If you had it to do all over with Romo and Dak in 2016

khiladi · Apr 5, 2022

MarcusRock said:
Maybe because he was playing against scrubs in a glorified pre-season game where the other team was trying to lose for draft position, perhaps? I mean, it could be that.

actually, Dak sucked against those “scrubs”, without Zeke playing, with the Eagles bringing the pressure and the Eagles basically dropped their men back as soon as Romo came on the field and he torched them.

Acting like they were trying to lose when they put up 27 and the only TD was the one thrown by Romo is pretty amusing, especially considering Wentz threw it over 40 plus times and Ertz, and Malcom Jenkins and Jason Kelce played the whole game, along with guys like Peters who basically played 99% of the snaps. Even Fletcher Cox played over 70% of the snaps, meaning well into when Sanchez was bumbling around.

CowboyFrog · Apr 5, 2022

Never thought about this....Man why hasn't someone ever started a thread about it?

khiladi · Apr 5, 2022

JWeekender said:
I get the sick feeling that there will be a QB controversy in Dallas sooner than later. Maybe not this year. But that leg issue Dak has. I just get the feeling it won't be the last time he's going to be dealing with that. Also he isn't getting better as a passer and reading defenses IMO. I'm ready for the Cowboys to bring in some serious competition.

That shouldn’t be a sick feeling, it should be a good feeling, since he isn’t getting better as a passer or reading defenses.

PAPPYDOG · Apr 5, 2022

Vtwin said:
Arguably the biggest mistake of the Jones era.

Rookie QB operating from a baby seat in the back = zero chance to go all the way.

Veteran QB operating the best offense he had throughout his career = legitimate chance to go all the way.

There was no downside to giving Romo the job back. If he gets hurt... you go back to Dak.

I'll take it one step farther and say that 2016 was probably the worst thing that could have happened to Dak from a non-financial perspective. He got way to much credit for driving the Ferrari to a great regular season and once the anointing oils started flowing he, to use his own expression, started smelling himself.

And here we are....

Thank the Gridiron Gods Jerry made the right decision and put Dak in the driver's seat!!
All the glory we have experienced in the last 6 seasons is simply priceless!!!!

cowboysfan99 · Apr 5, 2022

The only thing I'd do different in 2016 are the first two rounds of the draft. The team had a stacked offensive line and were in prime position to be competitive still. Instead they wasted a top 4 pick on a RB and a second round pick on a guy that couldn't even contribute that season.

khiladi · Apr 5, 2022

Romo had all he tools to be a great QB, unlike Dak, whose ‘redeeming’ feature was that he’s a guy that has the “it factor” on the field. Even Woodson said the moment he saw Romo in teaming camp, he knew, while it was well-noted that Dak was not very good in practice.

Please don’t make dumb comparisons that Dak will improve, especially for the QB that doesn’t practice well and takes a week to throw a TD in training camp in year 3.

This organization spent his early years trying to win off his heroics, while they ‘trained Jason Garrett”, instead of giving him a real OC to run the offense. They spent years baby-sitting Dak.

PAPPYDOG · Apr 5, 2022

khiladi said:
Romo had all he tools to be a great QB, unlike Dak, whose ‘redeeming’ feature was that he’s a guy that performs on the field. Even Woodson said the moment he saw Romo in teaming camp, he knew.

Please don’t make dumb comparisons that Dak will improve, especially for the QB that doesn’t practice well and takes a week to throw a TD in training camp in year 3.

This organization spent his early years trying to win off his heroics, while they ‘trained Jason Garrett”, instead of giving him a real OC to run the offense. They spent years baby-sitting Dak.

Why are we still debating about Dak?????
6 Seasons and he has led us to 1 playoff win.
The verdict is in.........Dak SUCKS!!!!!
NEXT PLEASE!!!!

khiladi · Apr 5, 2022

Vtwin said:
Arguably the biggest mistake of the Jones era.

Rookie QB operating from a baby seat in the back = zero chance to go all the way.

Veteran QB operating the best offense he had throughout his career = legitimate chance to go all the way.

There was no downside to giving Romo the job back. If he gets hurt... you go back to Dak.

I'll take it one step farther and say that 2016 was probably the worst thing that could have happened to Dak from a non-financial perspective. He got way to much credit for driving the Ferrari to a great regular season and once the anointing oils started flowing he, to use his own expression, started smelling himself.

And here we are....

