The Dallas Cowboys have made a flurry of off season moves this year with hopes of changing not only the perception of the team, but also getting back to playing winning football. All of these aspirations are now in the hands of one person, and JJ is not who I am referencing! You got it, One Tony Romo is now in control of this franchise. Now I realize that there is only so much one man can do, but the problem is that Cowboy fans, in my opinion, are beginning to lose confidence in Mr. Romo.
Now I am a fan of Tony, but I’m growing tired of defending him, it is time for him to step up! There is one question however that keeps burning through my mind about him; Is Tony Romo’s on the field performance equal to those of his peers (QBs with the same number of starts), and even his predecessors (former QBs at this point in their career’s)? The reason I keep coming back to this question is simple. Do I and we know what we are talking about when we say things like “he is not a winner”? Because if he is on course with his peers, and predecessors, well then we need to just shut up! So let’s do some digging and see if we can find something one way or the other to hang our hats on.
I am going to put up a table for you all to look at. This table will consist of several quarterbacks both current and former quarterbacks. I will be excluding the names of the players for now. If you would all look at the table, and answer the following question for me. In this list there are two Hall of Fame players, another three that will be, and four that are very strong players, one of these is Tony Romo, which one is he?
| Which one is Tony Romo? Can you tell? | |||||||
| Player | Win | Loss | Comp% | Yards | TD | Int | Rate |
| Player A | 29 | 19 | 55.50% | 10,342 | 71 | 55 | 75.6 |
| Player B | 34 | 12 | 62.10% | 10,227 | 69 | 38 | 86 |
| Player C | 26 | 22 | 60.40% | 12,287 | 85 | 58 | 85.5 |
| Player D | 14 | 24 | 58.60% | 7,082 | 31 | 46 | 69.6 |
| Player E | 27 | 12 | 63.60% | 10,562 | 81 | 46 | 94.7 |
| Player F | 26 | 15 | 63.30% | 10,088 | 62 | 35 | 90.3 |
| Player G | 33 | 15 | 62.40% | 10,549 | 77 | 35 | 93.3 |
| Player H | 29 | 11 | 62.90% | 8,519 | 52 | 43 | 90.7 |
| Player I | 26 | 19 | 62.4% | 10,412 | 70 | 51 | 82.7 |
Did anyone say Player “F”? It’s ok if you did, but you would be very, very, very wrong! How about player “I”? Nope not him either! If you will look at the next table you will see which one was Tony!
| QB Statistics over First 3 seasons started | |||||||
| Player | Win | Loss | Comp% | Yards | TD | Int | Rate |
| Eli Manning | 29 | 19 | 55.50% | 10,342 | 71 | 55 | 75.6 |
| Tom Brady | 34 | 12 | 62.10% | 10,227 | 69 | 38 | 86 |
| Peyton Manning | 26 | 22 | 60.40% | 12,287 | 85 | 58 | 85.5 |
| Troy Aikman | 14 | 24 | 58.60% | 7,082 | 31 | 46 | 69.6 |
| Tony Romo | 27 | 12 | 63.60% | 10,562 | 81 | 46 | 94.7 |
| Joe Montana | 26 | 15 | 63.30% | 10,088 | 62 | 35 | 90.3 |
| Philip Rivers | 33 | 15 | 62.40% | 10,549 | 77 | 35 | 93.3 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 29 | 11 | 62.90% | 8,519 | 52 | 43 | 90.7 |
| Brett Favre | 26 | 19 | 62.4% | 10,412 | 70 | 51 | 82.7 |
Now, so that we are all on the same page here, I am trying to say that Romo is going to be or is as good as players like Montana, and Manning, what I am saying is that you have got to look at everything before you follow some of the things that the media wants you to believe! In doing this research I found some pretty interesting things! First, with everyone of these guys I found that they all had very good sophomore seasons, as the starter. Their Junior campaign almost all had a slight drop in production. Secondly, there fourth year as the starter saw all of them have as good, and in some cases a record year. The naysayers will say that “you can manipulate numbers however you see fit” and to an extent they would be correct. These are the things we can actually see, however we cannot see the small things that they do to become the leaders we say they are.
The moral of this story is this; Players in this league are judged by wins and losses, no one more so than the QB position. Tony has not won a playoff game YET! So therefore he is a loser. This is the budding perception, and until this team wins a playoff game that tag will not be removed. At the same token though, he cannot do it alone. Be Careful for what you ask for! I hear all the time that this team needs to find Tony’s replacement, why? You show me a better QB in the league! and do not come at me with that “but he has not won anything” crap! Eli Manning won a Super Bowl! Do you think he is better? I sure as hell don’t! One lucky catch does not make you a leader and a winner in my book!
Brilliant my friend…. sheer brilliance. The argument is undying, people will never release their fixation on Romo’s inability to produce in his 3rd season. I’m with you, the numbers do the talking, and he’s not the only quarterback to go 3 seasons without a playoff victory in 3 seasons. Who else? See the great Peyton Manning, maybe everyone will calm down now…
Thank you for the kind words. I have been growing very tired of the whole Romo bashing! I did this article not so much to clear Tony of critizism but to make sure I was not looking thru rose colored glasses. I must say I had no idea of how good his numbers were compared to those Hall of Famers!
you could not be anymore right about romo he is still growing in the nfl and i expect him to do great things in his career and will finally bring the lombardi trophy back to dallas …. wouldnt it be great if they made it in 2010 in their own stadium!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! although i wouldnt complain if it was this year. anyway i always tell the eagles fans that the c owboys will win ANOTHER superbowl before they do ha ha go boys’ in the next couple of years they will join stillers as the only six time champs
oh my mistake the eagles never won a superbowl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to bad.
