After the loss to Kansas City I said that something looked "off" about the Cowboys offense and Tony Romo in particular. But coming off the previous week where Romo had another bout of bruised ribs and being early in the season, I thought, "we'll just see how things go".
Then the Cowboys beat the Rams easily and scored 30 some odd points. But then last week the Cowboys lost to the Chargers and once again looked off on offense, scoring 0 points in the 2nd half.
Now readers will immediately say, it's not the offense's fault or Tony Romo's fault they lost to San Diego, because the Cowboys defense totally sucked. I agree completely. I'm not going to talk about this one particular loss, but I am focusing on how Tony Romo looks, or more specifically how he looks different.
After the Chargers loss, my wife and I were discussing the Cowboys and their plethora of problems on both offense and defense, when we began to discuss how Romo and the Offense looks different. That led us to discuss how what really looks different is how Romo plays much more conservatively compared to previous gunslinger years. He collapses before even being sacked, let alone scrambling. He throws balls away instead of trying to squeeze one in a tight spot. In fact Romo's QB rating, percentage completions, TD/INT ratio is in the top 3 or 4 in every category as compared to all the other Quarterbacks in the league. In fact one could say he looks as consistent as Alex Smith.
But there in lies the problem. Do you want Tony Romo and all of his skills to play like Alex Smith? Again, I'm not blaming Romo. If you were Romo, wouldn't you do the same? He gets criticized for throwing to many interceptions, all losses in the last 6 years have squarely been put on his shoulders. He's had a broken collar bone, he's had broken ribs, he's had a punctured lung. All of this and he gets blamed for the losses, but never really gets any of the praise for the wins. Those of us who have watched the Cowboys consistently and don't listen to the "experts" on ESPN know that the only reason the Cowboys have been 8-8 the past few season is because for every game Romo loses, he also wins twice that many because the rest of the Cowboys defense, special teams, offensive line, etc. have all sucked ever since he became the starting QB.
But what's obvious now is that Romo has said "eff" it. I'm not doing it any more. I'm not going to take a beating to my body, I'm not going to throw the costly interception trying to make something happen late in the game, I'm not going to take all of the media and fan bashing that the loss is on my shoulders for nothing. "Eff" it. I'm going to go out there, put up a QB rating of well over 100, have a completion percentage rate among the highest in the league, I'm not going to throw any INTs (unless a stupid wide receiver runs the wrong route), I'm not going to get pounded and break more bones. I'm not going to play like Romo. And you can't blame him. After the Chargers game he was able to say (without saying it verbally), loss wasn't my fault. I didn't throw any INTs, I didn't try to squeeze one in and get picked off on the last drive to lose the game, I didn't get knocked out of the game with broken ribs. Nope, the loss was the defenses fault, the loss was the Wide Receiver's fault for fumbling the ball, the loss was the play calling by the coaches. It wasn't on Romo, the loss was on the rest of the team. Of course he went to the podium and said all the politically correct things and didn't blame anyone. But the one thing he didn't have to say, was answer to questions about his play. Because his play wasn't questioned. His stats were great. At the post game press conference, the play calling was questioned, the running game was questioned, the defense was questioned, the decision to kick the 56 yard field goal was questioned, but Romo's play was not questioned. So who can blame him for becoming Alex Smith, it's a much easier road to travel both mentally and physically.
Also, I think Jason Garret has preached to Romo to be more conservative. All of this together, Romo is not Romo any longer. And again who can blame him.
However, as always this poor excuse for a team needs the real "Romo" in order to win. We have too many years of mismanagement by the GM, Jerruh Jones, to win with Romo being a bus driver.
Oddly enough, after my wife and I had this discussion, I found two articles basically demonstrating the same thing. One is from Dallascowboys.com the other from my favorite blog by Bob Sturm. Click on the links below to read their analysis which includes hard data to back up my hypothesis about Romo.
Bob Sturm decoding-callahan-week-4-san-diego.html
Dallascowboys.com Running-the-Numbers-Romo-Isnt-Throwing-Enough-Interceptions
Showing posts with label Tony Romo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tony Romo. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Cowboy Player Grades Through Week 3
John Machota at Dallas Morning News did a nice summary from Pro Football Focus which grades all NFL players... click HERE for Machota's article.
Here's the notable highlights from Cowboys Players doing well so far through Week 3.
