Does Romo deserve the choker label

[DallasInDC]

After reading all the Romo bashing posts about Romo being a choker, incapable of winning big games really got me to thinking.

The Romo bashers claim he is not a top tier QB despite the stats saying otherwise. It has been pointed out before that Romo is top 5 in completion %, Yds/Att, Yds/GM, TD%, (top 10 in TD/INT ratio), and passer rating when compared to his peers over the past 5 years. He is even top 5 all time in some of these categories (for those who argue this is a passing league now...then why aren't there more players from this era ahead of Romo). Even his worst stat INT% he's in the top 15. He has led the Cowboys to 4 winning seasons 3 playoff appearances (could have been 4 had he not gotten injured in 2008) and 2 division titles in 5 years. and he has done this with a rushing offense ranked in the bottom half and a defense that consistently ranks in the bottom half of the league in points allowed (2009 is the exception) Yet the Romo bashers will claim stats are meaningless and that the mistakes Romo makes at the worst possible points in the game means he is a choker that can't take this team to the SB and shouldn't be considered elite or mentioned when discussing the top 5 QBs.

It's an easy arugument to make (especially after the two losses this year), and hard one to disprove. So I went back through every loss and went through the play by play to see what impact Romo's turnovers (INT and fumbles) had on the outcome of the game to determine which games Romo choked - or was the obvious primary reason we lost the game. Based on my review, out of 27 losses since Romo became a starter (includes playoffs), I could only find 5 losses where Romo "choked" and two of those games were this year and two others were in years that we Won the division. 5 games out of 65. I am almost certain that is not out of line with Brady P Manning, Brees, Rodgers Rothelsibergers and Rivers, give or take a game or two.

If you consider the circumstances and outcomes of Romo's mistakes, you will see that he played a bigger role in keeping us in games that we lost than actually losing the games. This doesn't mean that Romo doesn't make mistakes that makes it more difficult to winm but you can say that of any QB that has played the game. The truth is, Romo has been mislabeled and doesn't get the respect he deserves.

The basis for my classification of 5 losses almost soley on Romo are in the below:

2006

First loss vs. Wash 19-22: Romo 67% 284 yds comp, 2 TD no turnovers 109 rating. 7pt lead with 14:05 left in the fourth qtr. Game lost on blocked potential game winning FG recovered by Wash that led to game winning FG; Romo didn’t choke.

Second Loss vs. NO vs. 17-42: Romo 48% 249 yds 1 TD 2 INT 58.1 rating. First INT in 14:44 left in second qtr led to 39 yd TD drive by NO. Second INT 0:43 left in third qtr did not result in points. Score at time of interception 42:10. Defense gave up 42 points; bad game but Romo didn’t choke.

Third loss vs. Phil 23-7: Romo 48% 142 yds 1 TD 2 INT 45.5 rating. First INT with 14:03 left in 4th qtr Philly leading 16-7 (Play was the same as a punt). Led to 80 yd drive for TD. Second INT led to no points; bad game but Romo didn’t choke.

Fourth Loss vs. Det 31-39: Romo 72% 321yds 2 TD 1 INT 2 lost fumbles 111.6 rating. First fumble lost on a sack with 13:43 left in 3rd qtr. Det went 3 and out. First INT with 5:25 in 3rd quarter led to Det 28 yd TD drive to take 30-21 lead. Second fumble on a sack with 4:24 left in 4th qtr led to Det FG to extend lead to 39-31. Romo leads 59 yd drive (all passes) that stalls at Det 6 yds with 0:16 left. Scores on Romo TO’s was the difference in the game yet Defense gave up 39 pts. Romo didn’t choke.

Fifth Loss vs. Sea (playoff) 20-21: Romo 59% 189 yds 1 TD no turnovers. Terry Glen fumbles in end zone for a safety; Romo led 80 yard drive to setup potential game winning FG. FG no good bobbled snap: QB Romo put team in position to win; Holder Romo potentially chokes although questionable with the new balls rule. Romo didn’t choke

2007

Sixth Loss vs. NE (undefeated season) 27-48: Romo 62% 199 yds 2 TD 1 INT 91.0 rating. INT with 3:59 left in the fourth qtr Led to 20 yd NE TD drive to go up 48-27. Dallas Led 24-21 with 10:24 left in the 3rd qtr. Defense gave up 24 points in 25 min of play; Romo didn’t choke.

Seventh Loss vs. Phil 6-10: Romo 36% 214 yds 0 TDs 3 INT 22.1 rating first INT 13:48 left in second qtr, fumble on the INT recovered by Dallas – no turnover. Second INT 6:34 left in second qtr led to Phil 49 yd TD drive this was the difference in the game. Third INT 7:43 left in 4th qtr did not result in a Phil score. Romo was sacked 4 times but had a terrible game; Romo choked

Eighth loss vs. Wash 6-27: Romo 44% 86 yds 0 TDs 1 INT 34.9 rating. Romo played only one qtr with home field already wrapped up; incomplete Romo didn’t choke.

