Inspired Romo leads Cowboys past Detroit

American Football: Tony Romo engineered a stirring second-half comeback to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a nail-biting 24-20 NFC wildcard win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday and a trip back to the divisional round to meet the Green Bay Packers.

With a post-season record of 1-3 and haunted by a reputation as a big-game flop, Romo withstood a ferociousLions defence, tossing a pair of touchdown passes to Terrance Williams, including an eight-yard strike with 2:32 remaining to give Dallas their first play-off win since the 2009 season.

“You just have to stay in the moment and understand the game, it doesn’t end after the first quarter or second quarter, it’s a long way to go,” said Romo.

“It wasn’t going well... you just have to stay calm, I’ve played enough games to understand that. I think I didn’t do that as well when I was younger.”

After an 11-5 regular season, it was more post-season disappointment for the Lions, without a playoff game since January 1992, losing seven wildcard contests. Romo, sacked six times by Detroit’s top ranked defence, would not be kept down, completing 19 of 31 passes for 293 yards while DeMarco Murray, the NFL’s leading rusher, ran for 75 yards and a touchdown.