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Damned Tony Romo
By Chris Arnold | 105.3 The Fan
October 9, 2013 11:20 AM
ARLINGTON (105.3 THE FAN) – Men lie. Women lie. Numbers don’t lie. And if you can’t handle the truth about Tony Romo, stop reading right now.
Damned Tony Romo! Because he’s the quarterback for America’s Team, where Jerry Jones sets the bar at “Super Bowl or bust” every season. Romo is damned if he does or damned if he doesn’t.
His incredible performance this season against the Denver Broncos, a Cowboys franchise record 506 yards passing and 5 touchdowns, included a game changing interception. Damn! It seemed to be a microcosm of his career! It had Romo haters screaming “Choke Artist!” from coast to coast. And it had Romo supporters arguing it was the Cowboys’ defense that cost them a 51-48 defeat at the hands of the best quarterback in the game today, Peyton Manning.
Damn! Romo can’t win the perception game. If Romo had led his team to the game winning field goal, would Denver fans be roasting Manning or ripping their own defense for giving up half a hundred points to Dallas?
Perception sucks. And the perception is, Romo can’t win a big game and cannot bring a team back from behind in the 4th quarter. This perception is the Big Lie. Romo has done all of those things and more, at a higher rate than some of the best quarterbacks in the league. They get a pass on their failures, some because their teams have won Super Bowls or playoff games, or some because most of their failures weren’t televised to the majority of the country each week. Romo does not have the rings, but that does Not mean he’s a Choke Artist. He’s actually one of the most clutch quarterbacks in the NFL today. WTF?
The problem is this, Romo is held to a ridiculously high standard that no other quarterback is held to. Nothing short of a Super Bowl MVP season would make detractors realize Romo is a very good quarterback on a not so good team. The bottom line is Romo can never be a Super Bowl MVP without a better team around him. Period.
Romo is clutch? Don’t worry, I can prove it. The numbers don’t lie. What made me dig deep and research this was the fact that Romo has the highest 4th quarter quarterback rating of any quarterback since the year 2000. 100.7 going into this season. Yes, higher than Manning, Brady & Rodgers. So how could he own that lofty rating if he was a bonified choke artist? It seemed impossible to me. He couldn’t possibly be both.
For “Next Level Analysis”, let’s check the numbers:
We know Romo isn’t a bus driver. He has thrown for over 300 yards a total of 41 times and has 51 games with a passer rating over 100.0 (minimum 15 attempts). His 7.94 yards per attempt is the seventh highest in NFL history. He’s not conservative.
Romo has seven straight seasons with a passer rating of at least 90.0 (minimum 200 attempts). Only Steve Young (1991-98) and Peyton Manning (2003-10) have ever done that. Romo’s 95.6 passer rating is fifth all time.
In the only season Romo had a top 10 defense (2009), he won a playoff game. Coincidence? Hmm… Maybe he needs a better team around him? He’s historically productive, efficient, wins more than he loses and he has the rare skills to buy time in the pocket and make big plays. Oh, but that still doesn’t satisfy the doubters who say Romo has never “carried or lifted” a team to clutch victories like the great quarterbacks are supposed to do. No one it seems, can remember the last time Romo brought the Cowboys from behind to win a game. Are you kidding me?
Tony Romo has the franchise record for most come from behind victories with 18. Yep, more than Aikman, Staubach and Meredith. Still not good enough, huh? How about this fact: Romo has the 2nd most 4th quarter comeback wins in the NFL since 2011 with 9! Only Eli Manning had more with 10. You want more? Romo has 9 game-winning drives (3rd behind Eli’s 11 and Matt Ryan’s 10) since 2011.
While many bash Romo for choking, it’s amazing how they can’t seem to remember the last time Romo had a 4th quarter comeback victory! They only vaguely remember the 2011 overtime win in San Francisco with Romo playing with a punctured lung. How quickly the experts forget that last season Romo set a Cowboys franchise record with FIVE comeback wins for a season!
In fact, Romo became the first quarterback in team history to lead 3 consecutive comebacks and game-winning drives in Weeks 13-15. The 9-point comeback Romo led in Cincinnati was the only time the Bengals allowed 20 points in their final nine games. He followed that up with a 14-point comeback in the final 4:45 to force overtime with New Orleans before going on to lose 34-31. But all everyone remembers is the last game against the Redskins and his last pick.
Like clockwork, Romo had one of his worst moments when the Nielsen ratings were at their highest. His interception late in the fourth quarter with Dallas trailing 21-18 was a killer. All the hard work put in, all the successful drives wasted with one snap. And like that, Romo further securing his ridiculous national choker status.That’s Romo’s problem. He’s good enough, often great even, to put Dallas in positions to do something, but it just seems like the errors come when everyone in the nation’s watching.
Nobody cares that the Cowboys started last season 3-5, that Romo led the Cowboys from a 23-0 deficit to the Giants, only to lose the greatest comeback win in team history by the size of Dez Bryant’s fingers. Or that they lost on the final play of the game against eventual champion Baltimore on a missed Dan Bailey field goal 31-29. Those games, like the Denver game this season, do nothing to boost Romo’s reputation because they are all losses.