Ninth Loss vs. NYG 17-21 (Playoff): Romo 50% 201 yds 1 TD 1 INT 64.7 rating. Dallas Defense gave up tying TD in last 46 seconds of the first half. First INT with 0:16 left in fourth quarter. Romo last effort on 4th down to win the game, Crayton pulled up on his route leading to INT in the endzone. Not a great game by Romo but Romo didn’t choke.

2008

Tenth Loss vs. Wash 24-26: Romo 59.6% 300 yds 3 TD 1 INT 90.7 rating. First INT 2:41 left in the 3rd quarter led to Wash FG score 23-17. Romo scored fourth quarter TD to give Dallas one last chance at victory. INT hurt chances of victory but Romo didn’t choke.

Eleventh Loss vs. AZ 24-30 (OT): Romo 63% 341 yds 3 TD 1 lost fumble 116.2 rating. Fumble 7:58 left in second qtr did not result in AZ points. Romo led two TD drives in last two minutes of the fourth qtr to tie the game and send it in to OT. AZ wins with a blocked punt for TD in OT. Romo didn’t choke.

Twelfth Loss vs. Pitt 13 -20: Romo 53% 210 yds 1 TD 3 INT 1 lost fumble 44.9 rating. 3 turnovers in first half resulting in 3pts for Pitt. First half Tied 3-3 Dallas led 13-6 with 7:14 left in the fourth qtr. Fourth interception with 2:04 left in the 4th quarter returned for TD to give Pitt 20-13 lead and win. Romo choked.

Thirteenth Loss vs. Balt 24-33: Romo 53% 252 yds 2 TD 2 INT 66.2 Rating. First INT 12:49 left in the first qtr did not result in Balt PTs. Second INT with 0:27 left in second half led to Balt FG for 9-7 lead. Defense gave up 27 yds in 27 sec to allow the go ahead score. Defense allowed 77 yd TD run with 3:57 left in the fourth qtr. Romo followed this score with a 71 yd TD drive. One play later Balt scores on 84 yd TD run. Romo didn’t choke.

Fourteenth Loss vs. Phil 6-44: Romo 54% 183 yds 0 TD 1 INT 2 Lost Fumbles 55.8 Rating. Romo first INT with 1:04 left in the second half led to Phil TD (42 yd drive in 52 seconds) to give Phil 24-3 lead. First fumble with 14:29 of third quarter resulting in 73 yd TD return extending lead to 34-3. Second fumble led to Phil FG for final score 44-6. Romo turnovers resulted in 10pts Defense gave up 24 points and Barber fumble resulted 96 yd TD return. Loss was a team Loss; Romo didn’t choke.

2009

Fifteenth Loss vs. NYG 31-33: 45% 122 yds 1 TD 3 INT 29.6 rating. First INT 3:03 left in first quarter returned for TD. Second INT with 1:04 left in second qtr led to NYG TD. Third INT 0:24 left in 3rd quarter led to NYG TD. To Give NY 27-24 lead. Cowboys take the lead 31-30 with 3:40 left in the 4th Defense allows NYG to drive 59 yds for game winning FG as time expires. Romo 3 INT resulting in 21 pts; Romo Choked

Sixteenth Loss vs. Den 10-17: Romo 60% 255 yds 0 TD 1 INT 1 Lost Fumble 67.1 rating. Romo sacked and fumbled with10:10 left in second qtr to Reduce Dallas lead to 10-7 Romo INT with 12:40 left in 3rd qtr did not result in any pts for Den. Dallas Still had 10-7 lead at this time. Defense gives up 51 yd TD pass with 1:46 left in 4th qtr. to go up 17-10. Romo Led 78 yd drive to Den 2 in last 1:45. Drive ends on downs. Romo didn’t choke.

Seventeenth Loss vs. GB 7-17: Romo 62% 251 yds 1 TD 1 INT 1 lost fumble 78.0 rating. Romo fumbled with 13:14 left in 4th qtr resulting in GB TD extending lead to 17-0. Romo INT with 10:49 left did not result in points. Bad game all around. Romo didn’t choke.

Eighteenth Loss vs. NYG 24-31: Romo 75% 392 yds 3 TD 0 INT 112.1 rating. Dallas lost despite Romo’s great performance. Romo didn’t choke.

Nineteenth Loss vs. San Diego 17-20: Romo 63% 249 yds 2 TD 0 INT 111.7 rating. Another good game by Romo yet Cowboys lose. Romo didn’t choke.

Twentieth Loss vs. Minn 3-34 (playoff): Romo 63% 198 yds 0 TD 1 INT 2 fumbles lost 66.1 rating. Romo sacked and Fumbled with 10:50 left in the first qtr did not result in Minn points. Romo sacked with 6:29 left in second qtr resulted in Minn FG to increase Minn lead to 17-3. Romo INT with 2:34 left in 3rd qtr resulted in Minn FG. 3 Romo turnovers resulted in 6 points for Minn yet Cowboys lose by 31 pts. Romo sacked 6 times. Defense and OL lose this game. Romo didn’t choke.

