Chicken or Egg First Question: Did Terrell Owens Make Tony Romo A Star?

[Boyzmamacita]

If TO made Romo such a star, then why did the team struggle in December? TO and Romo were both playing, albeit TO was injured in December 2007 and Romo was injured in December 2008. Still, they were both out there and Romo's numbers didn't look too good. It's a team thing. If the O-line, running game, special teams and defense perform well, you'll be surprised how it improves Romo's performance even without TO.

 

[dadymat]

Big Fantasy Football Questions - QB Tony Romo
by Skeller on Jun 28, 2009 8:00 AM EDT in Football 0 comments
http://www.faketeams.com/2009/6/28/785957/big-fantasy-football-questions-qb

The Terrell Owens trade had me thinking about the Cowboys. It seems pretty clear that the loss of T.O. will hurt Tony Romo's fantasy value. Dallas may still bring in another high-end WR, but even so it will be tough for Romo to replace the WR1 he has worked with for the past three years.

Then I thought: what if it's more than just a loss of a WR? What if it's bigger than that?

So it's time for Episode Four of...

Skeller's Big Fantasy Football Questions

QUESTION #4 : Did Terrell Owens Make Tony Romo A Star?

Players Heavily Affected: QB Tony Romo, RB Marion Barber, TE Jason Witten, WR Roy Williams.

Terrell Owens joined the Cowboys before the start of the 2006 season. Tony Romo became a starter during the 2006 season. Before that, Romo was just an unknown backup from Eastern Illinois. There have been some very good QBs from little schools -- two current examples that spring to mind are Kurt Warner (Northern Iowa) and Joe Flacco (Delaware) -- but that's the exception rather than the rule. Usually, you don't see a successful QB come from anywhere other than BCS-conference schools. So...Eastern Illinois? Really? How'd that happen? Let's take a look at Romo's career:

2006 - Replaces an ineffective Drew Bledsoe mid-game in Week 7 but the Cowboys lose to the Giants and fall to 3-3. Romo takes over as the starter the following week and goes 6-4 the rest of the season. Becomes a star for a 5 TD game against Tampa, but throws eight INTs vs six TDs in December.

Final Stats: 2903 yds, 19 TD, 13 INT (2008 Equivalent: Kyle Orton)

2007 - Julius Jones and Marion Barber find their groove and everything is clicking for the Cowboys' offense. Romo becomes a fantasy stud and Dallas streaks to a 13-3 season. Romo throws more INTs than TDs in December for the second straight year though.

Final Stats: 4211 yds, 36 TD, 19 INT (2008 Equivalent: Phillip Rivers)

2008 - Julius Jones has left to Seattle and the passing game starts to sputter. He misses three games to injury and doesn't seem to be quite the same quarterback after his return. Throws more INTs than TDs in December yet again.

Final Stats: 3448 yds, 26 TD, 14 INT (2008 Equivalent: Donovan McNabb)

Keep in mind that Tony Romo has had only ONE GAME as a starter without Terrell Owens in the lineup. His entire career as a starting quarterback has included a future Hall of Famer as his WR1. That's a big, big way to start your career. Now that future Hall of Famer is gone and I think there's a chance that he's going to be exposed this season as a good-but-not-close-to-great fantasy quarterback. If you need a canary in the coal mine (an underrated song by The Police, by the way), his completion percentage has dropped each of the last two seasons.

I think Romo really struggles this year trying to throw the ball to Jason Witten and some other guys he's never needed to remember the names of before now. In fact, you could argue that backup Jon Kitna might be a better choice. But that's for another post...

somebody put this guy out of his misery.......

1) there was no trade

2) JJ sucked that year--16 games-- 588 yrds-- 2 tds--his backup made the pro bowl

3) anyone here want Kitna to start ahead of Romo?

 

[superonyx]

If TO made romo a star and is the reason for his success then dont you also have to point to him as a reason for romo's failures as well?

Our problems were not just TO. In fact i think we had play calling issues more than anything else. I remember so many teams jamming TO at the line and blitzing our mentally incompetent offensive line. They couldnt open running lanes or pass protect. Every defense that pressured us caused our offense to fail. Now does that type of failure cause TO to start acting like the TO that many think? Maybe.