I still think to this day, two factors played a role:

1. That roster was young and they were all buddies with Dak, so they wanted to keep him. The Jones boys probably took a vote like teachers do in elementary school, the way this organization is run. Plus, Garrett never really liked Romo, especially since the latter effectively started to strip him of his play-calling duties in Dallas. Of course, we all witnessed what Romo was working with when we saw JG in all his glory in NY as a play caller.

2. As these last few years show, the Jones boys are cheap, meaning they saw in Dak a chance to get rid of Romo’s contract.

khiladi · Apr 5, 2022

CouchCoach said:
I still wonder who made that final decision and even the feeling behind it.

I would like to think that the front office really didn't want to see Romo in a crumpled pile again on the field. That was a preseason play that put him out and he looked really slow trying to get away from that tackle. He could no longer adequately protect himself.

He wanted the chance to compete for the QB1 job back and that could have done more harm than good creating some choose sides QB controversy and the media would have been all over that. I think the happiest person that did not happen was Witten. He was also the one that helped smooth the passing of the mantle for the team.

That choose sides thing about the team? That is exactly what posters did and if they liked one they felt they had to dislike the other to the same level. Romo's time was over, Prescott's was beginning and he might not be what some want but he has been better than what they could have had. Like Lynch or Cook, just to mention two.

To be fair, he looked slow, because he didn’t have the time to lose weight from his surgery. He was getting back into playing shape. And the hit was pretty dirty anyways and he fell on Romo on an awkward slide, where he was in a sitting position, meaning a compromised vertebrae for any player.

DallasEast · Apr 5, 2022

khiladi said:
2. As these last few years show, the Jones boys are cheap, meaning they saw in Dak a chance to get rid of Romo’s contract.

I disagree Jones was thinking short-term about Prescott. The 2016 playoffs? Yes. That season's euphoria had Jones as mesmerized as a considerable percentage of the fanbase but not foreseeing the necessity of eventually paying Prescott? I don't think so.

By October of 2016, anyone who had ever paid ANY attention to Jones mannerisms "knew" he saw Prescott as his franchise's long-term solution at quarterback. Even Romo knew his time was done in Dallas.

Long-term meant signing Prescott to a franchise quarterback caliber contract down the road. Contracts go up in compensation. Prescott was destined to land a contract that exceeded Romo's in relative value.

In my opinion, Jones saw Prescott as Romo's successor in getting him Lombardi trophies. I do not think Romo's contract at the time was a meaningful financial or salary cap consideration inside his head.

Going with his gut is a large part of Jones' mental makeup. I think he saw Prescott as the much younger, better option at the position and nothing would stop him from making that assumption a reality.

Vtwin · Apr 5, 2022

khiladi said:
I still think to this day, two factors played a role:

1. That roster was young and they were all buddies with Dak, so they wanted to keep him. The Jones boys probably took a vote like teachers do in elementary school, the way this organization is run. Plus, Garrett never really liked Romo, especially since the latter effectively started to strip him of his play-calling duties in Dallas. Of course, we all witnessed what Romo was working with when we saw JG in all his glory in NY as a play caller.

2. As these last few years show, the Jones boys are cheap, meaning they saw in Dak a chance to get rid of Romo’s contract.

The irony of 1 is that the Romo offenses did at least play hard for JG.

2 years into the Dak era, they quit on JG, which was the final straw that sent him packing.

That will likely go down as Dak's greatest contribution.

khiladi · Apr 5, 2022

DallasEast said:
I disagree Jones was thinking short-term about Prescott. The 2016 playoffs? Yes. That season's euphoria had Jones as mesmerized as a considerable percentage of the fanbase but not foreseeing the necessity of eventually paying Prescott? I don't think so.

By October of 2016, anyone who had ever paid ANY attention to Jones mannerisms "knew" he saw Prescott as his franchise's long-term solution at quarterback. Even Romo knew his time was done in Dallas.

Long-term meant signing Prescott to a franchise quarterback caliber contract down the road. Contracts go up in compensation. Prescott was destined to land a contract that exceeded Romo's in relative value.

In my opinion, Jones saw Prescott as Romo's successor in getting him Lombardi trophies. I do not think Romo's contract at the time was a meaningful financial or salary cap consideration inside his head.

Going with his gut is a large part of Jones' mental makeup. I think he saw Prescott as the much younger, better option at the position and nothing would stop him from making that assumption a reality.