2010

Twenty-first Loss vs. Wash 7-13: Romo 66% 282 yds 1 TD 0 INT 89.1 rating. TChoice fumble – enough said. Romo didn’t choke.

Twenty-second Loss vs. Chi 20-27: Romo 67 374 yds 1 TD 2 INT 78.4 rating. Romo INT 10:08 left in the first qtr resulted in Chi FG. Romo INT with 3:38 left in 2nd quarter Led to Chi FG increasing lead to 20-14. First INT’s came off of tipped ball. Jay cutler 3 TDs 137 passer rating Dallas 36 rushing yds. Team loss. Romo didn’t choke.

Twenty-third Loss Tenn 27-34: Romo 67% 406 yds 3 TD 3 INT 89.6 rating. Romo INT with 2:12 left in third qtr led to Tenn FG (Cowboys were in FG range) INT was off tipped ball. Second INT with 7:14 left in the fourth qtr led to Tenn Touchdown. Ball deflected at LOS. Romo ties game at 27-27. Ensuing kickoff at Dallas 15 for Witten/Columbo celebration penalty. Kickoff is returned 73 yards to Dallas 5. Three plays later Tenn scores game winning TD. Romo INT hurt chances but was not the only reason for the loss. Romo Didn’t Choke.

Twenty-fourth Loss Minn 21-24: Romo 75% 220 yds 3 TD 2 INT 98.4 rating. Romo INT with 1:25 left in the first qtr off Witten tipped ball led to Minn TD. Second INT with 9:03 left in the 3rd resulted in Minn FG to take 24-21 lead. Romo’s fourth TD pass nullified by offensive penalty. Bad luck and penalties (11-91 yds) major reason for loss. Romo didn’t choke

Twenty-fifth Loss vs. NYG 35-41: Romo 71% 39 yds 1 TD 0 INT124.5 rating. Romo left game with injury with 12:20 left in second qtr and 10-7 lead. Romo didn’t choke.

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

Choker? No. Occasional bonehead? Sure.

 

[Dallas4ever]

Unfortunately for Romo, his mistakes have happened at very inopportune times during some very visable high profile type games. A lot of people watch the Cowboys and many of them are not cheering for them to win like most of us here. I personally don't think that he deserves the choker label but he's gonna have to win some big playoff games to end the talk. Based on what he's done overall thus far, it's really hard to win an argument claiming that he's not.......despite the stats!

 

[DallasInDC]

Choker? No. Occasional bonehead? Sure.

What NFL QB doesn't have the occaisonal boneheaded play? The 6 QBs I mentioned above have had their fair share of them. THe only difference is that their teams were able to overcome them more often than the Cowboys. In many of those losses listed above, Romo put us in a position to eventually win the game. Romo is held to a standard that no other QB is asked to be held to.

Only 5 of 27 losses since 2006 has Romo put us in a position where it was virtually impossible to overcome the losses.

 

[CliffnDallas]

Is he a choker? Put it this way. Zaza Gabor would wear him around her neck.

 

[masomenos]

No, he does not, and if not for the Seattle debacle then he probably wouldn't have it.

C'est la vie.

 

[baj1dallas]

Choker? No. Top tier QB? No.

 

[KJJ]

What NFL QB doesn't have the occaisonal boneheaded play? The 6 QBs I mentioned above have had their fair share of them. THe only difference is that their teams were able to overcome them more often than the Cowboys. In many of those losses listed above, Romo put us in a position to eventually win the game. Romo is held to a standard that no other QB is asked to be held to.

Only 5 of 27 losses since 2006 has Romo put us in a position where it was virtually impossible to overcome the losses.

Romo is held to the same standard as every starting QB in the NFL. No team is going to be able to overcome back to back pick sixes and a 3rd straight pick that leads to another TD. He's lost 2 games for the Cowboys this season because of repeated ill timed turnovers.

The Cowboys could have dragged Quincy Carter out of a drug house on Sunday and suited him up at halftime and he wouldn't have been any worse than we saw from Romo in the second half.

He wins games for the Cowboys and he loses games for them. He's won 2 games this season and lost 2 games. Romo may be the best/worst QB in history.

 

[DallasInDC]

Unfortunately for Romo, his mistakes have happened at very inopportune times during some very visable high profile type games. A lot of people watch the Cowboys and many of them are not cheering for them to win like most of us here. I personally don't think that he deserves the choker label but he's gonna have to win some big playoff games to end the talk. Based on what he's done overall thus far, it's really hard to win an argument claiming that he's not.......despite the stats!

