Defending Romo

[peplaw06]

Worse, he's 34 and has a sketchy back. Be afraid.

Now that's a different discussion. I'm worried about that back and I don't expect great things from here on out. I don't think there's many on the fence about him, but it would but it would be a shame to have people holding what is to come against him. If he overcomes this and is great again, it will be another overachievement. But the die is pretty much cast that he won't win a title here... not gonna happen in the next two seasons with this defense.

 

[boozeman]

Yeah, Romo is a victim of the circumstances here. Jerry fell in love with explosive offense when Romo got here, probably having something to do with how shitty the offense was for the previous 10 years. I don't know how vocal Romo has been about fixing the defense, and that may be something to criticize him for. Then again, I don't know how much Jerry would have listened. After Jerry signs Romo to the big deal last offseason and then brings him in to the draft to help scout and/or approve the Escobar and Williams picks. GTFO with that shit.

Unless a QB is elite like Brady or Manning, I see no reason to treat them like it.

Not Romo's fault that Jones is a delusional idiot. But I do think he has yet to recognize what he needs, which is a toned down offense where he is not expected to be the supreme focal point and a defense which gives the team a chance to win even if he has a rough outing. I would think if he went up to Jones and expressed his frustration at being "close" every year, he'd get what he wanted. But I don't think he does.

Jones is an eternal optimist and Romo has Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" playing on a loop in his head.

 

[bbgun]

Romo is missing crucial mental bits that separate the great from the really good. There are times where I see a QB who came from nothing, the underdog who hit the pinnacle and I almost want to say that he would feel okay if his career ended today. Sorry, it that is "hating", but just an impression.

He's a more talented Dave Krieg or Jeff Garcia: two try-hard guys who could only get their teams so far.

Think of Tony as the hot girl in this Seinfeld scene. Tony's admirers can see no flaws, whereas everyone else instinctively realizes that he's a loser.

[video=youtube;9E0DQBYnLyo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E0DQBYnLyo&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[Iamtdg]

So the Romo bashers are bbgun, doomsday, dbair, the world

and the Romo apologists are myself, Sheik, pep, junk, Middie, MB4, and everlasting

Who am I forgetting?

I'm kind of in the middle, but if I just had to choose a side it would be with the apologists.

 

[jeebus]

The problem with romo is 1. They took his reservation away. 2. He plays for the Jerry Dallas cowboys Jones.

He is a flawed player. He also was consistently a top 5 NFL QB. He is both those things.

All of that adds up to a player that has only won a single playoff game. If tony didn't have his flaws, would we have won more? Yes

But instead of saying top 5 qb play is not good enough, Dallas must have flawless production from that position to succeed; wouldn't it make more sense to expect a competent GM and headcoach to hide, minimize, and protect those flaws?

There are two ways to fix the problem, one comes to 2-3 teams a decade while the other is one family extinction away.

 

[Doomsday]

Wow, great debate guys. Everyone making some excellent points.

 

[dbair1967]

So the Romo bashers are bbgun, doomsday, dbair, the world

and the Romo apologists are myself, Sheik, pep, junk, Middie, MB4, and everlasting

Who am I forgetting?

I actually don't consider myself a "Romo basher"

I like Romo. Considering he was a UDFA he has been a major win for us with how he panned out as a player. Most UDFA don't become year over year starters, let along pro bowl or borderline probowl caliber QB's.

I'm a Romo realist. He is a good player, at times he plays at an extremely high level. But he also has tremendous swings not just on a week to week basis, but sometimes during a game itself. The fact of the matter is he has pretty much performed poorly in those "win or go home" type games, whether it was a playoff game itself or a season ending game to get us in to the playoffs. I don't think he is a championship QB, and coming off two back surgeries I think it is unrealistic to expect he is going to be better now than he was from 2006-2012. I also think a forward thinking franchise would have summized that trading Romo at the height of his value instead of signing him to the potentially cap crippling deal like we just did (especially w/o even giving the guy another physical) when we had basically won nothing with him was more prudent. SF got two 2nd rd picks for Alex freaking Smith. I think we would have gotten at least that (and most likely more) and we wouldn't have been tattooed to a QB with two involved back surgeries in two yrs and a mega contract.

That said, I will cheer for the guy as long as he is here. I hope he has a great season.

 

[cmd34]

Starting QB's in the NFL:
Buffalo - 1st round pick
Miami - 1st round pick
New England - 6th round pick
NY Jets - 1st round pick or 2nd round pick
Baltimore - 1st round pick
Cincinnati - 2nd round pick
Cleveland - 1st round pick most likely or UDFA (Hoyer)
Pittsburgh - 1st round pick
Houston - 7th round pick
Indianapolis - 1st round pick
Jacksonville - 2nd round pick or 1st round pick
Tennessee - 1st round pick
Denver - 1st round pick
Kansas City - 1st round pick
Oakland - 3rd round pick
San Diego - 1st round pick
Dallas - UDFA
NY Giants - 1st round pick
Philadelphia - 3rd round pick
Washington - 1st round pick
Chicago - 1st round pick
Detroit - 1st round pick
Green Bay - 1st round pick
Minnesota - 7th round pick or 1st round pick or 1st round pick
Atlanta - 1st round pick
Carolina - 1st round pick
New Orleans - 2nd round pick
Tampa Bay - 3rd round pick or 3rd round pick
Arizona - 1st round pick
St. Louis - 1st round pick
San Francisco - 2nd round pick
Seattle - 3rd round pick

I think in the last 15 years no team has invested less draft picks than the Cowboys in finding their next QB.
Anthony Wright 1999 UDFA
Clint Stoerner 2000 UDFA
Quincy Carter 2001 2nd round pick (incredible reach at the time)
Ryan Leaf 2001 signed after disastrous career in San Diego
Chad Hutchinson 2002 signed after baseball career
Tony Romo UDFA 2003
Vinny Testaverde signed in 2004 at age 39
Drew Henson traded 2005 3rd for him after baseball career
Drew Bledsoe signed in 2005 (by Bill Parcells)
Stephen McGee 2009 4th round pick (benched his senior year)

I see a lot of short cuts on that list.

