Kevin Sherrington

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DENVER – With the game on the line Sunday and the season already showing signs of slippage, Tony Romo tried to put it all in the hands of ... Sam Hurd.

Twice. Against Champ Bailey.

The Cowboys' fourth receiver going one-on-one against an eight-time Pro Bowler.

Frankly, it was no contest, pretty much like the match-up of the Cowboys' inept offense with the Broncos' defense for the better part of an embarrassing 17-10 loss.

Bad play calling.

Bad execution.

Bad answers.

On the pivotal play: Nothing against Hurd, whose fourth-down, 53-yard catch-and-run after Romo's Houdini-esque escape was the only reason the Cowboys had a chance at a tie in the first place. But Jason Garrett's plan to make him the primary receiver on the game's key play is a little like the Mavs drawing up Matt Carroll for the winning shot over Kobe Bryant.

On execution: Just three days ago, I called for Romo to do a better job managing the game and not yield to the wild side of his nature. After watching Sunday's fiasco firsthand, I've decided it'd be nice if he could just A.) hit a receiver in stride and B.) do so without leaving said receiver to be splattered all over the field.

On answers: Judging by Cowboy testimonials for the Broncos under new coach Josh McDaniels and his defensive coordinator, Mike Nolan, you'd think the old Orange Crush had suddenly been re-carbonated.

"Hats off to Denver," Jerry Jones said. "They're 4-0 and a good football team."

And the Cowboys are neither, no matter what they tell you.

Wade Phillips, chief purveyor of pointless statistics, will tell you: "Not everything was bad, though. There were some good things."

In Phillips' defense – and I don't get paid enough for this kind of work – his Cowboys did a pretty good job on the Broncos' offense. Giving up 17 points shouldn't get you beaten most days.

But when your offense plays as poorly as the Cowboys did Sunday, you shouldn't try to divert attention from the disaster at hand.

Unfortunately, this the Cowboys did not do.

No rational observer could watch Romo's out-of-sync performance with his receivers and decide he wasn't a major part of the problem. Even on short passes, he threw over, under and behind them. On a critical interception deep in Denver territory, he threw one way and Miles Austin broke another. Either because of poor routes or bad throws, Patrick Crayton or Roy Williams were mercilessly exposed at least three times.

But when asked about his performance, Romo didn't exactly man up.

"They're No. 1 in the league for a reason," he said of Denver's top-ranked defense. "They have a good scheme. It makes for a difficult day for quarterbacks."

Romo also talked about the "small window" he was forced to negotiate.

Williams, who injured his ribs and had to leave the game, knows that window. It was the windshield on the SUV that ran him over in the fourth quarter. I didn't get the license number.

"Never in my life," he croaked in the locker room afterward, "have I been hit like that."

To his credit, Williams refused to be baited into criticisms of his quarterback. He wouldn't bite on play-calling, either.

"I don't know if we needed a big play," he said. "A lot of teams are winning by getting dinks and dunks."

He thought a moment.

"Who'd we beat last week?"

Carolina.

"We dinked and dunked all over the place and took the ball right down the field on them."

But to play that game, you must first have a running game. Marion Barber and Tashard Choice put up 74 yards. You must also protect your passer. The Cowboys gave up five sacks. You must be efficient with the ball. Romo had a 67.1 passer rating.

And with the game on the line, it helps if you put the ball in the hands of your best players.

Instead, his choices limited by Garrett's design, Romo went with Hurd on Bailey.

Said McDaniels, "I'm thankful that he did."

Finally, an answer you could believe in.