I think Doug Free listed as the number one right tackle in the entire league is probably the most notable and unexpected. Nice to see Barry Church getting good grades after his battle with the achilles injury last year. Looks like he has come back strong.
Here's the notable highlights from Cowboys Players doing well so far through Week 3.
I think Doug Free listed as the number one right tackle in the entire league is probably the most notable and unexpected. Nice to see Barry Church getting good grades after his battle with the achilles injury last year. Looks like he has come back strong.
OFFENSE
– Of DeMarco Murray’s 175 rushing yards on Sunday, 148 of them came on runs to the left of center Travis Frederick.
– Murray is ranked the No. 2 running back in the league through three games. However, there’s a considerable gap between his 5.7 grade and Eagles running back LeSean McCoy’s 11.1 total. New Orleans’ Darren Sproles is third at 5.2.
– Murray’s grade in just the running game is 23rd best in the NFL, but his blocking grade and passing game grade are both among the league leaders.
– Murray is third in the league in yards after contact at 167, trailing only Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson (213) and Tampa Bay’s Doug Martin (170).
– Doug Free was the top-ranked offensive tackle for Week 3 and is the No. 1 tackle in the league through three weeks. PFF has Free graded as the No.1 run-blocking tackle in the NFL.
– Tony Romo had the highest QB rating for Week 3 at 137.2. He has the fifth-highest rating on the season at 103.9.
– Dez Bryant is ranked 18th among all receivers.
– Frederick had the second-highest grade of any center in Week 3.
– Against the Rams, Mackenzy Bernadeau graded out 13th among all guards, the highest of any Cowboy.
DEFENSE
– DeMarcus Ware is the third-highest graded defensive end. St. Louis’ Robert Quinn and Cincinnati’s Michael Johnson are the only two ahead of Ware.
– George Selvie is tied for fourth in the NFL with 11 QB hurries. Ware has 10.
– Sean Lee ranks 19th among middle linebackers and Bruce Carter is 21st among outside backers.
– Detroit’s Ndamukong Suh and Tennessee’s Jurrell Casey are the only defensive tackles with higher grades than Jason Hatcher.
– Barry Church is the highest graded safety in the league. His pass-coverage grade is the highest among NFL safeties. Church’s run-coverage grade is second only to Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu.
– Brandon Carr is the sixth-highest rated cornerback and Orlando Scandrick is seventh. Morris Claiborne is 88th.
– The longest pass play allowed into Scandrick’s coverage is 11 yards in 184 snaps, third-lowest in the league for a player taking at least 25 percent of his team’s snaps. There have been eight receptions made in Scandrick’s coverage area.
– J.J. Wilcox had the seventh-highest grade among safeties in Week 3, the rookie’s first game as a starter.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Same Ole Same Ole for Cowboys
The Cowboys come off a big win in an opening season game against the division rival NY Giants. The next week they play on the road against a team with a new QB in a known hostile stadium environment. Then on this road game in Week 2 the Cowboys lose. The offense sputters and the defense fails to stop the ground game of the opposition. And so begins the 50:50 season with 1 win and 1 loss. What could've been the first Cowboys 2-0 start to a season in 15 years, ends up in the mediocrity of 1-1.
Is the description above from the 2012 season or the 2013? If you answered "C" "both", you would be correct. It's like "Groundhog Day" here in the Cowboys fandom. Last year 2012, the Cowboys beat the Giants opening week only to lose to Seattle on the road the following week.
This year 2013, the Cowboys beat the Giants opening week only to go on the road in Kansas City and lose to the Chiefs.
There will be finger pointing at the coaches, play calling, lack of running game, Romo's mistakes, Wide Receiver mistakes/drops, running back fumbles, inability of defense to stop the offense when it mattered, lack of turnovers by the offense, etc, etc, etc. Does this sound familiar?
That of course is a rhetorical question, of course it sounds familiar. It is the same set of problems we, the fans, have heard every year for what seems like an eternity. If you go to Dallas Morning News, Fort-Worth Star Telegram, ESPNdallas.com or any other Cowboys based blog or sporting news site you will hear many opinions and ideas on the problems and what to do to fix them.
Lack of dept at defensive line - Every team in the parity led NFL has some areas where they are a little thin.
Dez's dropped pass - As frustrating as it can be for a person to have only one job in life, and that one job is to catch footballs, to then watch this person drop a ball placed perfectly in his hands. This happens every week on every team. Wide Receivers drop balls (ask Tom Brady). One dropped ball by Dez is not what lost the game.
