Looking back: Was it a mistake not to go back to Romo

[Aviano90]

OK. I think we are talking across purposes here. I am not discussing the point of moving on from Tony in favor of Dak. I'm simply answering the question asked in the OP. But I get it, have a good day.

Well, let me try one more time and let's remove the players from the equation.

Your statement you made that I responded to is basically saying we had 2 options...A & B. With the power of hindsight we know Option A failed. However, Option B didn't have an opportunity to fail so therefore it's possible it could have succeeded. This will always be the case regardless of how good or bad you consider Option A or B to be. That's my point.

It's why arm chair quarterbacks can never lose an argument. They will always have the ability to claim something else (their way) could have (or would have depending upon how strongly they feel) succeeded because they can't be proven wrong.

 

[Diehardblues]

I wonder how things would have played out in 2016 if Romo got his job back once he became healthy.

Perhaps he could have taken the team all the way to the Superbowl like he almost did in 2014.

Perhaps Romo could have played one more season and Dak would only have 2018 and 2019 as being a starter for this team. His value would most likely be worth less because 2017 was a down year for Dak.

Perhaps he could've got re-injured and Dak would've stepped back in only further proving Romo's durability issues.

But to this day I still think Garrett and Jones did Romo dirty by not giving him his starting job back.

Jason Garrett.....*shivers*

Well it’s water under the bridge and all pure speculation of course but I’d of put Romo back in after his performance against Egirls. That 4 play drive for a TD looked almost effortless back to 2014.

I understand the decision that was made . Dak was on a hot streak and we’d never gone as deep in playoffs as many thought we should have with Tony.

Jerry felt he was better off in the public eye losing with Dak than taking a chance losing with Romo which he would have been severely criticized if we were knocked out again in the playoffs early with Romo after benching hot hand Dak. Even though Romo probably provided us a better opportunity to advance.

And I’d of given them the opportunity to compete in 2017 training camp. But that was all how our Football Idiot managed it so poorly practically forcing Romo to retire not providing him an opportunity to win his job back.

 

[OmerV]

No coaches don’t make decisions on whether they think a player is going to get hurt. You repeating something stupid over and over again doesn’t make it come true. It just makes you look stupid. A player is cleared to play or he isn’t. You fake doctors who think Romo had osteoporosis in his 30s are really something else.
And again, Dak has been a considerably worse QB than Romo had been, it’s not about who has gotten farther with the team it’s about who was better. Dak was a 3rd string dink and dunk QB who couldn’t beat out Romo or Moore in camp. The decision makers decided to take the option with the least backslash from the talking heads, try to win with a rookie and they lost the very first game to a much worse team. They got the exact reward for their stupidity that they earned.

That's twisting what I said.

First, I specifically said injury was not a stand alone factor in the decision, and second, I didn't say they just blindly make a decision about whether a player might get hurt. They easily can view a history though, and given that for most of 2 seasons they were not able to count on the their aging QB being available definitely is a reasonable consideration.

You are also twisting facts. Dak started as 3rd string only because he was a rookie with veterans in front of him. He was never expected to step in and take control of the QB position from day 1 - the plan was to let him develop - and if you think he wasn't going to end up ahead of Moore n the depth chart you are blindly spouting a narrative rather than viewing things with a fair mind.

But hey, if you are going to go with the dink and dunk narrative, explain last year. Or is it team success that defines Dak when the team doesn't do well, and individual stats that define him when the team does well without him having gaudy stats? I'm sure your standard is opposite with Romo.

By the way, Dak's 2016 stats were very close to the same as Romo's great 2014 season, and last year his stats were right there with Romo among the best statistical seasons ever for a Cowboy QB.

 

[G2]

Would the team have won if Romo was the starter? We'll never know the answer to that question but we do know the answer to the question of, could we have won if the team stuck with Dak? The answer is no.

Physically, Dak was healthier, there is no question there. As far as just being the better QB at the time, Tony was far and away better. Today, right now, Tony is better then what I saw from Dak last year. That's not a knock, it's just the truth.

Of Course, I believe that Troy was better then Tony ever was. I believe that Roger was better then Troy. It is what it is.

Bold - This isn't necessarily true. I mean, I'd respect that opinion, but Romo got injured in the preseason game. When he was healthy enough to play isn't the right question. It's was he 100% healthy or significantly better than Prescott? We have no idea how he would have performed. He was passed his prime and his body was deteriorating. At some point the risk isn't worth the reward. I also think it's disingenuous to compare a seasoned player to a rookie.
Underlined - This seems unreasonable. Are you suggesting today, Romo is better than Prescott last season? It's not the truth because it's not provable, it's your biased opinion.

