ARLINGTON, Texas -- While Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt focused on his frustrations, down the hall in a Cowboys news conference room, Tony Romo heaped praise upon Watt and the entire Texans defense.
The Texans made things uncomfortable for Romo, and on Sunday he was unusually effective when they did in Dallas' 20-17 overtime win.
Consider: In the Cowboys' first four games, Romo had only completed seven of 18 passes under duress, while on Sunday he completed 6 of 7, according to ESPN Stats & Info. He threw for 122 yards and a touchdown under those conditions.
Despite his solid play, Romo praised the Texans' defensive effort, which resulted in two forced turnovers (the third came from special teams), a sack and four quarterback hits.
"That was an outstanding defensive unit that we went against today," he said. "Probably the best I have seen this year, and we were going to expose them a little bit down the field, but we just did not have time during the game to get to that."
He did once, on a play during which Watt came at him free and safety Danieal Manning followed shortly after. That play resulted in a 43-yard touchdown pass, much to Watt's chagrin, but Romo remembered the labor it required. And he made sure everyone knew the Cowboys didn't neutralize Watt.
"He still made a difference," Romo said. "I don't know if it was him every time, but they were better than they probably looked. A lot of times I will just wait something out because it will look like a better play. This one you had to get rid of the ball. Against these guys, you didn't have time to wait on these third and fourth options."
