DC.COM: Romo Offers Insight Into Slow Starts, Electric Finishes

[WoodysGirl]

Rowan Kavner
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer

IRVING, Texas – Every week in every game, two things remain clear: the offense will start slowly and a furious second-half finish will allow the Cowboys to squeak out a win or fall just short.

The Cowboys finished at or below the 10-point mark at the half for the 12th straight game to start the season. Quarterback Tony Romo said there’s a reason the offense finished with exactly 10 points at halftime for the fourth time this season Sunday against the Eagles.

“I know as a quarterback, just from my perspective, there’s only so many coverages over the years you can see and show,” he said. “It still comes down to blocking and tackling and throwing and catching and running. Early in the game, you don’t necessarily always know exactly what they’re playing that day. Once I get a beat on it, usually I can lock in and be pretty good.”

He was better than pretty good once he figured out how he wanted to move the football. In fact, he was perfect. Romo went 10-for-10 for 169 yards and three touchdowns in the second half, with two of the scoring throws going to wide receiver Dez Bryant.

Read the rest: http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/ar...9-69fd462f3af4

[McLovin]

Theres an undertone of Dez being a slow starter. 14 yds in the 1st half last week...failing to mention there was 0 targets until the 1 pass late in the second quarter.

Maybe the slow starts are on Romo. If so, that is a horrible way to win consistently. Stats back that up

[Idgit]

Romo said his passes to Bryant are dictated off coverage, but he can find ways to get Bryant involved once he sees how the defense is playing in the first half.

“If a team wants to do different things, then that’s the case,” Romo said. “I’ll move him around as the game goes when I get an understanding of what they’re trying to do.”

“I think it’s just sometimes early in the game I think we need to be able to do the little things to be able to let drives extend,” Romo said. “We need to run the ball, we need to stay out of third-and-long, minimize penalties, then you’ve got to play good defense and keep the games close. If you do that, you can kind of gain the understanding of what they’re doing defensively and attack them.”

Where'd I miss the part about getting better once they abandon the game plan?

Interesting to hear Romo say exactly what some of us have been saying all along when it comes to early mistakes and third and longs. I wonder if there's anything to that.

[Cajuncowboy]

For Romo to say that it takes "him" the first half of games to figure out what the defense is doing is absurd. Not that it is all on romo but isn't that what the red headed genius is supposed to do BEFORE the game? These teams don't throw something new that they have never done before at you every week, week in and week out. Geez Jason, prepare your team.

This is indicative of what some of us have been saying about Garrett. He doesn't prepare the team to play on game day and then he has to rely on magic in the second half to get things close.

[rcaldw]

Originally Posted by Cajuncowboy

For Romo to say that it takes "him" the first half of games to figure out what the defense is doing is absurd. Not that it is all on romo but isn't that what the red headed genius is supposed to do BEFORE the game? These teams don't throw something new that they have never done before at you every week, week in and week out. Geez Jason, prepare your team.

This is indicative of what some of us have been saying about Garrett. He doesn't prepare the team to play on game day and then he has to rely on magic in the second half to get things close.

Baloney. And for my taste I'm getting sick of hearing "red headed genius" or, Princeton references, or ginger, or all the other stupidity. Frankly it negates even the legitimate beef that some of you have.

You guys have a narrative and look for whatever you can find that fits it. It is getting old.

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by Cajuncowboy

For Romo to say that it takes "him" the first half of games to figure out what the defense is doing is absurd. Not that it is all on romo but isn't that what the red headed genius is supposed to do BEFORE the game? These teams don't throw something new that they have never done before at you every week, week in and week out. Geez Jason, prepare your team.

This is indicative of what some of us have been saying about Garrett. He doesn't prepare the team to play on game day and then he has to rely on magic in the second half to get things close.

Lol! Perhaps Tony will get asked about that, too, later this week. Then he can blow that out of the water.

At least we're no longer hearing that Tony's not a leader or that he doesn't put in the hard work. I'll take the small blessings as they come.

[Mansta54]

Originally Posted by rcaldw

Baloney. And for my taste I'm getting sick of hearing "red headed genius" or, Princeton references, or ginger, or all the other stupidity. Frankly it negates even the legitimate beef that some of you have.

