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Quarterback Tony Romo remains the poster boy for the Dallas Cowboys' struggles for much of the last decade.
There is no denying that the team’s all-time leading passer is one of the league’s top quarterbacks.
There is also no ignoring the fact that he has failed spectacularly in some of the team’s biggest moments.
The hollow numbers and the utter disappointment were on full display in Sunday's 28-17 loss to the San Diego Chargers.
Romo tossed a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to extend his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown to an impressive 29 games.
But it came in garbage time of game that was already out of reach, thanks to three unforgivable interceptions and horrible decision-making by Romo in the first half.
Romo, 34, was certainly rusty in what was his first game since back surgery last December.
The Cowboys limited his throws and practice time during training camp, and he barely played in the preseason.
The Cowboys wanted him healthy and ready to go for the season opener.
However, Romo and the Cowboys say his poor play, which included high and errant throws in addition to the interceptions, had more to do with poor decision-making than rust due to a lack of reps.
"We thought it was important to do the things we did to give him an opportunity to play," Garrett said. "Sure you want more reps. You want more reps for everybody. That’s the nature of it. At the same time, you’ve got to go play given what the situation is.
"Was he as sharp as he’s been in his life? No. He made some bad decisions in this game that really hurt us. There were some other throws that weren’t perfect. He’ll learn from this. He’ll watch the tape, just like he’s done in the past and move forward."
Said Romo: “I felt comfortable. There were a couple (of) poor decisions that I made that you’ve got to assess. Anytime your team plays against a good football team, you’ve got to manage the mistakes. I didn’t do a good enough job of that in this game.
"I think our team played well enough to have a chance to win. I’ve got to play at a higher level, and I’ll do that going forward. I didn’t perform to the standard, and that is disappointing.”
The troubling thing for the Cowboys is the criminally poor decision-making by Romo.
All three interceptions came on first down, and they were balls forced into coverage, including two to a blanketed receiver—Dez Bryant.
Even Garrett said Romo should be beyond that at this point in his career.
"The ball should’ve gone elsewhere," Garrett said. "On 1st-and-10, you just throw the ball and get to second down. In each of these cases, I think Tony would agree with that, and he’s done a very good job with those plays throughout his career, and he’s got to address those individually and correct them moving forward. I think it’s pretty clear—you don’t force the ball to people," Garrett added.
"Tony’s typically struck a really nice balance about trying to give these guys a chance and understanding how to read things out and throwing the ball to the right guy. In each of those cases, he probably was too aggressive throwing to Dez, and those plays hurt us, obviously.”
Blame it partly on the gunslinger mentality that Romo broke into the league with and one he can’t shake.
That goes double for his pass-happy mentality which was at the root of another critically poor decision on the second drive of the game.
Facing a 2nd-and-1 at the 2-yard line, the Cowboys seemingly were set to run the ball. They had their jumbo set in the game with two tight ends, a fullback and an extra tackle on the field. But that was before a timeout was called. When the Cowboys returned they were in shotgun in a three-wide receiver set. Still the initial call was to hand the ball to running back DeMarco Murray.
But when they got to the line of scrimmage, Romo changed the play from a run to pass, but he didn’t alter the protection. Romo was sacked, forcing the Cowboys to settle for a field goal.
The play was reminiscent to last year’s 37-36 loss to the Green Bay Packers when Romo switched from a run to a pass and was intercepted in the final two minutes, setting up a game-winning touchdown.
It all makes one wonder if the Cowboys are going to take the ability to check in and out of plays from Romo.
Garrett said the Cowboys remain firmly behind Romo and don’t plan to limit his on-field control of play-calling.
“If you look at the body of work and the efficiency that we’ve had and he’s had, it’s been fairly high,” Garrett said.
“Sometimes in certain situations when it doesn’t work out, people will really highlight that type of a thing, but you have to go back and look at the efficiency of him throwing the football and us running the football over time. That’s been something we’ve used.
"We call running plays, we call passing plays and we implement runs and passes, and every team in the league does it. Sometimes when it doesn’t work out, people overreact to something like that, but you do have to look at the whole body of work.”
At this point the Cowboys have no choice. Romo signed a $108 million contract extension before last season, and the team famously passed on Johnny Manziel in the 2014 NFL draft.
They are inextricably tied to the Romo coaster for the foreseeable future.
The good news is that Romo normally bounces back from bad games with good ones.
For his career, Romo has averaged 237 yards passing with 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions in games following three-interception meltdowns.
But of course, another train wreck is surely to soon follow.