 

[Diehardblues]

If there was any hope for us to return to the offense we had in 2014, that’s what we should have gone with in 2016.

The 2014 offense was the closest we’d had to Championship caliber since our 90’s Dynasties.

I would have loved to see Romo one more time. He looked effortless in his brief return . And we had Dak waiting in the wings if Romo went down or struggled.

 

[starfan1]

Well....a critical fumble by one of our "recent elite" RB's might have made things go different. He made Miles Austin look a lot better then when he went to Cleveland.

I know that I've never said "romo is god". But that's a bit of frustrated hyperbole? He certainly screwed up with hos gunslinging ways. His players seemed to look great for a little bit...couple years but he never had any truly great ones for any length of time....Emmitt and Irvin come to mind.
But then I'm a homer for almost all my Cowboys players. I'm not sold on Dak just yet....but you won;t find any derogatory comments from me...and I'm STILL giving every player a free pass for at least half this season.


Having said all this.....if you go back to the first couple pages...you'll see where even the likes of me...are weary of this topic .

I dont include you in my descriptions. In fact most of the people i am referring to were people from the ranch but there are a few here that have the same characteristics. Never will get over it their hero didn't get it done. and hes done. dethrone by a fourth rounder. yes Murray had a critical fumble in 2014. as zeke and witten had a critical fumble in the NO game that cost the team but all the Dak deniers want to do is blame Dak. Im not sold on dak either 100% but hes is good enough in my mind to get us where we need to go.

 

[Swagger]

That's twisting what I said.

First, I specifically said injury was not a stand alone factor in the decision, and second, I didn't say they just blindly make a decision about whether a player might get hurt. They easily can view a history though, and given that for most of 2 seasons they were not able to count on the their aging QB being available definitely is a reasonable consideration.

You are also twisting facts. Dak started as 3rd string only because he was a rookie with veterans in front of him. He was never expected to step in and take control of the QB position from day 1 - the plan was to let him develop - and if you think he wasn't going to end up ahead of Moore n the depth chart you are blindly spouting a narrative rather than viewing things with a fair mind.

But hey, if you are going to go with the dink and dunk narrative, explain last year. Or is it team success that defines Dak when the team doesn't do well, and individual stats that define him when the team does well without him having gaudy stats? I'm sure your standard is opposite with Romo.

By the way, Dak's 2016 stats were very close to the same as Romo's great 2014 season, and last year his stats were right there with Romo among the best statistical seasons ever for a Cowboy QB.

The All-Pro is able to see through fool's gold.

Romo would have been first team All Pro in 2014 if it wasn't for one of the greatest ever to throw a ball also having an amazing season. Romo had to settle for second team All Pro.

Prescott didn't even make the Pro Bowl (which is a joke these days given it's so easy to be listed as one just ask Mitch Trubisky) last season which speaks volumes. Prescott obviously didn't get a sniff of being recognised as an All Pro.

Romo’s performance in 2014 was on a different planet to Dink and Twonk in 2016. Before people bang on with the special team units or some other nonsense...in 2014 Romo won in Seattle against the Legion of Boom where they had been defeated once in twenty games. Romo had to endure special team mishaps that resulted in 14 points through a blocked punt and a muffed fair catch. Fret not, Tony still got it done because the guy is a warrior and especially by that point in his career, he was just in the matrix.

So shut up with reeling out special teams and the rain/wet balls as excuses for Dink and Twonk. You just embarrass yourself.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Well, let me try one more time and let's remove the players from the equation.

Your statement you made that I responded to is basically saying we had 2 options...A & B. With the power of hindsight we know Option A failed. However, Option B didn't have an opportunity to fail so therefore it's possible it could have succeeded. This will always be the case regardless of how good or bad you consider Option A or B to be. That's my point.

It's why arm chair quarterbacks can never lose an argument. They will always have the ability to claim something else (their way) could have (or would have depending upon how strongly they feel) succeeded because they can't be proven wrong.

Yes, but to be fair, Romo was better then. Now, this is not to say that Dak won't end up being better then Romo but not at that time. Romo's deal was health. Dak was bigger and stronger, Romo knew more and had more skill as a QB, at that time. It is what it is.

So yes, basically what you say above is essentially correct. See, to me it's a pointless discussion. If you notice, and really there is no reason you should, but if you did, you would see that I very rarely discuss Romo. I only really talk about him in terms of how much I think of him as just a Pro Athlete who was a really good guy. I liked Romo but I was never his biggest fan as QBs go. I don't like 50 throws a game Offenses and that's what Tony wanted to do. I never liked that so I was on the wrong side of those conversations with Romo fans a lot of times. Kinda like Dak conversations right? The more things change I guess.......