Cowboys inability to run the ball and abandoning the run play calling - frustrating, but can be overcome with a good passing game in today's NFL. (once again ask Tom Brady).
Losing the turnover battle - this will happen in the NFL, some weeks you will win the turnover differential, some weeks you won't. But when you lose the turn over battle and are only 4 points behind in the 4th quarter, this no longer becomes the reason why you lost.
This brings us to the last point, inability to score Touchdowns, particularly when the Cowboys are in the Red Zone. After watching the game, this particular point and the disjointed appearance of the Cowboys offense is what stands out. In today's NFL, you have to score points and lots of them to win. And when your defense holds the opposing team to less than 20 points, you have to win the game. With Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, Jason Witten, Terrance Williams, DeMarco Murray and Tony Romo you should score more than 16 points against any defense in the NFL. This premise however is based on the assumption that each of these players are as good as they are paid accordingly. I'm afraid after watching this game and the other 64 games in the previous 4 years, there is a flaw in one of these basic assumptions.
The flawed assumption is that of Tony Romo. I know when everyone reads this line, the Romo lovers and maybe even Romo haters will say, yeah, Romo is part of the problem but he's not all of the problem. And this argument would be correct. As with all teams in this age of parity, everyone has multiple problems. But let me ask one simple question.......
If the Cowboys would've had Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, even the great Joe Flacco at the helm as QB, would the Cowboys have overcome the 2 turnover differential and the 1 point deficit and won the game?
My answer is Yes.
Of course the argument would be, well yeah of course you could win the game with future Hall of Famers Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. And that's my point exactly. Everyone wants to believe that Romo is somehow one of these elite Quarterbacks and the only reason he hasn't won was because of the coaches, the play calling, the offensive line, etc. etc. etc. But the simple and obvious fact is that he is just not that great. Is he a good quarterback? Sure. Compared to Quincy Carter he looks like the 2nd coming of Roger Staubach. But he's just not great, and not even that good. He's mediocre to good. Which sometimes is OK. There have been teams like the Baltimore Ravens led by Trent Dilfer and Tampa Bay Buccaneers led by Brad Johnson who have won Superbowls, but they won them with mediocre QBs accompanied by great defenses and great running games. But the assumption based theory that the Cowboys organization is working off of, and thereby putting the salary cap money into, is that they have a Great/Elite Quarterback in Tony Romo, and thereby by can skimp on things like Offensive and Defensive line. Yes, Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers and Patriots with Tom Brady can do that. But the Cowboys can not because they are working on a faulty assumption that Romo is that type of elite QB, and unfortunately he's not. He's is more like his pedigree suggests, a free agent from Northeastern Illinois University.
So I'm not blaming everything on Romo. I blame the faulty assumption that he is great/elite by the Cowboys front office. A lot of teams would love to have Romo, and he would probably do well with a lot of those teams because without a great Quarterback they have out of necessity built strengths in other parts of their team. Romo could move into another team with better parts and look really good, because he would be more of a compliment to the system rather than being the focal point of the entire team and expected to lead every victory.
Now on top of this faulty assumption by the Cowboys organization, they have doubled down by giving Romo a $100 Million Dollar contract, included him in the game planning as well as increasing his play calling responsibility at the line of scrimmage. So how has that worked out so far? About as good as you would expect a free agent from Northeaster Illinois to perform. Not well enough to carry the team. I don't want to sound like a defeatist, but with the money invested in Romo which destroys salary cap space and the continued faulty assumption by the Cowboys front office, the incredible "Groundhog Day" like re-runs will continue. The Cowboys will end up around 8-8, 9-7 if they are lucky or 7-9 if they are unlucky. It's not Romo's fault that he's not great, but it's the organizations fault in treating him like he is great. So for now it will continue to be the same ole Cowboys.
Is the description above from the 2012 season or the 2013? If you answered "C" "both", you would be correct. It's like "Groundhog Day" here in the Cowboys fandom. Last year 2012, the Cowboys beat the Giants opening week only to lose to Seattle on the road the following week.
This year 2013, the Cowboys beat the Giants opening week only to go on the road in Kansas City and lose to the Chiefs.
There will be finger pointing at the coaches, play calling, lack of running game, Romo's mistakes, Wide Receiver mistakes/drops, running back fumbles, inability of defense to stop the offense when it mattered, lack of turnovers by the offense, etc, etc, etc. Does this sound familiar?
