Tony Romo returned from a seven-game absence to restore confidence in a deflated Dallas Cowboys team. Despite having to shake off some understandable rust, the veteran quarterback still tossed two touchdowns in a big win on the road against the Miami Dolphins in week 11. Heading into Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day showdown with the undefeated Carolina Panthers, the Cowboys were suddenly as confident as ever.

A lot can change in one week.

Romo had already buried Dallas in a likely Thanksgiving Day loss with three costly interceptions (two returned for scores), but the Cowboys would have still had a slim chance to bounce back in (or after) their week 12 game. That was made likely impossible after Romo went down with yet another shoulder injury – this time reportedly re-injured the very clavicle he had broken eight weeks earlier.

Romo exited the game immediately and was replaced by backup Matt Cassel, who was able to lead the Cowboys to their lone touchdown of the game. Speculation began that Romo was done for the rest of the year and ESPN’s Ed Werder later confirmed that was almost certainly the case. An initial X-ray was “inconclusive” but a CT Scan to be done on Friday is fully expected to rule the star passer out for the rest of the 2015 NFL season.

While X-rays on Tony Romo collarbone inconclusive and more tests scheduled tomorrow, a source told me the QB is “done for the season.”

— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) November 27, 2015

The logic is simple. If Romo sustained even the slightest of fractures in his repaired collarbone, his season would be over. Even if the injury ended up just being a bruise and Romo could potentially return in a few weeks, it would still be extremely likely that Romo is done for the year.

Why? Because Dallas is already toast. The Cowboys benefit from being in a bad division where an 8-8 season could realistically end up winning the NFC East. That being said, this latest loss dropped Dallas to just 3-8 on the year and they already probably had to run the table for even a chance at the playoffs. Now that’s exactly what they’d have to do and they’d have to get wins for at least a handful of games without their franchise quarterback. Considering they were 0-7 this year without Romo, that seems to be a tall order.

Even if Dallas has the slimmest of chances of making a run and getting Romo back, would it be worth the risk? The answer has to be no, as Dallas has had lingering questions in their running game and on defense, enough to think that even a healthy Romo couldn’t have saved them this year. That could lead to a lot of questions this off-season. One could be whether or not Dallas wants to start thinking about their future under center. Another is maybe bringing in a talented running back after letting DeMarco Murray walk. Another could be whether or not they keep the controversial Greg Hardy and whether or not they need to scrap other pieces on their defense, altogether.

The Cowboys aren’t going to win a Super Bowl this year and unless they make some big changes, they probably won’t be serious contenders in 2016, either. Losing Tony Romo isn’t the only reason why, but it certainly expedites that realization.