Anyhow, I don't hate Dak either. I actually really like a lot of things about Dak but I am never gonna be a fan of paying guys a salary that threatens the cap integrity of the team. I guess I'm just a team guy more then a player guy. But I'm honest in my positions on those and I'm consistent. It's not the players, it's not a black vs white thing for me. It's not any of the regular BS you always hear about. I'm just a guy who sides with the team more then anything I guess.

Maybe some folks think that makes me a jackass, maybe I am. But that's what I believe.

 

[starfan1]

We know nothing about what would have happened in 2016, the relevant year, because it... didn’t happen. Meanwhile through hindsight we know exactly what happened going with Dak. Which prompts our resident space cadet to say “it was absolutely the right thing to do.”
You keep being you, space cadet sir.[/QUOTE]

coming from you that rich. Ive probably forgot more football than you know. I wish I could send you a little towel to wipe your tears. It was 100% the right decision based on the knowledge we had. Dak winning 11 in a row and Romo being a crip based on his inability to stay on the field.

Now go back to your romo poster and have fun.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

some gibberish

Yep it was the 100% thing right to do, I'll never forget that Super Bowl parade, it went right down my street. You and Dak were sitting in the front car wearing matching bowties.
When whatever medicine you're on wears off, it may be time to crawl back under your rock. You're done here.

 

[starfan1]

Yep it was the 100% thing right to do, I'll never forget that Super Bowl parade, it went right down my street. You and Dak were sitting in the front car wearing matching bowties.
When whatever medicine you're on wears off, it may be time to crawl back under your rock. You're done here.

dont forget to wipe off!

 

[DandyDon52]

Jimmy Johnson benched Beurlein and started Aikman. No, Jimmy wouldn’t have gone with Dak. Plus, no coach doesn’t play their best player on the possibility he may get hurt again. They go with what the doctors say.

Romo had multiple weeks to get ready in practice, had the Eagles game to actually work with the starters minus Elliott and a bye week to prepare, even with the simplified offense Linehan installed for Dak. The Eagles already demonstrates their respect for Romo that as soon as he came in, they changed their defense, dropping into coverage.

People forget this team wasted two additional years on the Dak experiment, including Dak-friendly offense that was meant for Dak’s ability to ‘spread the ball around’ and not force the ball to Dez supposedly. Dak even said he didn’t need a number 1 WR.

Last year Dak was able to take advantage of man coverage on the outside he was seeing all the time to a considerable extent, but that’s what any average NFL QB should do straight up, not take four years to do it, especially with his pass protection and the respect for the running game.

And they had the second ranked OL both in run and pass blocking according to Football Outsiders and if there was any predictability in play-calling it was the play calling Zeke dealt with meaning, Dallas consistently had him running into defenses that were set running on him.

and the Rams game proved who the motor of the offense was once again. Zeke dominated the Rams and that line with AD got no pressure on Dak because of how Zeke wore down that front and Pollard was allowed to play clean up. They rushed for 263 rushing yards and that’s the game that ended their losing streak. Before that Dak was padding air stats against the Bears in a loss in prevent time and getting outplayed by MT.

good post, and I think Jimmy would have started dak but quickly went back to romo. but ol JG down 0-21 did not go back to romo,
because it was a process lol.

 

[OmerV]

The All-Pro is able to see through fool's gold.
yards,
Romo would have been first team All Pro in 2014 if it wasn't for one of the greatest ever to throw a ball also having an amazing season. Romo had to settle for second team All Pro.

Prescott didn't even make the Pro Bowl (which is a joke these days given it's so easy to be listed as one just ask Mitch Trubisky) last season which speaks volumes. Prescott obviously didn't get a sniff of being recognised as an All Pro.

Romo’s performance in 2014 was on a different planet to Dink and Twonk in 2016. Before people bang on with the special team units or some other nonsense...in 2014 Romo won in Seattle against the Legion of Boom where they had been defeated once in twenty games. Romo had to endure special team mishaps that resulted in 14 points through a blocked punt and a muffed fair catch. Fret not, Tony still got it done because the guy is a warrior and especially by that point in his career, he was just in the matrix.

So shut up with reeling out special teams and the rain/wet balls as excuses for Dink and Twonk. You just embarrass yourself.

Romo in 2014 - 3705 yards, 34 TD's, 79.7 QBR
Dak in 2016 - 3667 yards, 28 TDs, 78.8 QBR

And your saying those aren't similar stats? lol

And then factor in this was a rookie season for Dak ….


