Tony Romo had a play caller, who in NY, proved once again he couldn’t field a running game to save his life. It wasn’t just defense it was an offense predicated solely on Romo trying to make a play that ruined this franchise for years.
Just to put in perspective, even in the 2007 year, which was supposedly an all-time great roster for the Cowboys and a record-setting one offensively, well into October, the Dallas Cowboys LED THE LEAGUE in yards to go on third down at 8.6 yards. This was even more than awful offenses like KC and SF. The offensive DVOA rating of the Cowboys on 3/4th down despite this fact was a whopping 90%, second only to Pittsburgh at only 44.9%. If you go by passing only, Dallas rating was 133.1%, with the Jets at second at 61%.
What this clearly indicates is Jason Garrett in charge of the passing game was garbage from day 1 and Romo was being asked to constantly bail out the offense in third and longs. This problem became more and more obvious after 2007. This is exactly what happened when Garrett took charge of the offense and it wasn’t simply because of a ‘high ankle sprain’ by TO.
[qupte]However, that third-down performance is totally and completely unsustainable, and when it comes back to earth, the Cowboys will not look as formidable as they do now. No team has ever put up a third-down passing DVOA over 100%. Only three teams have ever been over 75%: the 1999 Rams (76.4%), the 2004 Vikings (88.7%), and the 2006 Colts (93.1%).