Dallas' worst nightmare just happened: Tony Romo went down with what appeared to be a rib injury and left the game. Kyle Orton begin warming up as NBC cameras panned between the sidelines and Jerry Jones' booth where the owner appeared to be in more pain than his quarterback.
Fortunately for the Cowboys they caught a big break: Romo simply had "the wind knocked out of him" according to Cowboys officials at the game.
Mathias Kiwanuka and Justin Trattou smashed into Romo at the same time as he was throwing the ball, driving him to the ground where Romo writhed in pain for quite some time before trainers came out to examine him.
Romo was helped off the field and went to the sideline clearly grimacing in pain. Jones sat in his booth with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie staring at the field in disbelief.
Chris Christie is VERY CONCERNED about Tony Romo. pic.twitter.com/e5rJsuxWhM
— Erik Malinowski (@erikmal) September 9, 2013
Orton played the only snap before the Cowboys punted and went into the locker room for halftime. One would assume we'll know about Romo at some point during halftime or shortly before the Cowboys return to the field.
The good news is he didn't sprint back to the locker room for X-rays so it's possible he's not as bad off as the hit would indicate.