You guys have a narrative and look for whatever you can find that fits it. It is getting old.

Amen!!!

[panchucko]

So I take it our opponents can read our defense from the get go, but we make adjustments at the half.

[CoCo]

Originally Posted by Cajuncowboy

For Romo to say that it takes "him" the first half of games to figure out what the defense is doing is absurd. Not that it is all on romo but isn't that what the red headed genius is supposed to do BEFORE the game? These teams don't throw something new that they have never done before at you every week, week in and week out. Geez Jason, prepare your team.

This is indicative of what some of us have been saying about Garrett. He doesn't prepare the team to play on game day and then he has to rely on magic in the second half to get things close.

Originally Posted by rcaldw

Baloney. And for my taste I'm getting sick of hearing "red headed genius" or, Princeton references, or ginger, or all the other stupidity. Frankly it negates even the legitimate beef that some of you have.

You guys have a narrative and look for whatever you can find that fits it. It is getting old.

Originally Posted by Idgit

Lol! Perhaps Tony will get asked about that, too, later this week. Then he can blow that out of the water.

At least we're no longer hearing that Tony's not a leader or that he doesn't put in the hard work. I'll take the small blessings as they come.

Originally Posted by Mansta54

Amen!!!

Originally Posted by panchucko

So I take it our opponents can read our defense from the get go, but we make adjustments at the half.

I tend to agree with rcaldw & Idgit on their push back, though I think panchucko asks a fair question.

I wonder if part of the issue is that our offense plays with one hand tied behind its back because of the O-line's fragile nature. That would make putting the in-game puzzle together that much more challenging.

I don't have the answer. But I sure don't believe that Garrett or others in leadership are not doing their due diligence before the game as Cajun suggests. Come on, that just doesn't make any sense. Really? The guy grew up in the NFL and doesn't understand preparation? I don't think so.

[Dhragon]

If what Tony says is the case, I wonder why teams don't just change up their coverages at halftime and reset the whole thing so the Boys have to figure it all out once again before they can be productive.

[CopenhagenCowboy]

Guy carries the entire team, including Garrett, on his shoulders.

[Eskimo]

We have to understand that other teams always try to get up for us. There is the possibility that they purposefully try to save new things to throw at us if it is their mini-Super Bowl.

I think the bigger issue is just that the blocking is worse in the first half. That puts us in a lot of early short drives.

We also have to remember that Romo has always been a bit of a slow starter. That even goes back to when Sporano coached the passing attack in 2006 when Garrett was not here. It may be that it just takes Romo a bit of time to zone in on what the defense is doing before he gets confident to sling the ball around. It often seems as though he is a bit tentative. It may also be that Dez takes a bit of time to get comfortable with what he is supposed to do as it is rumoured that he is a slow learner.

I do agree that we are putting ourselves in a bind with poor first half performances but I don't believe there are any quick fixes for it. I believe the biggest issue has been blocking and that probably won't be any better until Cook and Dockery are both off of the field and Costa is on it. We may also be better with Parnell in for Free but the FO doesn't seem interested in pursuing this option. I have often believed that we are too slow to integrate new players into the gameplan even when the vets are clearly struggling.

[CowboysPhan]

I was fascinated that Tony said about Dez that after a while, " “I’ll move him around as the game goes when I get an understanding of what they’re trying to do.”
I didn't know the qb had the option to move receivers around. Did anyone else know that?

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by CowboysPhan

I was fascinated that Tony said about Dez that after a while, " “I’ll move him around as the game goes when I get an understanding of what they’re trying to do.”
I didn't know the qb had the option to move receivers around. Did anyone else know that?

That's part of why we try to put WRs in the game who can play more than one position...so you're not stuck with Miles in the slot if the defense is giving you something outside you want to try to take advantage of. It's one of the advantages of starting KO over Beasley. Though, if KO can't convert when it matters, the benefits are negated.

[ABQcowboyJR]

I just think that Tony needs time to get a feel for the wr matchups. Can they beat there guy and what routes are working for them.