I understand opposing teams fans and even the media, but our own fans are the ones that are labelling him a choker and incapable of leading this team. It's our fans that complain that Romo can't lead this team, for even the most absurd reasons like the direction he wears his cap, because he golfs in the offseason, or that he doesn't yell at his teammates enough. Yet they overlook all the times he has won games or at least put us in position to win games. The stats speak for themselves. If you put Romo on a different team with same results, he would be talked about as an elite QB. Then you have QB's like Eli Manning who are truely inferior to our QB as part of that discussion because he had a strong running game and top 3 defense that propelled him to a SB victory (add a TE that made an outstanding catch on a poorly thrown ball). Aaron Rodgers, before last year, Brees before his SB, Phillip Rivers hadn't won a playoff game but was never crucified for it despite having stats on par or below Romo's at the same point in their careers.

On another note, one thing that stood out was that in nearly half of our losses since 2006, the other team scored 30+ points. If our defense stepped up more often during that time, we would have had a lot less of those "inopportune time" discussions.

 

[DallasInDC]

Romo is held to the same standard as every starting QB in the NFL. No team is going to be able to overcome back to back pick sixes and a 3rd straight pick that leads to another TD. He's lost 2 games for the Cowboys this season because of repeated ill timed turnovers.

The Cowboys could have dragged Quincy Carter out of a drug house on Sunday and suited him up at halftime and he wouldn't have been any worse than we saw from Romo in the second half.

He wins games for the Cowboys and he loses games for them. He's won 2 games this season and lost 2 games. Romo may be the best/worst QB in history.

First of all yo have to be kidding me if you think Romo is held to the same standard as every other starting QB in the NFL. Even the most ardent Romo hater will tell you he is held to a higher standard.

Second, I don't deny the two games this year. I included them in my analysis of games he chocked away. The point is not limited to this year it is to the whole body of work. And every QB will have those cluster games on occaision.

As for the Quincy reference, you must not rember how Quincy was when he was here preparing for games. He would never had us in a position to have a 24 point lead to actually blow away. When we won with Quincy we won despite him not because of him.

 

[KJJ]

First of all yo have to be kidding me if you think Romo is held to the same standard as every other starting QB in the NFL. Even the most ardent Romo hater will tell you he is held to a higher standard.

Second, I don't deny the two games this year. I included them in my analysis of games he chocked away. The point is not limited to this year it is to the whole body of work. And every QB will have those cluster games on occaision.

As for the Quincy reference, you must not rember how Quincy was when he was here preparing for games. He would never had us in a position to have a 24 point lead to actually blow away. When we won with Quincy we won despite him not because of him.

It's Romo's body of work over the past 5 years that's given him his unsavory reputation it's not just the two mega meltdowns from this season. It's the pattern he's developed over the years that's so disturbing. Sure every QB ***** up a game here and there games are put on their shoulders but you don't see the great QB's like Brady have 2 or 3 **** up games every year where the finger of blame is pointed directly at them.

We all saw Brady toss 4 picks a couple of weeks ago but how many times have you seen him have a game like that? He wouldn't have 3 SB rings and be regarded as highly as he is if it was a pattern. Usually we don't see meltdowns from Romo until Dec/Jan when the pressure is really on.

As for the Quincy Carter reference get real that was just an exaggeration of how bad Romo played in the second half on Sunday. It took a monumental meltdown by Romo for the Cowboys to suffer the biggest collapse in the teams 51 year history.

Rarely have I ever seen a QB singlehandedly erase such a big lead in one half of football. Jerry said that Romo has real thick skin well it better be as thick an Iguana.

 

[KJJ]

First of all yo have to be kidding me if you think Romo is held to the same standard as every other starting QB in the NFL. Even the most ardent Romo hater will tell you he is held to a higher standard.

It's mostly Cowboy fans who hold Romo to such a high standard because of Staubach, Aikman and the championships they were apart of. Romo's held to a high standard because "statistically" he's as good as any QB that's ever played the game. Quincy Carter was never held to a higher standard than most because everyone knew he sucked. He never had the outstanding performances we've seen from Romo.

Cowboy fans had no hope with Carter or any of the QB's after Aikman and before Romo but Romo gave the fans hope with some outstanding games over the past few years. His play in those games raised the standards fans have for him that's why the criticism he receives is so heavy when he self destructs. Any starting QB in the NFL is going to get ripped to shreds by their fans and the media if they continued year after year to have the kind of meltdowns we've seen from Romo.

What frustrates fans and has the experts scratching their heads is that Romo can be as good as Brady, Rodgers and Brees on any given Sunday or during a half then out of nowhere he can come apart at the seams. This season has been a tale of two half's for Romo. He practically repaired his 5 year reputation after the two heroic games against SF and Washington. Right when he started receiving respect from everyone and it appeared he may have finally turned the corner he suffers the worst meltdown of his career. He can be the best/worst QB you'll ever see.

