Romo hurt; Cowboys collapse

Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas

The Dallas Cowboys’ miserable season just got a whole lot worse: Tony Romo broke his left collarbone in the second quarter against the New York Giants on Monday night, then his teammates let a 13-point lead turn into a 41-35 loss.

Eli Manning rebounded from interceptions on his first two drives to match his career best with four touchdown passes, Brandon Jacobs ran 30 yards for a touchdown and Lawrence Tynes kicked a career-best 53-yard field goal.

New York had a run of 31 unanswered points from 4:22 of the second quarter through the end of the third quarter.

Dez Bryant’s 15-yard touchdown reception from Jon Kitna and Jason Witten’s conversion catch sliced the lead to 38-28 with 3:22 remaining in the game.

The Cowboys then failed to recover an onside kick.

The Cowboys were getting stomped despite having pried away three turnovers (including two interceptions returned inside the New York 20) and a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown.

The loss has the Cowboys off to their worst start since going 1-15 in 1989, the first year Jerry Jones owned the club.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the prospects for recovery aren’t very good with Romo watching the second half with his left arm in a sling. The injury could end his season. Recovery time is generally 8 to 10 weeks. With the Cowboys at 1-5, there may not be any reason to rush back.

The play came early in the second quarter, with Romo throwing a pass to Miles Austin, then taking a hard hit from blitzing Michael Boley. The linebacker came in unblocked and running at him practically full speed.

Romo landed on the shoulder and remained flat on his back until being helped by trainers. He was taken into the locker room for X-rays and replaced by backup Kitna.

Kitna hadn’t played since Oct. 5, 2008, when he was part of Detroit’s winless season.