Dallas Cowboys’ Tony Romo punishes Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley

After the rumours, came the rout. Before kick-off there were stories of 20 Cowboys players missing a midnight curfew after dinner at the Tower of London and the team were also said to be concerned about the off-the-field activities of the star receiver Dez Bryant. But there was nothing groggy about their performance at a chilly, squelchy Wembley as they brushed aside a toothless Jaguars team – with Bryant scoring two touchdowns and finishing with 158 yards.

The game was pretty much over by halfway, with only two late Jaguars scores making the 31-17 result appear respectable. Yet the sell-out crowd at Wembley still lapped it up. They always do. But four of the last six NFL games in London have been won by a margin of 14 points or greater. And while the enthusiasm of British fans cannot be questioned, too much more one-sided traffic and their desire to pay significant sums for American Football on chilly November nights just might.

At least the Jaguars kept trying – something that was not as apparent in last year’s appearance at Wembley, when they were crushed 42-10 by the San Francisco 49ers. They have a rookie quarterback, Blake Bortles, who has talent. And they were enthusiastic throughout their beating. But they have three significant works in progress: their offense, defense and special teams.

As their coach, Gus Bradley, admitted afterwards: “We wanted to do something special but we didn’t play as well as we wanted to. We have great enthusiasm and toughness but we had also had some self-inflicted wounds and sloppiness. That’s the frustration.”

At least the Jaguars’ win/loss record of 1-9 is not the worst in the NFL – the Oakland Raiders, who have yet to record a victory game this season, have that dubious honour.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, move to 7-3 and are back on the play-off road after a couple of recent bumps. They will also be reassured by the return of their quarterback Tony Romo, who suffered two fractured transverse process in his back against the Washington Redskins a fortnight ago. Romo showed few signs of discomfort as he completed 20 of 27 attempts, throwing for 247 yards and three touchdowns.

But pretty much all of Dallas’s offensive stars were able to shine on a night where the Jaguars’ secondary found their opponents too slippery and elusive. Running back DeMarco Murray ran for 100 yards. Bryant scored a 68-yard touchdown. And their defense gave little away until the game was done.

Yet in the early stages there were hints that the third and final NFL game at Wembley this year might develop into a contest. After the Cowboys had opened the scoring with a Dan Bailey 54-yard field goal, Jacksonville immediately responded when Denard Robinson scythed through the Dallas defense to put his team 7-3 ahead.

The Jaguars then stopped the Cowboys on their next drive – forcing them to punt – only for Ace Sanders to spill the return. And so began the slide.

Three plays later Romo found Jason Witten on a two-yard touchdown pass to put Dallas 10-7 in front. Then Bryant extended the lead when he caught a short pass from Romo and brought it 35 yards into the end zone to make it 17-7.

It quickly became evident that Jaguars offense was stuttering horribly. Little wonder the team have the second highest number of turnovers in the NFL this season.

Soon Romo connected with another long bomb to Bryant, who again shook off the attentions of the Jags’ meek secondary before running in a 65-yard touchdown to put the Cowboys 24-7 ahead at the break.

The Cowboys made the game safe early in the third quarter when Joseph Randall broke two poor tackles to run in another touchdown. From then on they were running down the clock but in the game’s final minutes the Jaguars were able to score twice: first via a holding penalty in the end zone from a Cowboy’s punt which gave them a two-point safety, then through another Robinson touchdown.

The Jaguars will be back at Wembley next year, facing the Buffalo Bills in one of three International Series Games in 2015. Whether they will be any better, however, is an open question.