How Bad Have Tony Romo's Defenses Been?

[NeonDeion21]

I hate the “Quarterback Wins” stat. Although the quarterback is the most important position in any sport, he is just one of 22 players on the field at a time. He is one person on a 53 man roster. In my opinion, Tony Romo gets far too much blame considering the defenses that he has played with. He is consistently having to overcome a porous defense. So today we are going to look at how Tony Romo’s past defenses compare to other elite quarterbacks in the NFL. Here are the things in the chart that you need to know:

- I took the four major defensive stats (Yards/Game, Points/Game, Red Zone Efficiency, and Turnovers) and listed the team’s rank in each year.

- I also took the QB’s total turnover numbers (interceptions + total fumbles) and added them to the end of the chart. The reason being is that I have heard multiple arguments about how Tony Romo turns the ball over so much that he puts his defenses in bad situations, therefore, creating the illusion that they are worse than they really are.

- I then took the average of each stat over all the years that the quarterback started to show what their average defensive rank was in all four categories.

Read the rest at: http://cover32.com/cowboys/2014/04/1...defenses-been/

 

[NeonDeion21]

 

[OhSnap]

Did you mean to say DeMarcus Wares defenses?

 

[NeonDeion21]

Did you mean to say DeMarcus Wares defenses?

I compare Romo to a really good pitcher that has no run support. How do you really know how good he is without a decent lineup opposite him?

 

[Beats_By_Zeke]

Hate to be a cliche *****, but ... beating a dead horse here.
Every sensible person on this forum that uses logic knows the defense has been the problem.

 

[BigStar]

The last 4 years the D has been pretty poor. I don't think it's a coincidence that our last playoff appearances coincide with the D ranking #2 (09) and #13 (07) . JG needs to adjust his gameplans to reflect the lack of talent on that side of the ball. No more Madden for JG; he is not creative enough to institute a pass heavy offense that is able to "cover" for the D. This offense will never realize its full potential to the TEAM without relying heavily on Murray & Dez. Use your stars when you need plays. Early and Often! Not out of DESPERATION.

 

[Idgit]

Great stuff, Neon. Not news to some, I know, but it's a broad supporting argument for the idea that you need to both pass effectively *and* stop the pass effectively to be successful in the league right now. (I know the run v. pass isn't explicitly broken out in your data here, but we know what it looks like since we've seen in many times before in numerous other threads).

 

[Chocolate Lab]

The last 4 years the D has been pretty poor. I don't think it's a coincidence that our one playoff win in forever came when we were ranked #2 overall and the year that were "finna" go on a run (2007) were ranked a respectable 13th. JG needs to adjust his gameplans to reflect the lack of talent on that side of the ball. No more Madden for JG.

Exactly, our defense was pretty good in 2007 and very good in 2009. In 2009 we were second in scoring defense to the Jets, and our points per drive was 3rd in the league. In fact, that year our points per drive allowed rank on defense was better than our points per drive scored on offense. The OP's point still stands, but it seems like maybe he chose stats to make even those Ds look worse than they were in those two years.

Now obviously the last few years it's been a total disaster. No one disputes that.

But this brings something to mind... The last couple of years at this time of year before the draft, I remember many posters arguing that we should spend resources on offense because "you're better off building one elite side of the ball". That never made sense to me and it obviously proved not to be true. It almost doesn't matter how good your offense is if you can't stop a high school team from scoring.

 

[OhSnap]

I compare Romo to a really good pitcher that has no run support. How do you really know how good he is without a decent lineup opposite him?

Your post makes great sense, for some reason its just hard for people to understand that some of those costly picks would never be thrown if the defense was a little better.

 

[NeonDeion21]

I encourage you all to see how Tony Romo's defenses compare to other "elite" QB's around the league. I think you will be surprised.

http://cover32.com/cowboys/2014/04/10/how-bad-have-tony-romos-defenses-been/

 

[BigStar]

Wow, I totally forgot about Romo having 26 TOs in 07. I guess when you put up the points and win, people don't mind a few bonehead plays. I would like some of that gunslinger to peak its head out again tbh.