Very well written, Bryson. Good article. The numbers don’t lie, but he had other issues last year that don’t translate into numbers. He has to step up as a leader.
He can’t sit on the bench and pout like a 4 yr old when things aren’t going his way. He has to get up and find solutions with his teammates. He will do this, or he will never be a truly elite QB in this league.
Hopefully, with TO gone, he will step into that role.
http://www.CowboysFanRebellion.com
Thanks Anthony! I feel your pain with having to live in a city that despises the Cowboys, I live in Houston and although I have yet to figure out why, people here cannot stand the Boys.
Umm Bryson will love that you credited him with the story, but it was myself that did the piece!
You know not everyone deals with defeat the same way! Just because the guy goes to the sidelines and looks at the photos, does not mean he is pouting! I will say this much for Romo, he takes every play personal! Maybe if the rest of the team did the same, you all would get off his back!
Come on Craig … his name is posted with the story.
Bags … Romo does pout. Sometimes he sits and looks at the game photos, but sometimes you see him there pouting. Like when he was injured, he sat on the bench just chilling out all the time that a camera was anywhere near him while the team got handed their collective asses … he could have tried to help out there since it’s his team out there losing with a backup QB.
He does take plays personally though, I can see that much. I actually believe it was pain meds making him act like he did after the Philly loss. Regardless of that though, Romo does need to step up and lead this team … quiet leaders don’t usually work well in football, especially not at the QB spot.
What’s kind of cool though, is that even though both of you are right, Craig and Bags, Romo still has put the numbers he has so far.
The problem I have is when the guy screams and yells on the field everyone says he is being a baby, but then we shuts up everyone screams for him to show emotion! Which way do you people want it. Secondly none of these guys give two craps about how close they are to a camera!
Well they should …
You’re right, and that bugs the hell out of me too. Nobody ever complained about Aikman yelling and screaming after a bad play, and he would do it when he screwed up sometimes! It was always a good thing to see the leader, the general, the driver, el capitan standing up and telling everyone to get going.
I like seeing Romo do it too.
They have football to be concerned with! To hell with that camera!
My apologies, bags. I guess I just saw the B and assumed. All props go to you.
Well put together.
But, he does pout. I don’t expect him to jump around and yell like an idiot, but I do expect him to get his ass off the bench and talk to his team. That’s what a QB does. He leads. Whether that be by example or by talking, it has to be done.
Again, he will never be an elite QB until he figures that out.
http://www.CowboysFanRebellion.com
Bags,
I wish Troy walked into a Cowboys organization with theoffensive and defensive lines Romo had in his first three years. If he had, that horrible 1-15 season would have never happened and the numbers woud be very different. Sorry but I disagree with you thesis statement…it take more than numbers to prove you are a good qb. Win a playoff game…all I need is one to change my mind about him!
I expect that Romo will improve his leadership skills this season since all of his distractions are gone from the locker room. I cannot wait until the season starts because whatever the outcome is, he will not be able to point fingers at his team mates.
Come on 610Bravo … If you want to stick by your statement then Romo already has won a playoff game. The loss to the Giants two years ago was to due to a dropped pass, bot a badly thrown pass.
What you really want is something that no quarterback can deliver consistently. Dominating, blow-out performances, and that requires a team effort to do, which does not fall on the quarterbacks shoulders.
I give you credit for bringing a viable discredit option to the table! However if you ever looked at Troy’s numbers you would see that even when the Cowboys won the freaking super bowl in ’92, ’93, and ’95 his numbers are still less that of Romo! Those TEAMS were the greatest teams ever assembled, yet his play was not as good in any of those years as Romo’s 2008 year! So give credit to Troy for being a God and discredit Tony for not having the total Team package! Can you all please make up your minds as to how you wish to judge these guys! What I get out of everyone’s statements is that if you win a playoff game then you are a leader, if you do not then you are not! How the hell does that make sense?
Bags and BT,
I am not a pie in the sky Cowboys fan, but I am realistic about what we’ve got. I do not think that Troy was GOD, just a “demigod” (LOL) and by no means was he perfect. Those SB wins, and infact those seasons, were truly a team effort…..and Troy had HUGE EGOs to deal with too! As far as asking for SB ready teams every year…… Yeah, dang right I expect the ‘Boys to go to the SB every year…and then reality sets in about week three. (LOL)
As I wrote before numbers are nice but multiple playoff wins, within the same season, would be nice. Again, I look forward to the upcoming season and expect that Romo will be happy and settled and…………..
nice opening you left there with the trailing off “and……………”
But tell you what, Romo isn’t perfect. He doesn’t consistently display leadership skills on the field. He can, and has many times, but for whatever reasons he has not been the quarterback that he can, and should, be.
But “whatever reasons” have changed a lot this off-season. He’ll have different guys in his sights as he drops back to throw, he’ll have a different perspective on things after another year and a year in which he was criticized so much. We all know that had Aikman played for the Bears instead of the Cowboys, he might not have been as good, or let’s try the Bills since they did have the talent to go with him there. He might have flopped and been benched by week 3.
So you’ve got to know and understand that every QB-WR combination means something, it’s a tangible thing that must be accounted for and when it changes? Different things will happen. But regardless of what does happen with his new team, and it is a new team that moves on without Owens, Johnson, and Williams, cannot logically be judged merely by playoff victories. In fact, he shouldn’t be judged by a team statistic at all.
Judge his numbers, judge his performance, but don’t judge one guy by the actions of many. You can’t find a right answer that way. We will find the right answer this year though … it’s time he’ll be who he should be, and hopefully that is what I see in him, hopefully he’ll be what we need in Dallas.