 

[Dallas4ever]

I understand opposing teams fans and even the media, but our own fans are the ones that are labelling him a choker and incapable of leading this team. It's our fans that complain that Romo can't lead this team, for even the most absurd reasons like the direction he wears his cap, because he golfs in the offseason, or that he doesn't yell at his teammates enough. Yet they overlook all the times he has won games or at least put us in position to win games. The stats speak for themselves. If you put Romo on a different team with same results, he would be talked about as an elite QB. Then you have QB's like Eli Manning who are truely inferior to our QB as part of that discussion because he had a strong running game and top 3 defense that propelled him to a SB victory (add a TE that made an outstanding catch on a poorly thrown ball). Aaron Rodgers, before last year, Brees before his SB, Phillip Rivers hadn't won a playoff game but was never crucified for it despite having stats on par or below Romo's at the same point in their careers.

On another note, one thing that stood out was that in nearly half of our losses since 2006, the other team scored 30+ points. If our defense stepped up more often during that time, we would have had a lot less of those "inopportune time" discussions.

The points you make are very valid. Our shortcomings over the past few years have certainly not all been on Romo. It's still a team game. With that said, the harsh reality is that all quarterbacks are most often going to receive the glory when their team wins and the brunt of the grief when they don't. This is the case for all NFL QB's and probably doubles for the QB of the Dallas Cowboys. This is the burden that you carry when your widely viewed as "Americas Team".

 

[cowboyuptx]

No... Romo's not necessarily a "choker", it's just that his failures often occur in the most epic fashion... Romo's story is yet to be written, it is still very possible that he wins a Super Bowl this year and all is forgotten...

The two losses this season both fall under the "epic fail" category, and most of that's on Romo, but at 2-2, and a game out of first, it's far too early to give up on Romo or this team... We all know that Romo's capable of playing at the level of the best QB in the world, he just needs to play that way at the right time...

 

[dooomsday]

Choker? No, he just fails to come up big when the pressure is even slightly above normal often imploding all by himself. After all he only gave away 1/2 our games this season. And they were the 2 biggest games.

You can't fix Tony Romo
October, 5, 2011
tComments
40
By Calvin Watkins

Coach Jason Garrett says quarterbacks are judged on wins and losses. Romo has lost seven of his last ten games and more importantly he's only 20-22 in games decided by seven points or less with a 87.2 quarterback rating. Romo is also just 23-21 in December/January games with 10 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys/post/_/id/4684865/you-cant-fix-tony-romo


The reality is games of importance, play off seeding or play off making games, you'll find his rating under 70 about 1/2 the time, or more. So if you think Romo should play up to his potential and give our team what we expect and pay him for, he is a monumental choker.

 

[dooomsday]

After reading all the Romo bashing posts about Romo being a choker, incapable of winning big games really got me to thinking.

The Romo bashers claim he is not a top tier QB despite the stats saying otherwise. It has been pointed out before that Romo is top 5 in completion %, Yds/Att, Yds/GM, TD%, (top 10 in TD/INT ratio), and passer rating when compared to his peers over the past 5 years. He is even top 5 all time in some of these categories (for those who argue this is a passing league now...then why aren't there more players from this era ahead of Romo). Even his worst stat INT% he's in the top 15. He has led the Cowboys to 4 winning seasons 3 playoff appearances (could have been 4 had he not gotten injured in 2008) and 2 division titles in 5 years. and he has done this with a rushing offense ranked in the bottom half and a defense that consistently ranks in the bottom half of the league in points allowed (2009 is the exception) Yet the Romo bashers will claim stats are meaningless and that the mistakes Romo makes at the worst possible points in the game means he is a choker that can't take this team to the SB and shouldn't be considered elite or mentioned when discussing the top 5 QBs.

It's an easy arugument to make (especially after the two losses this year), and hard one to disprove. So I went back through every loss and went through the play by play to see what impact Romo's turnovers (INT and fumbles) had on the outcome of the game to determine which games Romo choked - or was the obvious primary reason we lost the game. Based on my review, out of 27 losses since Romo became a starter (includes playoffs), I could only find 5 losses where Romo "choked" and two of those games were this year and two others were in years that we Won the division. 5 games out of 65. I am almost certain that is not out of line with Brady P Manning, Brees, Rodgers Rothelsibergers and Rivers, give or take a game or two.

If you consider the circumstances and outcomes of Romo's mistakes, you will see that he played a bigger role in keeping us in games that we lost than actually losing the games. This doesn't mean that Romo doesn't make mistakes that makes it more difficult to winm but you can say that of any QB that has played the game. The truth is, Romo has been mislabeled and doesn't get the respect he deserves.

The basis for my classification of 5 losses almost soley on Romo are in the below:

2006

First loss vs. Wash 19-22: Romo 67% 284 yds comp, 2 TD no turnovers 109 rating. 7pt lead with 14:05 left in the fourth qtr. Game lost on blocked potential game winning FG recovered by Wash that led to game winning FG; Romo didn’t choke.

Second Loss vs. NO vs. 17-42: Romo 48% 249 yds 1 TD 2 INT 58.1 rating. First INT in 14:44 left in second qtr led to 39 yd TD drive by NO. Second INT 0:43 left in third qtr did not result in points. Score at time of interception 42:10. Defense gave up 42 points; bad game but Romo didn’t choke.

