Three Thoughts: Romo sheds 'choker' label in comeback win over Lions

Those who would like to maintain that Tony Romo is some sort of "choker" through his career, despite his formidable late-game quarterback rating, and overall performances in December, will have a much tougher time forwarding that tired old story after the Dallas Cowboysrallied to a 24-20 win over the Detroit Lions to wrap up the NFL's wild-card round.

Romo had a rough first half, to be sure. The Cowboys trailed 17-7 at halftime, and that became a 20-7 deficit halfway through the 3rd quarter. He was off on several targets, frequently underthrew open receivers, and had issues holding the ball too long even late in the game. But he forged a comeback win against Detroit's outstanding defense with limited participation from his star teammates. Running back DeMarco Murray had 75 catches and a touchdown on 19 carries, and Dez Bryant caught just three passes for 48 yards. But Romo threw two touchdown passes to receiver Terrance Williams, and managed to transcend an offensive line that had a great deal of difficulty adjusting to Detroit's well-timed blitzes.

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"More than anything, it's trying to keep your poise," Romo said after the game of facing a Lions defense that pressured him ceaselessly. "That was the best defense we played all year by far, and they deserve a lot of credit -- they played awesome today."

As for the Lions, they'll spend the offseason wondering how they squandered a big lead to a team that went 4-4 at home in the regular season.

Some other quick thoughts:

1. Dallas' defense did its job

The narrative for the Cowboys' defense all season was pretty simple: outside of lineman Henry Melton (who was out of this game with an injury) and cornerback Brandon Carr (who has underperformed through most of the season), it's been a unit brilliantly coached by Rod Marinelli, and if you kept it on the field, you would wear it out. That seemed to be true in the first half, when the Lions beat the Cowboys 17:57 to 12:03 in time of possession, and Detroit held that 13-point lead in the third quarter. But as the game went on, the Cowboys stuck to their spacing concepts, got enough pressure on Matthew Stafford, and were helped by a couple of interesting calls (more on that in a minute). Yes, Detroit's defense was impressive for the most part, but it was Dallas' undermanned and seemingly unimpressive defense that stuck through adversity, as it has all season, and helped take the Cowboys to victory.

2. The good Matthew Stafford showed up... but it wasn't enough

3. Defensive pass interference needs to be reviewable

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Three Thoughts: Romo sheds 'choker' label in comeback win over Lions