That of course is a rhetorical question, of course it sounds familiar. It is the same set of problems we, the fans, have heard every year for what seems like an eternity. If you go to Dallas Morning News, Fort-Worth Star Telegram, ESPNdallas.com or any other Cowboys based blog or sporting news site you will hear many opinions and ideas on the problems and what to do to fix them.
- You will read about the lack of defensive line depth which made the defense look tired in the 4th quarter when they needed to stop the Chief's time eating running attack. That would be correct.
- You will undoubtedly read about Dez Bryants dropped pass in the 2nd half which would've been a big gainer, and maybe even a TD. That would be correct.
- You will read about the Cowboys inability to run the ball. That would be correct.
- You will read about how the coaches and offensive play calling abandoned the run in the 2nd half and went to the pass too often. That would be correct.
- You will read how the Cowboys lost the turn over battle -2, by the offense not protecting the ball (2 fumbles) and the defense not creating any turnovers. That would be correct.
- You will read how the Cowboys were ineffective in the red zone. That would be correct.
Lack of dept at defensive line - Every team in the parity led NFL has some areas where they are a little thin.
Dez's dropped pass - As frustrating as it can be for a person to have only one job in life, and that one job is to catch footballs, to then watch this person drop a ball placed perfectly in his hands. This happens every week on every team. Wide Receivers drop balls (ask Tom Brady). One dropped ball by Dez is not what lost the game.
Cowboys inability to run the ball and abandoning the run play calling - frustrating, but can be overcome with a good passing game in today's NFL. (once again ask Tom Brady).
Losing the turnover battle - this will happen in the NFL, some weeks you will win the turnover differential, some weeks you won't. But when you lose the turn over battle and are only 4 points behind in the 4th quarter, this no longer becomes the reason why you lost.
This brings us to the last point, inability to score Touchdowns, particularly when the Cowboys are in the Red Zone. After watching the game, this particular point and the disjointed appearance of the Cowboys offense is what stands out. In today's NFL, you have to score points and lots of them to win. And when your defense holds the opposing team to less than 20 points, you have to win the game. With Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, Jason Witten, Terrance Williams, DeMarco Murray and Tony Romo you should score more than 16 points against any defense in the NFL. This premise however is based on the assumption that each of these players are as good as they are paid accordingly. I'm afraid after watching this game and the other 64 games in the previous 4 years, there is a flaw in one of these basic assumptions.
The flawed assumption is that of Tony Romo. I know when everyone reads this line, the Romo lovers and maybe even Romo haters will say, yeah, Romo is part of the problem but he's not all of the problem. And this argument would be correct. As with all teams in this age of parity, everyone has multiple problems. But let me ask one simple question.......
If the Cowboys would've had Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, even the great Joe Flacco at the helm as QB, would the Cowboys have overcome the 2 turnover differential and the 1 point deficit and won the game?
My answer is Yes.
Of course the argument would be, well yeah of course you could win the game with future Hall of Famers Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. And that's my point exactly. Everyone wants to believe that Romo is somehow one of these elite Quarterbacks and the only reason he hasn't won was because of the coaches, the play calling, the offensive line, etc. etc. etc. But the simple and obvious fact is that he is just not that great. Is he a good quarterback? Sure. Compared to Quincy Carter he looks like the 2nd coming of Roger Staubach. But he's just not great, and not even that good. He's mediocre to good. Which sometimes is OK. There have been teams like the Baltimore Ravens led by Trent Dilfer and Tampa Bay Buccaneers led by Brad Johnson who have won Superbowls, but they won them with mediocre QBs accompanied by great defenses and great running games. But the assumption based theory that the Cowboys organization is working off of, and thereby putting the salary cap money into, is that they have a Great/Elite Quarterback in Tony Romo, and thereby by can skimp on things like Offensive and Defensive line. Yes, Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers and Patriots with Tom Brady can do that. But the Cowboys can not because they are working on a faulty assumption that Romo is that type of elite QB, and unfortunately he's not. He's is more like his pedigree suggests, a free agent from Northeastern Illinois University.
So I'm not blaming everything on Romo. I blame the faulty assumption that he is great/elite by the Cowboys front office. A lot of teams would love to have Romo, and he would probably do well with a lot of those teams because without a great Quarterback they have out of necessity built strengths in other parts of their team. Romo could move into another team with better parts and look really good, because he would be more of a compliment to the system rather than being the focal point of the entire team and expected to lead every victory.