 

[Coy]

Good stuff Neon, give Romo a good D and a good HC and we would be competing for championships year in and year out.

 

[BigStar]

Exactly, our defense was pretty good in 2007 and very good in 2009. In 2009 we were second in scoring defense to the Jets, and our points per drive was 3rd in the league. In fact, that year our points per drive allowed rank on defense was better than our points per drive scored on offense. The OP's point still stands, but it seems like maybe he chose stats to make even those Ds look worse than they were in those two years.

Now obviously the last few years it's been a total disaster. No one disputes that.

But this brings something to mind... The last couple of years at this time of year before the draft, I remember many posters arguing that we should spend resources on offense because "you're better off building one elite side of the ball". That never made sense to me and it obviously proved not to be true. It almost doesn't matter how good your offense is if you can't stop a high school team from scoring.

The only teams that come to mind are NO ( O heavy) & Balt (D heavy -1st SB) and agree that it isn't the prototype to build after. Even last season I suggested JG take a page from SP's book about being a pass heavy offense that still relied on rhythym and not neccesarily 50 yard bombs, etc. I figured that was the only way he was ever going to be comfotable with, so why not do it the right way kind've thing? But totally agree, the talent doesn't neccesarily have to be on equal footing, but one side can't hang the other to dry consistently and hope for post season success.

 

[Doomsday101]

Exactly, our defense was pretty good in 2007 and very good in 2009. In 2009 we were second in scoring defense to the Jets, and our points per drive was 3rd in the league. In fact, that year our points per drive allowed rank on defense was better than our points per drive scored on offense. The OP's point still stands, but it seems like maybe he chose stats to make even those Ds look worse than they were in those two years.

Now obviously the last few years it's been a total disaster. No one disputes that.

But this brings something to mind... The last couple of years at this time of year before the draft, I remember many posters arguing that we should spend resources on offense because "you're better off building one elite side of the ball". That never made sense to me and it obviously proved not to be true. It almost doesn't matter how good your offense is if you can't stop a high school team from scoring.

I agree. I don't think you have to be a #1 offense to win or even a #1 defense to win but you can't be so weak on either side of the ball that is places extreme pressure on the other side.

 

[DFWJC]

Wow, I totally forgot about Romo having 26 TOs in 07. I guess when you put up the points and win, people don't mind a few bonehead plays. I would like some of that gunslinger to peak its head out again tbh.

Yeah, that 26 was almost Eli-like.
He joked the other day that he actually had a 5 turnover game in 2007 and they still won.

 

[dstovall5]

None of those guys are "elite" QBs, if you ask me there's only four QBs in the NFL that are "elite". I would love to see the rankings of Rivers, Brady, Manning, Brees, and Rodgers, just to see where they are in comparison to Romo with the cards they're dealt.

 

[NeonDeion21]

None of those guys are "elite" QBs, if you ask me there's only four QBs in the NFL that are "elite". I would love to see the rankings of Rivers, Brady, Manning, Brees, and Rodgers, just to see where they are in comparison to Romo with the cards they're dealt.

Who do you want to see first?

 

[BigStar]

Yeah, that 26 was almost Eli-like.
He joked the other day that he actually had a 5 turnover game in 2007 and they still won.

I remember that game, it was againts the Bills and Trent Edwards. Almost had a heart attack!

 

[Future]

Hate to be a cliche *****, but ... beating a dead horse here.
Every sensible person on this forum that uses logic knows the defense has been the problem.

I wouldn't call it THE problem...that suggests that fixing the defense is all they need to become a contender. I don't think that's even close to true.

 

[Future]

I remember that game, it was againts the Bills and Trent Edwards. Almost had a heart attack!

Try being there

That game was a good example of what Tony can do, and how he can be "clutch" even when he doesn't have a great game.

But, having said that, Buffalo handed the game away, basically.