But i will always hold Jason Garrett responsible for our offensive collapse. We became very predictable. He didnt adjust to what the top defenses were doing. And in the process he made both Romo and TO look bad.

We should have gotten rid of Garrett more than anyone else. It's pretty bad when the defensive players around the league are calling out your formations and play calling. Remember the ravens game? They acted like we were a joke on offense. They were laughing when Jason Garrett was being considered for a head coaching job around the league.

Now maybe Garrett will say that it was the pressure from TO that made him suck at formations and play calling. But if that is the case then he shouldnt be here anyway.

 

[RCowboyFan]

If TO made romo a star and is the reason for his success then dont you also have to point to him as a reason for romo's failures as well?

Our problems were not just TO. In fact i think we had play calling issues more than anything else. I remember so many teams jamming TO at the line and blitzing our mentally incompetent offensive line. They couldnt open running lanes or pass protect. Every defense that pressured us caused our offense to fail. Now does that type of failure cause TO to start acting like the TO that many think? Maybe.

But i will always hold Jason Garrett responsible for our offensive collapse. We became very predictable. He didnt adjust to what the top defenses were doing. And in the process he made both Romo and TO look bad.

We should have gotten rid of Garrett more than anyone else. It's pretty bad when the defensive players around the league are calling out your formations and play calling. Remember the ravens game? They acted like we were a joke on offense. They were laughing when Jason Garrett was being considered for a head coaching job around the league.

Now maybe Garrett will say that it was the pressure from TO that made him suck at formations and play calling. But if that is the case then he shouldnt be here anyway.

Yeah, Ravens players are so credible, since they were not at all mad that Garrett Declined HC job with them

I guess, Ravens knew Cowboys offense so well, that they let two TD in a row at the end of game pretty easily, just to appease cowboys. Call about selective memory

 

[speedkilz88]

You don't have to be great to supplant Drew Bledsoe in 2006. Romo's play in 2007 was truly great. I'd love to see him back at that level, but I'm not 100% certain he can without TO.

You missed his point. TO didn't make Bledsoe better.

 

[dcfanatic]

Wearing a Dallas Cowboys helmet made Tony Romo a star.

 

[RCowboyFan]

Wearing a Dallas Cowboys helmet made Tony Romo a star.

No Doubt about it. He would have been still a star if he played for another team, but not as big or as talked about.

 

[superonyx]

Yeah, Ravens players are so credible, since they were not at all mad that Garrett Declined HC job with them

I guess, Ravens knew Cowboys offense so well, that they let two TD in a row at the end of game pretty easily, just to appease cowboys. Call about selective memory

It was everyone that knew the cowboys offense so well. It was just the ravens players that spoke to the media about what a joke our easy to stop game plan was.

So if that is common place and means nothing them post some examples of other times where this has happened? Also try explaining away the way both TO and Romo made mention of our game planning.

It isnt just the ravens. It is all the defenses in the league that has enough talent to press us. Sure we had the most talent. But look at where it got us when the heat was up. Look at what happened. We were easy to defend and predictable. We had Roy Williams running the same tired route over and over. We kept doing the same tired fake delay hand off. We had defenses running TO's routes for him. Our protection scheme left romo running for his life.

Talk about selective memory.:laugh1:

 

[theogt]

You missed his point. TO didn't make Bledsoe better.

I'm sure he did, actually.

 

[Gemini Dolly]

I guess, we're going to find out that question shortly. It will be fun.

 

[RCowboyFan]

It was everyone that knew the cowboys offense so well. It was just the ravens players that spoke to the media about what a joke our easy to stop game plan was.

So if that is common place and means nothing them post some examples of other times where this has happened? Also try explaining away the way both TO and Romo made mention of our game planning.

It isnt just the ravens. It is all the defenses in the league that has enough talent to press us. Sure we had the most talent. But look at where it got us when the heat was up. Look at what happened. We were easy to defend and predictable. We had Roy Williams running the same tired route over and over. We kept doing the same tired fake delay hand off. We had defenses running TO's routes for him. Our protection scheme left romo running for his life.

Talk about selective memory.:laugh1:

You mean TO knew how to Run Routes? I guess all those experts, including Jerry Rice talking about TO needing to run better routes even last year, just figment of everyone's imagination?

