it ends, no matter how it ends. It’s always tough emotionally. So it is what it is.”
Romo increased his reputation as a failure in clutch situations, especially in December. He had one fourth-quarter pass that was ruled an interception reversed, but made two errant throws that were costly.
But Sam Shields picked off Romo at midfield to set up Eddie Lacy’s touchdown run to pull Green Bay in front 37-31. This after trailing 23-3 at halftime. There was still time for Dallas to save the day. But Romo threw a ball too far in front of Cole Beasley, and cornerback Traymon Williams made a diving grab that was initially called incomplete. When the video review overturned the call, quarterback Matt Flynn (four touchdown passes) ended the game with kneel-downs.
“Right now, words really have no effect,” Dallas cornerback Brandan Carr said. “Complete debacle the second half.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said: “This is one of the hardest losses that I’ve experienced. That’s a shame that we’ve lost that ballgame.”
