Despite two consecutive losses and the uneasy prospect of giving Brandon Weeden another start, the Dallas Cowboys shouldn’t bow down to pressure and give Tony Romo another two weeks of rest, which means not playing him against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the London game.

No disrespect to the 1-8 Jaguars, but if there’s an opponent that’s a good opportunity to give your often injured quarterback a break against, it’s them. Weeden should do better compared to his performance against the Cardinals, a team with the best defense in the NFL, which also made it very difficult for the Cowboys to move the chains on the ground, becoming the first to hold DeMarco Murray to under 100 yards in a game.

With Weeden behind center, maybe the Cowboys should take a page out of Weeden’s former team’s playbook. The Browns aren’t going to win games with Hoyer throwing downfield all day, so they run the ball and then do it some more. The Cowboys have an offensive line that allows that, the Jags aren’t that great against the run and it keeps Weeden out of the realm of having to make tough decisions. Keeping it short and simple for a quarterback that tends to make mistakes is a very good idea.

Jerry Jones, at least through his media words, is pressing for Romo to play. He isn’t worried about the repeated back injuries. He isn’t worried about Romo’s age or that huge extension he signed with the team. However, looking forward to this season and what comes after is exactly the reason Romo shouldn’t be playing against the Jaguars, even if it’s a risk that could drop the Cowboys to 6-4.

Out of their final six games, four are on the road: Giants, Eagles, Redskins and Bears. They also play the excellent Colts and Eagles at home. It’s much more important to have Romo healthy and rested for those games, unless the Cowboys want to increase their chances of another late season collapse and missing out on the playoffs for a fifth consecutive time.

Weeden is a tough decision to go with, but he was signed as a backup quarterback exactly for this scenario. The Cowboys don’t have “easy” games down the road except for this one against the Jags. Obviously it’s all relative, but if there’s an opportunity to rest Romo and give Weeden another start, it’s in this game.

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