Third loss vs. Phil 23-7: Romo 48% 142 yds 1 TD 2 INT 45.5 rating. First INT with 14:03 left in 4th qtr Philly leading 16-7 (Play was the same as a punt). Led to 80 yd drive for TD. Second INT led to no points; bad game but Romo didn’t choke.

Fourth Loss vs. Det 31-39: Romo 72% 321yds 2 TD 1 INT 2 lost fumbles 111.6 rating. First fumble lost on a sack with 13:43 left in 3rd qtr. Det went 3 and out. First INT with 5:25 in 3rd quarter led to Det 28 yd TD drive to take 30-21 lead. Second fumble on a sack with 4:24 left in 4th qtr led to Det FG to extend lead to 39-31. Romo leads 59 yd drive (all passes) that stalls at Det 6 yds with 0:16 left. Scores on Romo TO’s was the difference in the game yet Defense gave up 39 pts. Romo didn’t choke.

Fifth Loss vs. Sea (playoff) 20-21: Romo 59% 189 yds 1 TD no turnovers. Terry Glen fumbles in end zone for a safety; Romo led 80 yard drive to setup potential game winning FG. FG no good bobbled snap: QB Romo put team in position to win; Holder Romo potentially chokes although questionable with the new balls rule. Romo didn’t choke

2007

Sixth Loss vs. NE (undefeated season) 27-48: Romo 62% 199 yds 2 TD 1 INT 91.0 rating. INT with 3:59 left in the fourth qtr Led to 20 yd NE TD drive to go up 48-27. Dallas Led 24-21 with 10:24 left in the 3rd qtr. Defense gave up 24 points in 25 min of play; Romo didn’t choke.

Seventh Loss vs. Phil 6-10: Romo 36% 214 yds 0 TDs 3 INT 22.1 rating first INT 13:48 left in second qtr, fumble on the INT recovered by Dallas – no turnover. Second INT 6:34 left in second qtr led to Phil 49 yd TD drive this was the difference in the game. Third INT 7:43 left in 4th qtr did not result in a Phil score. Romo was sacked 4 times but had a terrible game; Romo choked

Eighth loss vs. Wash 6-27: Romo 44% 86 yds 0 TDs 1 INT 34.9 rating. Romo played only one qtr with home field already wrapped up; incomplete Romo didn’t choke.

Ninth Loss vs. NYG 17-21 (Playoff): Romo 50% 201 yds 1 TD 1 INT 64.7 rating. Dallas Defense gave up tying TD in last 46 seconds of the first half. First INT with 0:16 left in fourth quarter. Romo last effort on 4th down to win the game, Crayton pulled up on his route leading to INT in the endzone. Not a great game by Romo but Romo didn’t choke.

2008

Tenth Loss vs. Wash 24-26: Romo 59.6% 300 yds 3 TD 1 INT 90.7 rating. First INT 2:41 left in the 3rd quarter led to Wash FG score 23-17. Romo scored fourth quarter TD to give Dallas one last chance at victory. INT hurt chances of victory but Romo didn’t choke.

Eleventh Loss vs. AZ 24-30 (OT): Romo 63% 341 yds 3 TD 1 lost fumble 116.2 rating. Fumble 7:58 left in second qtr did not result in AZ points. Romo led two TD drives in last two minutes of the fourth qtr to tie the game and send it in to OT. AZ wins with a blocked punt for TD in OT. Romo didn’t choke.

Twelfth Loss vs. Pitt 13 -20: Romo 53% 210 yds 1 TD 3 INT 1 lost fumble 44.9 rating. 3 turnovers in first half resulting in 3pts for Pitt. First half Tied 3-3 Dallas led 13-6 with 7:14 left in the fourth qtr. Fourth interception with 2:04 left in the 4th quarter returned for TD to give Pitt 20-13 lead and win. Romo choked.

Thirteenth Loss vs. Balt 24-33: Romo 53% 252 yds 2 TD 2 INT 66.2 Rating. First INT 12:49 left in the first qtr did not result in Balt PTs. Second INT with 0:27 left in second half led to Balt FG for 9-7 lead. Defense gave up 27 yds in 27 sec to allow the go ahead score. Defense allowed 77 yd TD run with 3:57 left in the fourth qtr. Romo followed this score with a 71 yd TD drive. One play later Balt scores on 84 yd TD run. Romo didn’t choke.

Fourteenth Loss vs. Phil 6-44: Romo 54% 183 yds 0 TD 1 INT 2 Lost Fumbles 55.8 Rating. Romo first INT with 1:04 left in the second half led to Phil TD (42 yd drive in 52 seconds) to give Phil 24-3 lead. First fumble with 14:29 of third quarter resulting in 73 yd TD return extending lead to 34-3. Second fumble led to Phil FG for final score 44-6. Romo turnovers resulted in 10pts Defense gave up 24 points and Barber fumble resulted 96 yd TD return. Loss was a team Loss; Romo didn’t choke.