So let’s compare. Does Romo fail more in the clutch than some of the biggest names in the game today? The numbers say Romo IS clutch, and in some cases even more clutch than those with gaudy reputations.
Romo’s clutch track record is too good to only remember the bad plays. His records at comebacks and game-winning drive opportunities put him right there, compared to reputation, with today’s current top quarterbacks, especially the likes of Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers.
Let’s take a “Next Level Analysis” look at Romo in the clutch. Tony Romo has 19 career game wining drives since he became a starting quarterback. Looking deeper, he has 10 turnovers in 27 games that the game winning drive failed. Sounds like a choke huh? Welp, let’s look at Phillip Rivers who also became a starter in 2006. Rivers has 22 turnovers in 36 game winning drive failures. That’s 10 vs 22! Also, Rivers was 2-19 in game winning drives going into this season. Who’s the better quarterback?
It’s no different for Aaron Rogers and Drew Brees, who each won a Super Bowl when their defense stepped up with several critical takeaways and stops during the postseason. (Peyton Manning & Eli Manning too, but we’ll leave them out of this one)
The national media and pro football fans ignore the fact that Rogers is an amazing 0-18 in 4th quarter comebacks against teams that are .500 or better in his career! They ignore that Drew Brees has only made the playoffs 5 times in 12 years and has 20 turnovers in clutch drive ending losses (compared to Romo’s 10). Those quarterbacks get the pass because they have a ring. Rivers? His reputation as being clutch is fiction.
No one’s trying to put Romo in the Hall of Fame or on the same pedestal as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, but the facts remain that he’s very good and gets held to one of the more ridiculous standards in the league. There are other quarterbacks blowing games more often than Romo, and there aren’t as many giving their team a chance to win as Romo. Yet Romo, who delivers more times in the clutch than many others, is considered a choke artist.
In a league that savors top picks at quarterback, we should be celebrating Romo as one of the best undrafted quarterbacks in NFL history. His success story should be something for all kids who dream of possibly making it in the NFL one day. Instead he gets held to all or nothing standards. Why do we hold Romo to a higher standard than most quarterbacks who are drafted in the first round? It must be a Cowboys bias. I shake my head.
So to come full circle. Men lie. Women lie. Even media and fans lie. Numbers don’t lie. Tony Romo is one of the most clutch quarterbacks in the NFL today, and with a better team around him he could get a Super Bowl ring and maybe his true reputation will be celebrated. Until then, perception continues to distort reality. Damn.
By Chris Arnold | 105.3 The Fan
October 9, 2013 11:20 AM
ARLINGTON (105.3 THE FAN) – Men lie. Women lie. Numbers don’t lie. And if you can’t handle the truth about Tony Romo, stop reading right now.
Damned Tony Romo! Because he’s the quarterback for America’s Team, where Jerry Jones sets the bar at “Super Bowl or bust” every season. Romo is damned if he does or damned if he doesn’t.
His incredible performance this season against the Denver Broncos, a Cowboys franchise record 506 yards passing and 5 touchdowns, included a game changing interception. Damn! It seemed to be a microcosm of his career! It had Romo haters screaming “Choke Artist!” from coast to coast. And it had Romo supporters arguing it was the Cowboys’ defense that cost them a 51-48 defeat at the hands of the best quarterback in the game today, Peyton Manning.
Damn! Romo can’t win the perception game. If Romo had led his team to the game winning field goal, would Denver fans be roasting Manning or ripping their own defense for giving up half a hundred points to Dallas?
Perception sucks. And the perception is, Romo can’t win a big game and cannot bring a team back from behind in the 4th quarter. This perception is the Big Lie. Romo has done all of those things and more, at a higher rate than some of the best quarterbacks in the league. They get a pass on their failures, some because their teams have won Super Bowls or playoff games, or some because most of their failures weren’t televised to the majority of the country each week. Romo does not have the rings, but that does Not mean he’s a Choke Artist. He’s actually one of the most clutch quarterbacks in the NFL today. WTF?
The problem is this, Romo is held to a ridiculously high standard that no other quarterback is held to. Nothing short of a Super Bowl MVP season would make detractors realize Romo is a very good quarterback on a not so good team. The bottom line is Romo can never be a Super Bowl MVP without a better team around him. Period.
Romo is clutch? Don’t worry, I can prove it. The numbers don’t lie. What made me dig deep and research this was the fact that Romo has the highest 4th quarter quarterback rating of any quarterback since the year 2000. 100.7 going into this season. Yes, higher than Manning, Brady & Rodgers. So how could he own that lofty rating if he was a bonified choke artist? It seemed impossible to me. He couldn’t possibly be both.
For “Next Level Analysis”, let’s check the numbers:
We know Romo isn’t a bus driver. He has thrown for over 300 yards a total of 41 times and has 51 games with a passer rating over 100.0 (minimum 15 attempts). His 7.94 yards per attempt is the seventh highest in NFL history. He’s not conservative.