 

[Iamtdg]

That is some depressing shit, cmd. Thank you for that. I mean, I already knew all of that, but reading it typed out like that in succession is brutal.

 

[bbgun]

dbair is a rare breed: a homer who doesn't care for Tony

 

[Doomsday]

Starting QB's in the NFL:
Buffalo - 1st round pick
Miami - 1st round pick
New England - 6th round pick
NY Jets - 1st round pick or 2nd round pick
Baltimore - 1st round pick
Cincinnati - 2nd round pick
Cleveland - 1st round pick most likely or UDFA (Hoyer)
Pittsburgh - 1st round pick
Houston - 7th round pick
Indianapolis - 1st round pick
Jacksonville - 2nd round pick or 1st round pick
Tennessee - 1st round pick
Denver - 1st round pick
Kansas City - 1st round pick
Oakland - 3rd round pick
San Diego - 1st round pick
Dallas - UDFA
NY Giants - 1st round pick
Philadelphia - 3rd round pick
Washington - 1st round pick
Chicago - 1st round pick
Detroit - 1st round pick
Green Bay - 1st round pick
Minnesota - 7th round pick or 1st round pick or 1st round pick
Atlanta - 1st round pick
Carolina - 1st round pick
New Orleans - 2nd round pick
Tampa Bay - 3rd round pick or 3rd round pick
Arizona - 1st round pick
St. Louis - 1st round pick
San Francisco - 2nd round pick
Seattle - 3rd round pick

I think in the last 15 years no team has invested less draft picks than the Cowboys in finding their next QB.
Anthony Wright 1999 UDFA
Clint Stoerner 2000 UDFA
Quincy Carter 2001 2nd round pick (incredible reach at the time)
Ryan Leaf 2001 signed after disastrous career in San Diego
Chad Hutchinson 2002 signed after baseball career
Tony Romo UDFA 2003
Vinny Testaverde signed in 2004 at age 39
Drew Henson traded 2005 3rd for him after baseball career
Drew Bledsoe signed in 2005 (by Bill Parcells)
Stephen McGee 2009 4th round pick (benched his senior year)

I see a lot of short cuts on that list.

That's a amazing stat, and a dismal one for Dallas.

 

[SixisBetter]

Statistics aside,Jerry thinks he got the next Kurt Warner(UFA),when the reality is he got the next Jay Fielder(UFA).

 

[junk]

This thread really took off. Lots of interesting discussion.

I'll echo and add to a couple of points in this thread.

You can win with him. Or you could have.....the window may have passed. However, he needs someone riding his ass and he needs an offense where he isn't expected to make everything happen. Get a solid running game and manage him because he does need to be managed. Don't let him audible into a pass whenever he wants. I'd think you'd see some of those crippling errors go away if you did that.

However, Garrett/Wilson aren't those types of coaches. Jerry is a huge enabler. And, those guys (Garrett and Jones), in my opinion, are the biggest issues with the franchise right now.

 

[Sheik]

I think the run game is there. You just have to commit to it. I think you see this team win 2-3 more games last year if running was more of priority with a lead.

Thats saying a lot with the way the defense played. The Greenbay game, the Detroit game. Both games would have been won by Dallas if Garrett calls the have like he had a lead, instead of calling it like he was 2 scores down in the second half.

 

[Doomsday]

the Detroit game

I just did a little breakdown of that, in the marinelli thread. We collect five turnovers and get zero points off them. And lose by one.

 

[Doomsday]

if Garrett calls the game like he had a lead, instead of calling it like he was 2 scores down in the second half.

I do believe garrett gets enamored with things he sees on film, calling the plays accordingly even when it's already been demonstrated they've either adjusted or aren't giving him the advantages, the matchups, he thought he was going to have. He is way too slow to junk the game plan and adjust for circumstances.

 

[Sheik]

I just did a little breakdown of that, in the marinelli thread. We collect five turnovers and get zero points off them. And lose by one.

Everyone knew Detroit was going to go down and score. That's what the defense does. The offense goes to the sideline with a 6 point lead, the defense just has to keep them out of the endzone.

We all know how that story ends.

And I see your point, why couldn't the offense have scored just once off of the 5 turnovers. At the end, no matter what happened all game, the defense was steamrolled. Worst display of resistance I've seen in a while. And if I remember right, the whole 4th qtr was like that, at least late. Calvin Johnson was allowed to do whatever he wanted.

 

[boozeman]

However, Garrett/Wilson aren't those types of coaches. Jerry is a huge enabler. And, those guys (Garrett and Jones), in my opinion, are the biggest issues with the franchise right now.

They absolutely are. Romo is a player and he goes as he is guided. Nobody has held him to task since Parcells and David Lee walked out of the building.

 

[boozeman]

Statistics aside,Jerry thinks he got the next Kurt Warner(UFA),when the reality is he got the next Jay Fielder(UFA).

He's better than Jay Fiedler. That comment barely deserves acknowledgement. If you go with Warner, I get it.

 

[SixisBetter]

He's better than Jay Fiedler.

Sure,no arguement there.
But Fielder had a winning record in all but his last season in Miami.
Fielder's record in the playoffs was 1-2.
Sound familar?