2009

Fifteenth Loss vs. NYG 31-33: 45% 122 yds 1 TD 3 INT 29.6 rating. First INT 3:03 left in first quarter returned for TD. Second INT with 1:04 left in second qtr led to NYG TD. Third INT 0:24 left in 3rd quarter led to NYG TD. To Give NY 27-24 lead. Cowboys take the lead 31-30 with 3:40 left in the 4th Defense allows NYG to drive 59 yds for game winning FG as time expires. Romo 3 INT resulting in 21 pts; Romo Choked

Sixteenth Loss vs. Den 10-17: Romo 60% 255 yds 0 TD 1 INT 1 Lost Fumble 67.1 rating. Romo sacked and fumbled with10:10 left in second qtr to Reduce Dallas lead to 10-7 Romo INT with 12:40 left in 3rd qtr did not result in any pts for Den. Dallas Still had 10-7 lead at this time. Defense gives up 51 yd TD pass with 1:46 left in 4th qtr. to go up 17-10. Romo Led 78 yd drive to Den 2 in last 1:45. Drive ends on downs. Romo didn’t choke.

Seventeenth Loss vs. GB 7-17: Romo 62% 251 yds 1 TD 1 INT 1 lost fumble 78.0 rating. Romo fumbled with 13:14 left in 4th qtr resulting in GB TD extending lead to 17-0. Romo INT with 10:49 left did not result in points. Bad game all around. Romo didn’t choke.

Eighteenth Loss vs. NYG 24-31: Romo 75% 392 yds 3 TD 0 INT 112.1 rating. Dallas lost despite Romo’s great performance. Romo didn’t choke.

Nineteenth Loss vs. San Diego 17-20: Romo 63% 249 yds 2 TD 0 INT 111.7 rating. Another good game by Romo yet Cowboys lose. Romo didn’t choke.

Twentieth Loss vs. Minn 3-34 (playoff): Romo 63% 198 yds 0 TD 1 INT 2 fumbles lost 66.1 rating. Romo sacked and Fumbled with 10:50 left in the first qtr did not result in Minn points. Romo sacked with 6:29 left in second qtr resulted in Minn FG to increase Minn lead to 17-3. Romo INT with 2:34 left in 3rd qtr resulted in Minn FG. 3 Romo turnovers resulted in 6 points for Minn yet Cowboys lose by 31 pts. Romo sacked 6 times. Defense and OL lose this game. Romo didn’t choke.

2010

Twenty-first Loss vs. Wash 7-13: Romo 66% 282 yds 1 TD 0 INT 89.1 rating. TChoice fumble – enough said. Romo didn’t choke.

Twenty-second Loss vs. Chi 20-27: Romo 67 374 yds 1 TD 2 INT 78.4 rating. Romo INT 10:08 left in the first qtr resulted in Chi FG. Romo INT with 3:38 left in 2nd quarter Led to Chi FG increasing lead to 20-14. First INT’s came off of tipped ball. Jay cutler 3 TDs 137 passer rating Dallas 36 rushing yds. Team loss. Romo didn’t choke.

Twenty-third Loss Tenn 27-34: Romo 67% 406 yds 3 TD 3 INT 89.6 rating. Romo INT with 2:12 left in third qtr led to Tenn FG (Cowboys were in FG range) INT was off tipped ball. Second INT with 7:14 left in the fourth qtr led to Tenn Touchdown. Ball deflected at LOS. Romo ties game at 27-27. Ensuing kickoff at Dallas 15 for Witten/Columbo celebration penalty. Kickoff is returned 73 yards to Dallas 5. Three plays later Tenn scores game winning TD. Romo INT hurt chances but was not the only reason for the loss. Romo Didn’t Choke.

Twenty-fourth Loss Minn 21-24: Romo 75% 220 yds 3 TD 2 INT 98.4 rating. Romo INT with 1:25 left in the first qtr off Witten tipped ball led to Minn TD. Second INT with 9:03 left in the 3rd resulted in Minn FG to take 24-21 lead. Romo’s fourth TD pass nullified by offensive penalty. Bad luck and penalties (11-91 yds) major reason for loss. Romo didn’t choke

Twenty-fifth Loss vs. NYG 35-41: Romo 71% 39 yds 1 TD 0 INT124.5 rating. Romo left game with injury with 12:20 left in second qtr and 10-7 lead. Romo didn’t choke.

What happened to 2011? LOL. Obviously choking need to be defined. I see it has failing to live up to expectations when needed. In addition to actually handing game away himself. He does both.

In 2006 after a nice run he lost big games in December to the Gints, Philly and NO. These were games with the division on the line. He went for QB ratings of 58, 45 and 58. While he did have a high rating in a loss to Detroit, he looked like crap in that one too and got his yard playing from behind. There was one good game, vs Atl. However we followed that with 2 losses and had to play on the road vs Seattle as a wildcard. And while he wasnt bad in the play off game he lost on his own fumble, he was nothing special either. People say well...he wasnt play QB. Who cares? The fumble was still a choke. It was an easy play for whatever reason, he couldnt handle it.

