DMN Blog: Can Tony Romo be a bus driver?

[cowboyjoe]

Can Tony Romo be a bus driver?
9:55 AM Tue, Mar 31, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips

Defensive coordinator/head coach Wade Phillips hasn't said a whole lot since the Cowboys' season ended, but he's made two things clear about Jason Garrett's offense: He expects Tony Romo to cut down on his turnovers, and the running game will be emphasized more.

To use the Bill Parcells term, it sounds like the Cowboys want Romo to be a bus driver more often and pick his spots to be a gunslinger.

For some reason, a lot of folks seem to consider "bus driver" as an insulting term. It isn't. Parcells used it to describe a quarterback who calmly, carefully steered his team to wins. Troy Aikman was a Hall of Fame bus driver.

Aikman didn't have Romo's ability to turn a broken play into a big play. You don't want to strip Romo of his right to freelance, since he does it as well as any QB in the league. But Romo, who has been dismissive when discussing his turnovers, has to do a better job of walking the fine line of creating plays vs. forcing matters.

Some of that is simply knowing when it's not a good time to take a risk. For example, it wasn't real wise to throw a ball up for grabs in Ed Reed's territory just before halftime, allowing the Ravens to get field position that led to a go-ahead field goal.

When T.O. left, it took away Romo's top downfield threat. It also took away the receiver that Romo often forced passes to, resulting in more than half his interceptions last season. Perhaps Romo will be more careful with the ball simply because he won't feel the pressure to get it to a certain guy a certain number of times per game.

Romo's most trusted target is a tight end. His premier wide receiver is a possession guy. The deepest position on the offense is tailback, where three proven players ought to be able to rack up yards and chew up clock behind one of the league's largest offensive lines. And the Dallas defense, even with Brian Stewart apparently getting in the way, was a top-10 unit.

There will still be times the Cowboys will need Romo to be spectacular, but he'll have to have a steady hand to give his team a chance to succeed on a regular basis.

 

[DallasEast]

Tony Romo
The Sixty Million Dollar Bus Driver

Yep, he's up to the task, but will Garrett let him?

Find out soon when khiladi answers this question.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Tony does have to protect the ball better and not fumble, but I think he's always going to be that gunslinger type at heart.

But that's okay. Simply running the ball more will by itself cut down on his turnovers.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

He doesnt have to be a bus driver. I guess its the flavor of the week though.


Tony IS a playmaking QB.
Dont scale back from that.

He has to protect that ball.
His decision making needs to improve.

Thats all.

 

[NeonNinja]

Exactly, it's dumb not to use all three backs no matter whom is at Qb. Our backs are the strength of the offense.

 

[wileedog]

Tony does have to protect the ball better and not fumble, but I think he's always going to be that gunslinger type at heart.

But that's okay. Simply running the ball more will by itself cut down on his turnovers.

I think a better short/intermediate passing game and better protection will do wonders as well. Most of Romo's damage comes when things break down.

Actually take away his fumbles, and his TD/INT ratio is just fine, on par with any QB in the league. Its dropping the ball that hurts him more than bad decisions.

 

[McCordsville Cowboy]

Tony can never be a bus driver. Its not in his nature. He is a playmaker in the mold of the playground football QB.

He will consistently WOW you with breaking the pocket/making big plays and hitting the open WR downfield.

BUT.... he will just as quickly rip your heart out while throwing into triple coverage with Ed Reed playing centerfield.

If he WERE a bus driver, with the talent on this team, we would win more than 9 games.

 

[cowboyjoe]

i think what the cowboys will do as wade said is run the football more, which will get the ball out of romo's hands in certain situations.

Romo has to be a gunslinger now and then, but its better not to totally rely on him to do that. Its kinda what was said on the dfw sports beat show by brady tinker interviewing randy white and the rocket. Brady said several players told him that the players in essence were relying on romo to bail them out more than they should have. So, when he got hurt, they were stunned, and didnt show the maturity of ok, our star qb is hurt now, so we have to play harder, focus more, study more, etc.

Its kinda like when aikman was the leader, but you had Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Irvin, Novachek, Harper, they spread the ball around. And defenses couldnt just shut down one person like they did when teams would shut down T O. If you look at all the great teams when they had dynasties winning super bowls, like steelers whom had franco harris, lynn swann, terry bradshaw, stalworth, they spread the ball around.


When you do that, the defenses cant tee up on one player and shut him down. This will also make romo more aware of reading defenses, finding the open spot and the team players more of focusing and playing up to their capabilities, and not waiting for romo to bail the team out. Thats what the cowboys used to do under staubach, which would frustrate me to no end. Some of the players would say, we knew roger the dodger could pull us out, so we didnt play as hard etc. Now the team, the whole team has to play and play welll, no more excuses.

 

[Doomsday101]

Then this team needs to become better disciplined in terms of cutting down on penalties. Dallas can't continue to put themselves in 2nd/3rd and long situations where everyone knows the pass is coming. Everything this team does needs to begin and end with cutting out the dumb penalties that put us in bad situations both offense and defense. We don't need to reinvent the wheel we need to do a better of staying focused on the task at hand

 

[cowboyjoe]

Then this team needs to become better disciplined in terms of cutting down on penalties. Dallas can't continue to put themselves in 2nd/3rd and long situations where everyone knows the pass is coming. Everything this team does needs to begin and end with cutting out the dumb penalties that put us in bad situations both offense and defense. We don't need to reinvent the wheel we need to do a better of staying focused on the task at hand

exactly and that goes back to coaching, and not letting players get away with dumb mistakes. To me when a head coach says im not going to overwork you and 2 beat writers say; when was the last time you actually saw hard hitting in this camp, and they said. Last year parcells was here, then that shows to me right there that the coaches arent making the players work hard enough.