Now on top of this faulty assumption by the Cowboys organization, they have doubled down by giving Romo a $100 Million Dollar contract, included him in the game planning as well as increasing his play calling responsibility at the line of scrimmage. So how has that worked out so far? About as good as you would expect a free agent from Northeaster Illinois to perform. Not well enough to carry the team. I don't want to sound like a defeatist, but with the money invested in Romo which destroys salary cap space and the continued faulty assumption by the Cowboys front office, the incredible "Groundhog Day" like re-runs will continue. The Cowboys will end up around 8-8, 9-7 if they are lucky or 7-9 if they are unlucky. It's not Romo's fault that he's not great, but it's the organizations fault in treating him like he is great. So for now it will continue to be the same ole Cowboys.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Offensive Line, No Longer Offensive
I never thought I would say this about the Cowboys Offensive line, but they continue to look pretty good. It's only preseason, but they look good so far. Couple of comments by Tony Romo and Lance Dunbar is all you need to know that this is not just my opinion:
“I don’t want to get away from here without talking about the offensive line,” Romo said. “There were a couple of times I had all day and we had a sack, an incompletion on those two plays, so that’s going to help us a lot if we’re able to do that.Lance Dunbar -- “It’s probably the biggest the holes have ever been,” Dunbar said.
“That’s different. I know what it’s like to play behind that, and having that ability like they did tonight would be a huge bonus for us.”
Friday, August 9, 2013
Good To Know
Nice piece from Bleacher Report..... Apparently Romo gives high praise for first round draft pick Travis Frederick.
Bleacher Report - Romo + Frederick
Bleacher Report - Romo + Frederick
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Blogging The Boys
Bloggintheboys.com does a great job covering the Cowboys Training Camp...... here's some links to their site and stories from the day:
- pro football focus grades dallas cowboys hall of fame game performance
- dallas cowboys start fast again in oakland raiders tony romo bill callahan
- dallas cowboys in praise of jason witten from lacerated spleens to option routes
- jason garrett dallas cowboys 2013 training camp hot seat jerry jones
- Random Thoughts From Cowboys 2013 Training Camp: The Physical Nature Of The Game
- cowboys training camp report practice number thirteen: a crisp day in
Friday, July 26, 2013
NFL Training Camp Thoughts
Few random thoughts on NFL training camps now that all of the teams have reported.
- Dallas Cowboys had a day off yesterday (Thursday 7/25). With the new CBA rules, teams have to take a day off after five consecutive training camp days. Since the Cowboys reported early to camp, due to their participation in the "extra" pre-season game, Hall of Fame Game, Thursday marked their day for rest. By some of the comments made by Cowboys players, is was a welcomed sight. However, I'm sure some of the "old school" players that are now retired look at today's players as too pampered.
- Percy Harvin injured his hip during conditioning prior to camp and may require surgery. He is seeking a second opinion.
- Matt Ryan got a 5 year extension worth over $100 Million Dollars. Of course TV commentators made no derogatory remarks over his contract like they did Tony Romo's extension. Not sure why, last time I checked they both had the same number of Superbowl Wins.
- BillaCheat and Brady continued to respond by not really saying anything about the Hernandez issue due to "this is a legal issue and I can not comment".
- Andy Reid looked energized and ready to go in his all Red Attire. From a fantasy football perspective I am interested to see what Reid does with Jamal Charles.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Romo to Follow Garrett as Offensive Coordinator
Apparently Romo wants to follow in the footsteps of Jason Garrett, and after playing football as QB, become an offensive coordinator. And who knows, after that possibly head coach (that's my comment, not Romo's). Here's a quick hit from Dallas Morning News:
Romo wants to coach: Jerry Jones wanted Tony Romo to get more involved in the offense this off-season, and apparently Romo has taken to it like a fish to water. In fact, Jones revealed that his quarterback now has aspirations of becoming a coordinator one day. “[Romo] told me, ‘When I’m through playing ball, I want to be an offensive coordinator One of the biggest shame things for me is that I may never have gotten to call my own plays. I think I’m a heck of an offensive coordinator,’ ” Jones said.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Cowboys Training Camp Schedule
We finally move away from the dark side of the moon. Due to their participation in the Hall of Fame Pre-Season Game, the Dallas Cowboys are the first team to report to training camp. Players started arriving in Oxnard California today, Friday July 19th with training to begin on Sunday July 21st.
