49 Days to Football: Fourth Quarter Romo

Most weekdays from now until the Packers and Seahawks kick off on September 4th, The Big Lead will detail one reason we are excited for football season to begin. Including today, we’re 42 days away from NCAA and 49 from NFL.

The Packers’ season was hanging in the gallows. After Aaron Rodgers separated his shoulder early in a Week 9 game against the Bears, Green Bay went 1-4-1 and found themselves down 26-3 at halftime to the Dallas Cowboys. The only thing that could and would save their season? Fourth quarter Romo.

After Green Bay had stormed back to cut the deficit to 36-31, Tony Romo held the ball on 2nd-and-6 with less than three minutes remaining, audibled out of a run (DeMarco Murray had run 18 times for 134 yards in the game), evaded a Clay Matthews pass rush, threw it behind Miles Austin, and got picked by Sam Shields. Needing just a field goal for the win after the Packers scored (and failed on the two-point conversion) on the ensuing drive, Romo threw another pick to Tramon Williams to effectively end the game.

Provided you root for one of the 31 NFL franchises not named the Cowboys, it’s impossible not to take at least mild delight in the soul-crushing things they do to their fans. While Romo has engineered 19 fourth quarter comebacks and has the third best fourth quarter QBR since 2006 (trailing only Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers), NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal was able to piece together a list of the quarterback’s 10 most heartbreaking losses that can keep you entertained for upwards of an hour on this lazy summer Friday.

My personal favorites on Rosenthal’s list include a 2011 game against the Jets where Romo fumbled on the goal line and later threw an interception to Darrelle Revis, and this late Week 17 interception against the Redskins in 2012 which decided the NFC East:

What new chapters will Romo add to this story this season?