Romo has seven straight seasons with a passer rating of at least 90.0 (minimum 200 attempts). Only Steve Young (1991-98) and Peyton Manning (2003-10) have ever done that. Romo’s 95.6 passer rating is fifth all time.
In the only season Romo had a top 10 defense (2009), he won a playoff game. Coincidence? Hmm… Maybe he needs a better team around him? He’s historically productive, efficient, wins more than he loses and he has the rare skills to buy time in the pocket and make big plays. Oh, but that still doesn’t satisfy the doubters who say Romo has never “carried or lifted” a team to clutch victories like the great quarterbacks are supposed to do. No one it seems, can remember the last time Romo brought the Cowboys from behind to win a game. Are you kidding me?
Tony Romo has the franchise record for most come from behind victories with 18. Yep, more than Aikman, Staubach and Meredith. Still not good enough, huh? How about this fact: Romo has the 2nd most 4th quarter comeback wins in the NFL since 2011 with 9! Only Eli Manning had more with 10. You want more? Romo has 9 game-winning drives (3rd behind Eli’s 11 and Matt Ryan’s 10) since 2011.
While many bash Romo for choking, it’s amazing how they can’t seem to remember the last time Romo had a 4th quarter comeback victory! They only vaguely remember the 2011 overtime win in San Francisco with Romo playing with a punctured lung. How quickly the experts forget that last season Romo set a Cowboys franchise record with FIVE comeback wins for a season!
In fact, Romo became the first quarterback in team history to lead 3 consecutive comebacks and game-winning drives in Weeks 13-15. The 9-point comeback Romo led in Cincinnati was the only time the Bengals allowed 20 points in their final nine games. He followed that up with a 14-point comeback in the final 4:45 to force overtime with New Orleans before going on to lose 34-31. But all everyone remembers is the last game against the Redskins and his last pick.
Like clockwork, Romo had one of his worst moments when the Nielsen ratings were at their highest. His interception late in the fourth quarter with Dallas trailing 21-18 was a killer. All the hard work put in, all the successful drives wasted with one snap. And like that, Romo further securing his ridiculous national choker status.That’s Romo’s problem. He’s good enough, often great even, to put Dallas in positions to do something, but it just seems like the errors come when everyone in the nation’s watching.
Nobody cares that the Cowboys started last season 3-5, that Romo led the Cowboys from a 23-0 deficit to the Giants, only to lose the greatest comeback win in team history by the size of Dez Bryant’s fingers. Or that they lost on the final play of the game against eventual champion Baltimore on a missed Dan Bailey field goal 31-29. Those games, like the Denver game this season, do nothing to boost Romo’s reputation because they are all losses.
So let’s compare. Does Romo fail more in the clutch than some of the biggest names in the game today? The numbers say Romo IS clutch, and in some cases even more clutch than those with gaudy reputations.
Romo’s clutch track record is too good to only remember the bad plays. His records at comebacks and game-winning drive opportunities put him right there, compared to reputation, with today’s current top quarterbacks, especially the likes of Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers.
Let’s take a “Next Level Analysis” look at Romo in the clutch. Tony Romo has 19 career game wining drives since he became a starting quarterback. Looking deeper, he has 10 turnovers in 27 games that the game winning drive failed. Sounds like a choke huh? Welp, let’s look at Phillip Rivers who also became a starter in 2006. Rivers has 22 turnovers in 36 game winning drive failures. That’s 10 vs 22! Also, Rivers was 2-19 in game winning drives going into this season. Who’s the better quarterback?
It’s no different for Aaron Rogers and Drew Brees, who each won a Super Bowl when their defense stepped up with several critical takeaways and stops during the postseason. (Peyton Manning & Eli Manning too, but we’ll leave them out of this one)
The national media and pro football fans ignore the fact that Rogers is an amazing 0-18 in 4th quarter comebacks against teams that are .500 or better in his career! They ignore that Drew Brees has only made the playoffs 5 times in 12 years and has 20 turnovers in clutch drive ending losses (compared to Romo’s 10). Those quarterbacks get the pass because they have a ring. Rivers? His reputation as being clutch is fiction.
No one’s trying to put Romo in the Hall of Fame or on the same pedestal as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, but the facts remain that he’s very good and gets held to one of the more ridiculous standards in the league. There are other quarterbacks blowing games more often than Romo, and there aren’t as many giving their team a chance to win as Romo. Yet Romo, who delivers more times in the clutch than many others, is considered a choke artist.
In a league that savors top picks at quarterback, we should be celebrating Romo as one of the best undrafted quarterbacks in NFL history. His success story should be something for all kids who dream of possibly making it in the NFL one day. Instead he gets held to all or nothing standards. Why do we hold Romo to a higher standard than most quarterbacks who are drafted in the first round? It must be a Cowboys bias. I shake my head.
So to come full circle. Men lie. Women lie. Even media and fans lie. Numbers don’t lie. Tony Romo is one of the most clutch quarterbacks in the NFL today, and with a better team around him he could get a Super Bowl ring and maybe his true reputation will be celebrated. Until then, perception continues to distort reality. Damn.