That's right, it's starting to look a lot like Christmas...I mean Football. Here is the Dallas Cowboys Training Camp schedule as currently posted. Practices times tend to fluctuate periodically throughout the pre-season as coaches adjust schedules.
That's right, it's starting to look a lot like Christmas...I mean Football. Here is the Dallas Cowboys Training Camp schedule as currently posted. Practices times tend to fluctuate periodically throughout the pre-season as coaches adjust schedules.
DALLAS COWBOYS TRAINING CAMP SCHEDULE
|
Date
|
Time
/ Action
|
|
Saturday, July 20th
|
12:00 p.m. - Camp Opening Press
Conference
|
|
Sunday, July 21st
|
10:30 a.m. - First Walk-Thru
|
|
Sunday, July 21st
|
12:00 p.m. - Jason Garrett Press
Conference
|
|
Sunday, July 21st
|
4:00 p.m. – First Team Practice
|
|
Monday, July 22nd
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Tuesday, July 23rd
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Wednesday, July 24th
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Thursday, July 25th
|
No Practice
|
|
Friday, July 26th
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Saturday, July 27th
|
2:30 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Sunday, July 28th
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Monday, July 29th
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Tuesday, July 30th
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Wednesday, July 31st
|
No Practice
|
|
Thursday, August 1st
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Friday, August 2nd
|
5:15 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Saturday, August 3rd
|
Team Travel to Canton, OH
|
|
Sunday, August 4th
|
No practice – Preseason Game
–Dallas vs. Miami (7:00 PM CST)
|
|
Monday, August 5th
|
No Practice
|
|
Tuesday, August 6th
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Wednesday, August 7th
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Thursday, August 8th
|
Team Travel to Oakland, CA
|
|
Friday, August 9th
|
No practice – Preseason Game
–Dallas vs. Oakland (9:00PM CST)
|
|
Saturday, August 10th
|
No Practice
|
|
Sunday, August 11th
|
5:15 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Monday, August 12th
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Tuesday, August 13th
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Wednesday, August 14th
|
4:00 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Thursday, August 15th
|
5:15 p.m. – Practice
|
|
Friday, August 16th
|
Break Training Camp
|
|
Saturday, August 17th
|
No practice – Preseason Game
–Dallas @ Arizona (3:30PM CST)
|
|
Tuesday, August 28th
|
Kickoff Luncheon @ Cowboys Stadium
(11:00 am CST)
|
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Romo Finally Has His Irvin
I'm glad Romo finally has a true superstar at Wide Receiver to throw to.
Aikman had Irvin, Staubach had Drew Pearson.
Romo's never had that, he's had a washed up T.O., free agent with no hamstrings Miles Austin, etc....
He's never had that bonafide superstar WR.
Aikman had Irvin, Staubach had Drew Pearson.
Romo's never had that, he's had a washed up T.O., free agent with no hamstrings Miles Austin, etc....
He's never had that bonafide superstar WR.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Romo Does the Texas Two Step
Ever since that fateful day after Romo lost to the Eagles and said the following in the post game press conference.....
Romo - "if this is the worst thing that ever happens to me, I've lived a pretty good life"
Now the press can not get Romo to say anything dumb again. I guess he learned his lesson. He always throws it back at the reporters now. See link to Dallas Morning News where Romo is asked the question about being more involved in planning the defense during this week's OTAs....
Romo Does the Texas Two Step
Romo - "if this is the worst thing that ever happens to me, I've lived a pretty good life"
Now the press can not get Romo to say anything dumb again. I guess he learned his lesson. He always throws it back at the reporters now. See link to Dallas Morning News where Romo is asked the question about being more involved in planning the defense during this week's OTAs....
Romo Does the Texas Two Step
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Cowboys End 2012 Season
The Cowboys end the regular season in familiar fashion. A win/in or lose/go home scenario. Once again for the Cowboys, they lose on a Romo interception and go home. At this point what can you say that has not already been spoken, written or at least thought about. There are the Romo haters and the Romo lovers, both have valid points. There are the Jerry Haters (I don't think there are any Jerry Lovers) and they certainly have their justifiable and historical data points. There are the Jason Garret haters and lovers.