I agree, they definitely thought they could win with him, meaning the franchise, but based on my impression of their readings, they thought that they could provide him a supporting cast via drafting, because that team was so young. This is why you started hearing things from Stephen pre-draft that they won’t spend in FA and want to build through the draft and ‘develop them’ and sign them to a long term contract before they can hit the market.

DallasEast · Apr 5, 2022

khiladi said:
I agree, they definitely thought they could win with him, meaning the franchise, but based on my impression of their readings, they thought that they could provide him a supporting cast via drafting, because that team was so young. This is why you started hearing things from Stephen pre-draft that they won’t spend in FA and want to build through the draft and ‘develop them’ and sign them to a long term contract before they can hit the market.

I agree mostly with that observation but that the front office's build-through-the-draft philosophy was a (fortunate for them) coincidental circumstance in the post-Romo era.

glimmerman · Apr 5, 2022

Would have been interesting to see. If we started him. But Dak had legs and was using them. Romo couldn’t move but had the running game and the touch on deeper passes. The game would have been called different if Romo was in.

Diehardblues · Apr 5, 2022

You should always go with the better QB when he’s healthy.

Diehardblues · Apr 5, 2022

It was easier publicly for Jethro to lose in playoffs with Prescott than Romo.

Jake · Apr 5, 2022

JWeekender said:
Going back to 2016.

Even though Romo probably would have crumbled on the next sack he took, a part of me will always wonder what would have happened if Romo had been given a chance to gain his starting job back during the second half of the 2016 season.

Not saying that there was a chance in hell of that ever happening, but I do believe that if Romo had gotten the opportunity and if he could somehow have stayed healthy for the rest of the season, I do somehow believe he would have taken the Cowboys to the SB.

Was Romo going to stop the Packers from putting together 4 touchdown drives of 75 yards or more in the playoff game?

Would he have stopped them from getting into FG range in 30 seconds to win it at the end?

The Cowboys have never won a playoff game when allowing 30+ points, no matter who played QB.

Diehardblues · Apr 5, 2022

CouchCoach said:
I still wonder who made that final decision and even the feeling behind it.

I would like to think that the front office really didn't want to see Romo in a crumpled pile again on the field. That was a preseason play that put him out and he looked really slow trying to get away from that tackle. He could no longer adequately protect himself.

He wanted the chance to compete for the QB1 job back and that could have done more harm than good creating some choose sides QB controversy and the media would have been all over that. I think the happiest person that did not happen was Witten. He was also the one that helped smooth the passing of the mantle for the team.

That choose sides thing about the team? That is exactly what posters did and if they liked one they felt they had to dislike the other to the same level. Romo's time was over, Prescott's was beginning and he might not be what some want but he has been better than what they could have had. Like Lynch or Cook, just to mention two.

There’s only one person who could have made that decision.

5Stars · Apr 5, 2022

khiladi said:
Romo had all he tools to be a great QB, unlike Dak, whose ‘redeeming’ feature was that he’s a guy that has the “it factor” on the field. Even Woodson said the moment he saw Romo in teaming camp, he knew, while it was well-noted that Dak was not very good in practice.

Please don’t make dumb comparisons that Dak will improve, especially for the QB that doesn’t practice well and takes a week to throw a TD in training camp in year 3.

This organization spent his early years trying to win off his heroics, while they ‘trained Jason Garrett”, instead of giving him a real OC to run the offense. They spent years baby-sitting Dak.

Parcells himself said that a QB is who he is after three years. That is why Parcells kept Romo 2nd string for a few years until he eventually decided to replace Bledsoe. And, here we are four years later...waiting for the miracle moment that Dak actually plays like he is getting paid.

McKDaddy · Apr 5, 2022

Hardline said:
Romo was 100% healthy and cleared to play.
Romo was the superior QB and gave us our best chance to win.
I would only worry about a broken down Romo if he was actually re-injured. There was no reason he shouldn't have gotten his starting job back.

This is the definitive statement on this subject. Only thing I would add is that "choosing" to start a rookie in the playoffs automatically puts you in the .0001 chance of winning the Superbowl. It's insane to put yourself at that disadvantage.
I mean so many people randomly spew statistics\analytics as facts but the fact that no rookie has ever won the SB wasn't given any consideration apparently.

If you had it to do all over with Romo and Dak in 2016

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There are no Dak haters just Cowboy lovers!!!

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There are no Dak haters just Cowboy lovers!!!

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Cowboys 24/7/365

Safety third

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Cowboys 24/7/365

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Beyond tired of Jerry

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Here comes the Sun...

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