It wouldn’t be life with Romo otherwise.
All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...
There is no denying that the team’s all-time leading passer is one of the league’s top quarterbacks.
There is also no ignoring the fact that he has failed spectacularly in some of the team’s biggest moments.
The hollow numbers and the utter disappointment were on full display in Sunday's 28-17 loss to the San Diego Chargers.
Romo tossed a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to extend his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown to an impressive 29 games.
But it came in garbage time of game that was already out of reach, thanks to three unforgivable interceptions and horrible decision-making by Romo in the first half.
Romo, 34, was certainly rusty in what was his first game since back surgery last December.
The Cowboys limited his throws and practice time during training camp, and he barely played in the preseason.
The Cowboys wanted him healthy and ready to go for the season opener.
However, Romo and the Cowboys say his poor play, which included high and errant throws in addition to the interceptions, had more to do with poor decision-making than rust due to a lack of reps.
"We thought it was important to do the things we did to give him an opportunity to play," Garrett said. "Sure you want more reps. You want more reps for everybody. That’s the nature of it. At the same time, you’ve got to go play given what the situation is.
"Was he as sharp as he’s been in his life? No. He made some bad decisions in this game that really hurt us. There were some other throws that weren’t perfect. He’ll learn from this. He’ll watch the tape, just like he’s done in the past and move forward."
Said Romo: “I felt comfortable. There were a couple (of) poor decisions that I made that you’ve got to assess. Anytime your team plays against a good football team, you’ve got to manage the mistakes. I didn’t do a good enough job of that in this game.
"I think our team played well enough to have a chance to win. I’ve got to play at a higher level, and I’ll do that going forward. I didn’t perform to the standard, and that is disappointing.”
The troubling thing for the Cowboys is the criminally poor decision-making by Romo.
All three interceptions came on first down, and they were balls forced into coverage, including two to a blanketed receiver—Dez Bryant.
Even Garrett said Romo should be beyond that at this point in his career.
"The ball should’ve gone elsewhere," Garrett said. "On 1st-and-10, you just throw the ball and get to second down. In each of these cases, I think Tony would agree with that, and he’s done a very good job with those plays throughout his career, and he’s got to address those individually and correct them moving forward. I think it’s pretty clear—you don’t force the ball to people," Garrett added.
"Tony’s typically struck a really nice balance about trying to give these guys a chance and understanding how to read things out and throwing the ball to the right guy. In each of those cases, he probably was too aggressive throwing to Dez, and those plays hurt us, obviously.”
Blame it partly on the gunslinger mentality that Romo broke into the league with and one he can’t shake.
That goes double for his pass-happy mentality which was at the root of another critically poor decision on the second drive of the game.
Facing a 2nd-and-1 at the 2-yard line, the Cowboys seemingly were set to run the ball. They had their jumbo set in the game with two tight ends, a fullback and an extra tackle on the field. But that was before a timeout was called. When the Cowboys returned they were in shotgun in a three-wide receiver set. Still the initial call was to hand the ball to running back DeMarco Murray.
But when they got to the line of scrimmage, Romo changed the play from a run to pass, but he didn’t alter the protection. Romo was sacked, forcing the Cowboys to settle for a field goal.
The play was reminiscent to last year’s 37-36 loss to the Green Bay Packers when Romo switched from a run to a pass and was intercepted in the final two minutes, setting up a game-winning touchdown.
It all makes one wonder if the Cowboys are going to take the ability to check in and out of plays from Romo.
Garrett said the Cowboys remain firmly behind Romo and don’t plan to limit his on-field control of play-calling.
“If you look at the body of work and the efficiency that we’ve had and he’s had, it’s been fairly high,” Garrett said.
“Sometimes in certain situations when it doesn’t work out, people will really highlight that type of a thing, but you have to go back and look at the efficiency of him throwing the football and us running the football over time. That’s been something we’ve used.
"We call running plays, we call passing plays and we implement runs and passes, and every team in the league does it. Sometimes when it doesn’t work out, people overreact to something like that, but you do have to look at the whole body of work.”
At this point the Cowboys have no choice. Romo signed a $108 million contract extension before last season, and the team famously passed on Johnny Manziel in the 2014 NFL draft.
They are inextricably tied to the Romo coaster for the foreseeable future.
The good news is that Romo normally bounces back from bad games with good ones.
For his career, Romo has averaged 237 yards passing with 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions in games following three-interception meltdowns.
But of course, another train wreck is surely to soon follow.
It wouldn’t be life with Romo otherwise.
All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...