Top ten moments of 2007: #7

#7 Tony Romo's side arm touchdown pass to Tony Curtis

Week 10; Dallas Cowboys versus New York Giants

The Cowboys were in the middle of what was supposed to be the most challenging part of the 2007 schedule; three straight division games, two of which were on the road. Dallas had already walked into Philadelphia and throttled the Eagles on their home turf and looked to continue their dominating play in New York. Heading into the game a lot of experts were putting the focus on an "improved" Giants defense, one that was surely to play better than the team that allowed 45 points against the Cowboys in week one.

The Cowboys received the opening kickoff and promptly marched straight down the field. A few long runs by Julius Jones, a nice catch by Terrell Owens, and they were sitting on the Giants' 15 yard line just a few minutes into the game. On 2nd and 10, Romo felt pressure from the outside and slid up in the pocket. Just as he was stepping up to the line of scrimmage and ducking to avoid a tackle by two converging Giants, he side armed a wobbling floater to a wide open Tony Curtis in the end zone.

I have seen this play from two completely different points of view. I was at this game in New York and had seats in the upper bowl area facing the end zone this play happened at. As soon as the pocket broke and Romo scrambled everyone around me stood up and started cheering and I had to react quickly to see the action. I remember seeing Romo go down in a heap and all the Giants fans around me started cheering big time. Then a second later you see the Cowboys celebrating and everyone around was incredulous. What happened? Nobody could believe that Romo got that pass off, and not one person noticed Tony Curtis open in the end zone. And in true Giants Stadium fashion, there wasn't a replay shown of the touchdown.

I have since watched the Fox broadcast of the game, and the play seems even more incredible from that view. Live it was almost in slow motion but on TV Romo moves fast; scrambling, ducking and then throwing all in one calculated motion. Romo said after the game he saw Curtis' waving arms and didn't see any red, so he just chucked it up there. How he went through all that in just half a second blows my mind. The pass and touchdown are a perfect example of what makes Tony Romo great. He has the ability to sit back in the pocket and throw with accuracy but he also has an uncanny ability to find the open receiver while scrambling like a mad man. The 2007 season was filled with plays like this by Romo and I am certain more are to come.

Oh yeah, the Cowboys whooped on the Giants in the second half and won 31-20.