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Romo to make first career start for Cowboys

Oct 24, 2006 - 11:08 PM Dallas (3-3) at Carolina (4-3) Sunday 8:15 pm EST

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- The spotlight has shifted away from Terrell Owens to the quarterback position for the Dallas Cowboys.

Tony Romo will make his first career start Sunday night when the Cowboys visit the Carolina Panthers.

Beginning late in the preseason, there were rumblings that coach Bill Parcells would be better off with the more mobile Romo as his starting quarterback rather than the statuesque Drew Bledsoe, a 14-year veteran.

After Bledsoe threw a costly interception late in the first half of last Monday's 36-22 loss against the New York Giants, Parcells finally made the move to Romo to start the third quarter.

Romo got off to an inauspicious start as his first pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted. He threw two more interceptions, one of which was returned 96 yards for a touchdown.

Despite the turnovers, Romo did show some positive signs, completing 14-of-25 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns. One of his scores went to the temperamental Owens, who had six catches for 98 yards.

"I thought the move to Romo was a change of pace for us," Owens said. "He has more mobility and when he scrambles, we as receivers have to find the holes in the defense."

Undrafted out of Eastern Illinois, Romo is in his fourth season with the Cowboys, who signed him to a two-year contract extension in May.

Romo's mobility could come in handy against the Panthers, who boast one of the league's best defensive lines. Left end Julius Peppers, who will be matched against tackle Marc Colombo, leads the league with eight sacks.

Peppers recorded three sacks but made a critical mistake late in the fourth quarter in a 24-20 loss to the Cowboys here last December 24.

The Panthers appeared to be on the verge of eliminating the Cowboys from the postseason race when Jake Delhomme hit Ricky Proehl with a 35-yard touchdown pass with 2:32 left in the fourth quarter, giving Carolina a 20-17 lead.

But Tyson Thompson returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards and Bledsoe hit Terry Glenn with a 15-yard pass on the next play, advancing the Cowboys to the Carolina 43.

The drive stalled at the Carolina 15 and the Cowboys set up a potential game-tying 33-yard field goal by Billy Cundiff with 1:12 remaining. On a 4th-and-4 play, Cundiff missed the kick wide right, but was run into by Peppers, who earlier blocked a field goal. Three plays after the penalty, Bledsoe found Glenn with a two-yard touchdown with 24 seconds remaining to give the Cowboys the victory.

Julius Jones rushed for 194 yards and outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware registered three sacks for the Cowboys.

While much of the focus will be on the Dallas quarterback situation, there also is plenty of attention that will be paid to Owens and Panthers wide receivers Keyshawn Johnson and Steve Smith.

A 11-year veteran, Johnson spent the last two seasons with the Cowboys and had a team-leading 71 receptions for 839 yards and six touchdowns in 2005. But he was released in March, paving the way for owner Jerry Jones to sign Owens.

"Keyshawn is one of a handful of the top competitors that have ever played for the Dallas Cowboys," Jones said. "The more he was a part of our team, the more we appreciated him as a player."

Smith led the league in catches (103), receiving touchdowns (15) and receiving yards (1,563) last season. But his low point came in the game here against the Cowboys when he was ejected in the third quarter for making contact with an official.

To show how important he is to the Carolina offense, Smith missed the first two games this season with a hamstring injury and the Panthers managed a total of 19 points in losses to Atlanta and Minnesota.

Smith returned to the lineup and the Panthers reeled off four straight wins before suffering a 17-14 loss at Cincinnati last week. Smith had eight receptions for 126 yards, giving him 39 for 576 yards and two scores in five games.