Tony Romo out 4 weeks?

Not only did the Cowboys lose to the Cardinals in a heart-breaking loss yesterday, they lost Tony Romo, who broke his pinkie finger, for perhaps the next 4 weeks. If Romo misses 4 weeks, he would miss the following games:

• at St. Louis
• vs Tampa Bay
• at NY Giants

The 4th week would be the Cowboys' bye week and they come back from the bye with a game in Washington.

"We don't know how long he'll be out. It depends on how fast that heals," coach Wade Phillips said Monday. "I'd say week to week, depending on quickly he heals. Different people heal differently."

Since Romo became starting QB on October 29, 2006, only 2 QBs (Tom Brady and Philip Rivers) have a higher winning percentage. Romo is 23-9 as a starter during that span.

Could Romo play through it? I heard Steve Young talk about how Drew Bledsoe played with a broken index finger that was splinted. But I also heard Trent Dilfer talk about how important the pinkie is in Romo's throwing motion saying that although he probably could play through it, he would lose accuracy and the ability to change speeds on the ball.

I saw a poll question on ESPN that asks if the Cowboys will make the playoffs with Romo out for 4 weeks and after 80047 votes, it's 51% "no." What an overreaction!

The Cowboys should (hopefully will) be really physical over the next few weeks and pound the ball with Marion Barber. With a massive OL and a punishing runner, the Cowboys should be wearing teams down by the 4th quarter. And while I'd prefer Romo to be healthy and the starter, re-establishing the running game may make Romo's loss not as devastating.