The argument from Dallas fans about Romo shows an insecurity that fans of the Colts and Pats don't seem to exhibit. It comes closer to the Giants and Eagles fans who continually justify their player with flawed logic.
The QB position is the most visible, most important, and most responsible position on the field. Any argument to the contrary ignores that this guy touches the ball on all the offensive snaps other than the special teams plays and this idiotic wildcat thing that will fade faster than Milli Vanilli's career.
You cannot put the onus on one player who is more instrumental than the quarterback with any credibility. People who attempt to make this point show their real intent when they try and justify their quarterback's play by suggesting it's the fault of someone else.
The responsibility of the quarterback has never been more crucial than this era of the game. This includes the time when quarterbacks called their own plays. Because defenses have become much more technically elaborate and complicated. And the quarterback is responsible for reading defenses, calling line play, audibling out of bad plays, and finding open receivers all while pass rushes that have gone from tough to down right scary have developed.
This may end up being the golden age of the quarterback. To dismiss his involvement in every facet of the offense has an agenda for most.
Romo has a skill set that puts him in the top echelon of quarterbacks today. The fastest gun in the west, he can deliver the ball quicker than any other QB in the game.
I don't believe he is as accurate as some state. He does have some top skills at this, but two routes he continually misses on are crossing routes and the deep ball.
He is behind the receiver on the drag and other routes that have the receiver crossing in front of his face. I wonder sometimes all the YAC that are left o the field when receivers have to reach back and change body angles to snatch the ball then cannot recover before the defender gets there.
Deep balls are always a mystery when he tosses them. He seems to have a real problem with the speed of Austin, because I would bet that combo misses more than the league average on passes where the ball flies over twenty-yards.
Decision making has been a real problem for Romo. The gunslinger moniker doesn't justify his boneheaded go-for-broke attitude when it appears he is going to throw the ball come hell or high water.
His ball security is lacking, and I suggest this is because he has small hands for his position.
But the good news. He is starting to understand a wild-eyed throw, or a fumble is within his control and he can change the face of his game by concentrating on holding the ball with two hands, and not just tossing it up for grabs when he can toss it out of bounds or perhaps take a sack and reload.
Roger Staubach dazzled people and after the 9ers game when he brought the team back in 1969/70 you just knew this guy had it. Not just all the skill sets, but the mental game to lift the team around him.
Aikman was a man's man and the most accurate quarterback I have ever seen. And I have seen every season this team has played. There was a no-nonsense attitude married with his leadership and skills that caused you to know he was a winner.
He was workman-like in his dissection of defenses, and you could see his focus was winning, and he would accept nothing less.
Even during the 1-15 season, there were times he exhibited the fortitude that caused you to say this guy is the real deal. Can you ever forget the TD pass in the Az game when he was unconscious before the ball got to the receiver because of the blitzing linebacker, but he stood his ground?
Aikman exuded champion long before he waqs one.
Romo has a different style. He is a little less serious in the press and on game day. Just his demeanor. But there are things I see in him now that were not there a couple of years ago. He is starting to don the harness of the leader of this team.
I am not yet to the point that I believe unequivocally that he is the next in line for a ring. He still needs to exhibit the traits he is working on including raising the team on his back and carrying them to the finish line if need be.
But I am now officially excited about this season - and winning it all is not the requisite for me to believe this kid has stepped into the Big Boy shoes.
This is Romo's team. They will go just as far as he takes them.
He has all the tools to take them a long way if he controls turnovers and holds people accountable for they play on offense.
He now need only deliver.