As with most problems I don't think there is a one magic bullet theory. I think there are issues to be corrected in each of these areas. Regarding the Romo problem - sure if you could have Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or one of the two hot new QBs Luck and RGIII of course you would trade Romo, but those are not options (well at least not now, Jerry probably could've coaxed Peyton here during his whistle stop tour of franchises last spring). So you have Romo who is a very good QB. Not a great QB, but he definitely is better than a lot of the QBs in the league and always helps the team win 3-4 regular season games. So you keep Romo, you begin an earnest search for his replacement as he is now 33 years old, and you build a team concept that doesn't rely 100% on Romo, which now the Cowboys obviously do. You do that by beefing up your defensive line to lower the score of opposing teams and thereby letting Romo know that he doesn't have to score 35 points to win. You do substantial work in upgrading the offensive line so that:
1. To take pressure off Romo so he won't be rushed into stupid mistakes as often.
2. An upgraded Offensive line will help an obviously good running back DeMarco Murray run the ball more efficiently which will also take pressure off Romo.
The Jerry problem, nothing you can do about this. His stamp is all over this team, and because of this there may not be anything that anyone can do. His dysfunction may ruin this team regardless of any changes made.
Jason Garrett problem. I for one, believe that in today's world, instant success is expected too often in pro coaching. However, with the player parity in the league, I also see that Coaching is probably more important now more than ever. With that said, I think JG should be allowed more time to establish his players and establish his environment. Now this may be impossible with Jerry Jones running around the premises and getting into fights with Ratliff in the locker room, but I think JG should be given more time. However, I do think he needs to bring in an Offensive Playcaller. Being the head coach and offensive play caller is too much for one individual. You may be able to do both well, but there is no way you can be great at both. There is no doubt in my mind that this is why JG appears to have problems with time management in some games, it's because he's thinking about the next play to call. There should be two separate people with these duties. With Norv Turner and Tony Sporano now on the streets, there is no excuse for JG not hiring an Offensive Coordinator/Play Caller and relieving himself of playcalling duties.
So while everyone has their theories and ideas, I think if you addressed two of these three problems as outlined above (I say two, because the third one - Jerry Jones problem, there is nothing that can be done about that one), then the Cowboys will at least have a chance at the Playoffs next year.
The most frustrating thing though is to have to write this type of essay year after year.
As with most problems I don't think there is a one magic bullet theory. I think there are issues to be corrected in each of these areas. Regarding the Romo problem - sure if you could have Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or one of the two hot new QBs Luck and RGIII of course you would trade Romo, but those are not options (well at least not now, Jerry probably could've coaxed Peyton here during his whistle stop tour of franchises last spring). So you have Romo who is a very good QB. Not a great QB, but he definitely is better than a lot of the QBs in the league and always helps the team win 3-4 regular season games. So you keep Romo, you begin an earnest search for his replacement as he is now 33 years old, and you build a team concept that doesn't rely 100% on Romo, which now the Cowboys obviously do. You do that by beefing up your defensive line to lower the score of opposing teams and thereby letting Romo know that he doesn't have to score 35 points to win. You do substantial work in upgrading the offensive line so that:
1. To take pressure off Romo so he won't be rushed into stupid mistakes as often.
2. An upgraded Offensive line will help an obviously good running back DeMarco Murray run the ball more efficiently which will also take pressure off Romo.
The Jerry problem, nothing you can do about this. His stamp is all over this team, and because of this there may not be anything that anyone can do. His dysfunction may ruin this team regardless of any changes made.
Jason Garrett problem. I for one, believe that in today's world, instant success is expected too often in pro coaching. However, with the player parity in the league, I also see that Coaching is probably more important now more than ever. With that said, I think JG should be allowed more time to establish his players and establish his environment. Now this may be impossible with Jerry Jones running around the premises and getting into fights with Ratliff in the locker room, but I think JG should be given more time. However, I do think he needs to bring in an Offensive Playcaller. Being the head coach and offensive play caller is too much for one individual. You may be able to do both well, but there is no way you can be great at both. There is no doubt in my mind that this is why JG appears to have problems with time management in some games, it's because he's thinking about the next play to call. There should be two separate people with these duties. With Norv Turner and Tony Sporano now on the streets, there is no excuse for JG not hiring an Offensive Coordinator/Play Caller and relieving himself of playcalling duties.
So while everyone has their theories and ideas, I think if you addressed two of these three problems as outlined above (I say two, because the third one - Jerry Jones problem, there is nothing that can be done about that one), then the Cowboys will at least have a chance at the Playoffs next year.
The most frustrating thing though is to have to write this type of essay year after year.
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