After 5-1 start, Tony Romo, others see Dallas Cowboys as ‘legit Super Bowl contender’

The Dallas Cowboys are 5-1 as they hit their bye week and the fast start as many “experts” around the league talking Super Bowl run.

They include former Cowboys quarterbacks Tony Romo and Troy Aikman. Romo, who called the Cowboys’ 35-29 overtime win over the New England Patriots on Sunday on CBS, made the claim multiple times during the broadcast, including at the start and then again after Dak Prescott’s 35-yard, game-winning touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb. Romo credited the Cowboys’ front office, including team owner and general manager Jerry Jones and team vice president Stephen Jones, among others, for building a championship-level roster.

“They’ve built a team that can win the whole thing,” Romo said.

Romo’s CBS booth partner Jim Nantz feels the same way. “Yep, they are a legit Super Bowl contender,” Nantz said.

Even the Cowboys current players are being asked about their Super Bowl potential. Amari Cooper didn’t shy away from the topic last week. “When you’re on a roll like this, you start thinking about a Super Bowl,” he said.

Aikman, the Hall of Famer who won the last three Super Bowls for the franchise in the 1990s, has been high on the Cowboys for several weeks either while doing their games on FOX or during his weekly radio show on KTCK/1310 AM “The Ticket.”

Romo said it’s the Cowboys’ ability to create turnovers that sets them apart so far in 2021.

“When I look at this team, the Cowboys aren’t taking a back seat to anybody,” Romo said. “They can win the Super Bowl this year because they have the ability to create turnovers, they have players like [Trevon] Diggs, a great system and they have an offense that is unstoppable.”

The Cowboys offense gained 567 total yards in Sunday’s win, the most ever allowed by Bill Belichick in his 27-year head coaching career. No team has slowed down their offense through six games. In fact, the only time the Cowboys offense has struggled, it has been because of, well, the Cowboys offense. And that was the case again in the first half against the Patriots when two turnovers in the red zone ruined a chance to pull away from New England early.

That didn’t happen and the Patriots hung around. But Diggs’ seventh interception in six games, which he returned for a touchdown appeared to have been a game-clinching play with just over two minutes remaining and a five-point Cowboys lead.

The Patriots, however, burned Diggs and safety Damontae Kazee a few plays later with a 75-yard touchdown pass to reclaim the lead. Prescott led Dallas on a 40-yard drive to set up a game-tying 49-yard Greg Zuerlein field goal.

After the Cowboys forced a punt on the Pats’ opening overtime possession, Prescott led a seven-play, 80-yard drive to win the game on the pass to Lamb.

“We can go into the bye week with a smile on our face knowing we’re a resilient team and we’re going to do whatever we can for each other,” Prescott said during a CBS broadcast post-game interview.