In 2007 after posting the 2nd best record in the league he became the first QB in history to lose as the #1 seed to a wildcard team in the divisional play offs. That alone to me is a choke. In the game, at home, he had a rating of 64. And If I recall GB was still hanging around that Dec. His last 3 games (1 W 2 Ls) had us limping into the play offs instead of rolling. His ratings? 22, 81, 34. Very rarely do teams sputtering into the play offs playing poorly go far. And of course our season ended on a pick thrown into double coverage.

2008. Going into December we had an 8-5 record. Without going into detail, with a chance at the play offs we went 1-3 down the stretch in Dec. He did have one decent game vs. the Gints. But the rest? 44, 66 and 55 rating. The Pitts game he lost by himself on a pick 6.He played in 14 games. And the team with 13 PBers from the previous year didnt make the play offs. Choke? Huge.

2009: He did come thru here with a big win vs. NO. Then Philly too. GB? Tough game. But he didnt help a lick.

2010? Killed his coach.

2011: 50% of our losses are due to our best player. Both huge choke jobs as the Ws were in the bag.

So the facts are he has fared for worse than many fans care to see. His poor games on big stages, seeding, elimination and play off games far outweigh the successful ones by a large margin. IMO this is choking.

 

[Sarge]

He's not even remotely as bad as some are saying and perhaps not as good as some others are saying. Somewhere in between.

When he's 100% focused he is a very good QB.

 

[Suave]

I have been highly critical of Romo lately, but to say he doesn't win "big games" is false. First of all, what really constitutes a "big game?" We know that playoff games are "big," and the further a team advances, the "bigger" the game. But how do we define a "big" game during the regular season? Was the Commanders game any "bigger" than the Jets game? Afterall, it was a win against a division rival who happened to be in first place in the division standings. Was the 49er game just as "big" as the Commanders game?

The phrase "big game" is highly subjective, and typically, the critics of Romo are the ones who elevate his losses to "big" status, but minimize his wins.

 

[shockandroll]

Choker? No. Occasional bonehead? Sure.

I have to side with you on this. I'm a huge Romo fan and still defend him against ignorant hate. I do have to admit this year, I do not trust him at the moment. I think a lot of it has to do with the young line, back up receivers and his playing hurt. None the less, if we're up by 14 against the Pats in the 4th, I don't want to see Romo throwing a single pass right now. I've never felt that way before.

I'm hoping he'll get back on track after he, Miles and Dez get healthy in the bye. I don't think all three picks against the Lions were blatantly his fault, but there is still a little fear from me as to what he'll do when it's time to protect the ball.

Romo has always worked hard to learn from mistakes and bounce back, I think he will. Until he does, I'm being honest that I'll be chewing my nails a bit.

 

[shockandroll]

What happened to 2011? LOL. Obviously choking need to be defined. I see it has failing to live up to expectations when needed. In addition to actually handing game away himself. He does both.

In 2006 after a nice run he lost big games in December to the Gints, Philly and NO. These were games with the division on the line. He went for QB ratings of 58, 45 and 58. While he did have a high rating in a loss to Detroit, he looked like crap in that one too and got his yard playing from behind. There was one good game, vs Atl. However we followed that with 2 losses and had to play on the road vs Seattle as a wildcard. And while he wasnt bad in the play off game he lost on his own fumble, he was nothing special either. People say well...he wasnt play QB. Who cares? The fumble was still a choke. It was an easy play for whatever reason, he couldnt handle it.

In 2007 after posting the 2nd best record in the league he became the first QB in history to lose as the #1 seed to a wildcard team in the divisional play offs. That alone to me is a choke. In the game, at home, he had a rating of 64. And If I recall GB was still hanging around that Dec. His last 3 games (1 W 2 Ls) had us limping into the play offs instead of rolling. His ratings? 22, 81, 34. Very rarely do teams sputtering into the play offs playing poorly go far. And of course our season ended on a pick thrown into double coverage.

2008. Going into December we had an 8-5 record. Without going into detail, with a chance at the play offs we went 1-3 down the stretch in Dec. He did have one decent game vs. the Gints. But the rest? 44, 66 and 55 rating. The Pitts game he lost by himself on a pick 6.He played in 14 games. And the team with 13 PBers from the previous year didnt make the play offs. Choke? Huge.

2009: He did come thru here with a big win vs. NO. Then Philly too. GB? Tough game. But he didnt help a lick.

2010? Killed his coach.

2011: 50% of our losses are due to our best player. Both huge choke jobs as the Ws were in the bag.

So the facts are he has fared for worse than many fans care to see. His poor games on big stages, seeding, elimination and play off games far outweigh the successful ones by a large margin. IMO this is choking.

You're pinning team losses on Romo, the entire team had as much to do with those losses as the QB. He played very well in 2010 before getting hurt, the coaches own defense killed him in 2010.

Your post is pretty far off, imo.