Just like one player or coach said in an article from star telegraph that the so called pro bowlers didnt have a good camp last year and some of them got lazy, that goes back to the head coach and coaches running a soft OTAs and camp. That has got to stop right there.

NOW i am real hopeful because in that same article from star telegraph, the person said players realize now the gravy train is over and its work now, and the coaches are getting onto the players, making them work hard etc.

 

[slick325]

"Defensive coordinator/head coach Wade Phillips hasn't said a whole lot since the Cowboys' season ended, but he's made two things clear about Jason Garrett's offense: He expects Tony Romo to cut down on his turnovers, and the running game will be emphasized more.

To use the Bill Parcells term, it sounds like the Cowboys want Romo to be a bus driver more often and pick his spots to be a gunslinger."

This is the best news of the entire offseason!!!!!

Maybe Dallas can win some games in December and January with the 3 backs and the D leading the way.

 

[cowboyjoe]

so changes are taking place, even as we are speaking now, even all of the players showed up at voluntary camp starting monday.

so some things are in place, just have to see if they keep it up

 

[Doomsday101]

exactly and that goes back to coaching, and not letting players get away with dumb mistakes. To me when a head coach says im not going to overwork you and 2 beat writers say; when was the last time you actually saw hard hitting in this camp, and they said. Last year parcells was here, then that shows to me right there that the coaches arent making the players work hard enough.

Just like one player or coach said in an article from star telegraph that the so called pro bowlers didnt have a good camp last year and some of them got lazy, that goes back to the head coach and coaches running a soft OTAs and camp. That has got to stop right there.

NOW i am real hopeful because in that same article from star telegraph, the person said players realize now the gravy train is over and its work now, and the coaches are getting onto the players, making them work hard etc.

It goes back to coaching but it also goes back to players. Hell you are taught much of this from little league football and most of these guys have been playing for game since that time. We had a hardnosed coach in BP and yet was one of the most penalized teams we continue that with Wade. Coaches need to keep hammering the message but the players understand the rules of the game and need to take it upon themselves to do their job and to stay focused. My god if high school kids playing the game for free understand this then Professionals hauling in Millions damn well should know it.

 

[ArmyCowboy]

Obviously Romo needs to cut down on the fumbles and improve his overall ball security.

Running the ball more will only help the team and Romo as well. A successful running game will lift some of the load off Romo's shoulders and allow him to attack a defense that isn't just sitting on the pass.

With those two things in mind however, it seems kind of silly to me to give a QB a $67 mil contract and then expect him to be a bus driver type of QB.

I think the coaching staff still expects Romo to be a play-maker, just maybe on a smaller scale than the last couple of seasons.

 

[AKATheRake]

Romo the bus driver? What a joke. We don't have Jake Delhomme here as our QB. The guy is a top 5 QB and the bonafide catalyst to this offense.

If you wanted a bus driver out of him then that's more reason T.O should have stayed.

Jerry and the powers that be don't see Tony as a "bus driver", they see him as the catalyst and centerpiece to this offense. Rightfully so.

 

[cowboyjoe]

It goes back to coaching but it also goes back to players. Hell you are taught much of this from little league football and most of these guys have been playing for game since that time. We had a hardnosed coach in BP and yet was one of the most penalized teams we continue that with Wade. Coaches need to keep hammering the message but the players understand the rules of the game and need to take it upon themselves to do their job and to stay focused. My god if high school kids playing the game for free understand this then Professionals hauling in Millions damn well should know it.

i agree doomsday, i think what has woke this team up is the letting go of Roy Williams S, Tank Johnson whom didnt produce, T O a player that jerry jones liked and all the players know it and adam jones. Now the players realize that their jobs is on the line too, they had better produce or they will be out too.

its a crying shame it took that to wake these players up, but thats what it boils down too.

 

[Vintage]

The Super Bowl winning QB threw 15 INTs in 469 attempts. 1 INT per 31.27 attempts.

Tony Romo threw 14 INTs in 450 attempts. 1 INT per 32.14 attempts.


One has a defense that bails him out when he makes mistakes, full of clutch players. The other has a defense that needed to be dumbed down.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

I think a better short/intermediate passing game and better protection will do wonders as well. Most of Romo's damage comes when things break down.

Actually take away his fumbles, and his TD/INT ratio is just fine, on par with any QB in the league. Its dropping the ball that hurts him more than bad decisions.

To say that is misleading.

I have seen Tony throw INT's when he had plenty of time.

 

[cowboyjoe]

so now that youve got their attention, you dont let up off of their neck, you keep the pressure, the hard work, intensity till team chemistry builds, then you let it take off from there.

 

[Doomsday101]

i agree doomsday, i think what has woke this team up is the letting go of Roy Williams S, Tank Johnson whom didnt produce, T O a player that jerry jones liked and all the players know it and adam jones. Now the players realize that their jobs is on the line too, they had better produce or they will be out too.

its a crying shame it took that to wake these players up, but thats what it boils down too.

I agree that will cause a player to take notice. In the end though it comes down to how bad do you want to win and what are you willing to do to accomplish it? Coaches can do so much in the end the players have to want it. I hope the embarrassment of last year helps to motivate this team and causes them to push themselves harder.