Yeah, it was all about Protection schemes and nothing do with Corey Procter or Flozell Adams playing bad.

Really, you have anything original to say other than parrot me?

Yeah, you, everyone knew what Cowboys were running but still managed to average more than 21 a game, even with 3 games of pathetic play by Brad Johnson, not counting the injuries on offense. YOu sure proved your point!

 

[superonyx]

You mean TO knew how to Run Routes? I guess all those experts, including Jerry Rice talking about TO needing to run better routes even last year, just figment of everyone's imagination?

Yeah, it was all about Protection schemes and nothing do with Corey Procter or Flozell Adams playing bad.

Really, you have anything original to say other than parrot me?

Yeah, you, everyone knew what Cowboys were running but still managed to average more than 21 a game, even with 3 games of pathetic play by Brad Johnson, not counting the injuries on offense. YOu sure proved your point!

So TO needed to run better routes and thats why we didnt make the playoffs? Hmm what a brilliant mind you are. Did you think of that all by yourself?

Have you no idea what the job of an offensive coordinator is? If you have flozell and proctor playing poorly then isnt it the job of the play caller to scheme around the weakness on the club? Should Garrett know how to call plays that took advantage of the up the middle, over aggressive defenses? Somehow other teams managed to figure it out. Isnt it his job to figure out how to counter what teams started to do to us? They played close to the line, jammed us, blitzed us, and stopped us. And its all Cory Proctors fault.

So this 21 points per game is mentioned by you as a weak attempt to make a point. I guess your point is that our offense was good enough last year? Because after all we scored 21 points a game. Yet somehow we didnt make the playoffs, our offensive coordinator was called out by his player and other players around the league, he went shopping for a new job and was turned down by everyone, a hall of fame receiver was sent packaging. And golly gee Gomer we scored 21 points a game.

What are we all missing here?
oh yea...... we scored 21 points a game.

 

[CowboyMike]

Romo’s one real game action without any real contributions from TO?

2007 vs. Carolina when TO went down with a sprained ankle.

Romo went 28 for 42 for 257 yards. 66.7 completion percentage. 1 td, 1 int.

 

[birdwells1]

Romo’s one real game action without any real contributions from TO?

2007 vs. Carolina when TO went down with a sprained ankle.

Romo went 28 for 42 for 257 yards. 66.7 completion percentage. 1 td, 1 int.

how much of that was after TO went down?

 

[Rampage]

We'll just have to wait and see.

I can't belive I actually agree with you on something.

You missed his point. TO didn't make Bledsoe better.

one of the reasons Bledsoe was benched was because he refused to throw to Owens or anybody for that matter not named Terry Glenn.

 

[McCordsville Cowboy]

TO made Romo... Romo didn't make TO

 

[I LOVE ME SOME ME!]

TO made Romo... Romo didn't make TO

:bravo:

 

[khiladi]

"They played close to the line, jammed us, blitzed us, and stopped us. And its all Cory Proctors fault."Ding, ding ding... If you pay attention, this was the exact same game plan the Giants came out with in the second half of the 2007 play-off game that set Romo running for his life. Thee irony of the whole situation is, Kyle Kosier was playing in the line-up. As I said, people act as if the offense was figured out this year, but the reality is, it happened last year.

 

[Tovya]

The writer also failed to mention that the fact the T.O. dropped so many darn passes helped take away from his numbers as well...

No seriously though, Romo is a great QB with or without T.O.

Witten has always been Romo's preferred target anyway, but to keep T.O. from crying, he threw him the ball a lot. It doesn't mean that Owens didn't help Romo in the success department, but I think from a talent level, there is the possibility that it hurt Romo because of Owen's strong sideline and locker room personality.

T.O. got the ball because he's a great receiver, but without a great QB, a great received isn't anything. Owens will be missed at certain points this season, but I wouldn't discount the possibility that Williams' can fill this role better because he doesn't have the big mouth and "me-me" personality that caused so many problems.

I'd rather have a Romo that only throw 20 TDs and gets us another ring than one who throws for 40 at the same time bowing out in the 1st round of the playoffs. So honestly, I could care less about his stats.

 

[superpunk]

I remember when we first got Owens, and Drew Bledsoe's production jumped off the charts like he had found the fountain of awesomeness.