As for the bet statistical seasons for a Cowboy QB …

Romo in 2012 - 4903 yards, 65.6 completion %, 28 TDs ( By the way, Romo didn't make the Pro Bowl or All Pro on his best statistical season eather
Dak in 2019 - 4903 yards, 65.1% completion %, 33 TDs
By the way, Romo didn't make the Pro Bowl or All Pro on his best statistical season either

 

[DandyDon52]

The team said that early on after Romo got injured, but things changed as they saw how well Dak and the team played. I don't understand the idea some have that the team was obligated to go back to Romo regardless of any circumstances. A team has to have the ability to make decisions it thinks is for the best.

You can argue all you want about the force of the LB hitting Romo from behind, but I'm not arguing that it wasn't a hard hit. If that were the only injury I would agree that it shouldn't be taken too seriously. But, again, with there being 3 injuries in his last 4 games there was more of a concern.

In any case, like I've said, I don't have a problem if someone feels like Romo would have been the better choice, I only have a problem if someone chooses to ignore that there was a reasonable basis for the choice the team made.

Ok a question for you omer, who would u say looked to be the better qb in the last game with philly in 2016??
Tony or Dak?
Did he look unfit to play in that game?
The doctors had cleared tony to play weeks earlier, what does that say>? if he was as brittle as some like to think lol I dont think they
would have cleared him.

Now I will concede it was a hard choice, stick with dak who had won 13 games or go back to Romo who is looking good.
I will always contend that the "smart" play would have been to start Romo , and then you have Dak to fall back on if tony gets
hurt again, or plays poorly, missing passes, or having ints.
Then dak could come in and rally the team.

The other option would have been to start dak and same thing, if he doesnt play well , put tony in and see what happens.
0-21 would have been a good point to insert Tony. Or at least to start the 2nd half. Dallas with dak scored 0 points in the 3rd qtr.

Dallas had Tony on the bench that day ready to go but refused to use him and they lost. Had they used him , they might have won.

 

[OmerV]

Ok a question for you omer, who would u say looked to be the better qb in the last game with philly in 2016??
Tony or Dak?
Did he look unfit to play in that game?
The doctors had cleared tony to play weeks earlier, what does that say>? if he was as brittle as some like to think lol I dont think they
would have cleared him.

Now I will concede it was a hard choice, stick with dak who had won 13 games or go back to Romo who is looking good.
I will always contend that the "smart" play would have been to start Romo , and then you have Dak to fall back on if tony gets
hurt again, or plays poorly, missing passes, or having ints.
Then dak could come in and rally the team.

The other option would have been to start dak and same thing, if he doesnt play well , put tony in and see what happens.
0-21 would have been a good point to insert Tony. Or at least to start the 2nd half. Dallas with dak scored 0 points in the 3rd qtr.

Dallas had Tony on the bench that day ready to go but refused to use him and they lost. Had they used him , they might have won.

Dak played 2 series designed to just get him a little work in a tight leash to keep from running the risk of getting hurt. Romo was given more room to open up because that was his first regular season game in almost a season and a half and he needed to shake off rust. Not exactly an apples to apples comparison.

As for thw question of whether Romo looked unfit to play in that game, I never said he didn't nor that he couldn't hold up to playing a single game, and in fact never said it was impossible he could hold up even longer than that, so what is your point?

As for the notion they might have won against Green Bay, of course that's true. They also might have lost. We don't know. The team could have gone either way and either would have been a reasonable choice. There is no clear way, and the team had to make a choice. They chose to stick with the one that brought them to the dance.

 

[Aviano90]

0-21 would have been a good point to insert Tony. Or at least to start the 2nd half. Dallas with dak scored 0 points in the 3rd qtr.

We were down 21-3 not 21-0 and we were only down 21-3 for a minute and 34 seconds before we scored a TD. As for the 3rd quarter, we only had 1 full possession in the 3rd quarter. Granted, Dak threw the interception but it's not like we failed on multiple possessions. We were also in the process of driving for a TD at the end of the 3rd quarter / beginning of the 4th quarter.

Do you critique Romo games the same way because I hate to break it to you, it can be done. For example, did you know we scored 0 points in the 4th quarters of the NY Giants 2007 and GB 2014 playoff games? Did you also know we only scored 3 points in the 3rd quarter against the Giants and 7 points in the 3rd quarter against the Packers in those same 2 games? Did you know we only scored 3 points total against Minnesota? That's pretty pathetic offense. Maybe it couldn't have hurt to replace Romo, they may have won. I think even Weeden could have put up more points.

 

[khiladi]

We were down 21-3 not 21-0 and we were only down 21-3 for a minute and 34 seconds before we scored a TD. As for the 3rd quarter, we only had 1 full possession in the 3rd quarter. Granted, Dak threw the interception but it's not like we failed on multiple possessions. We were also in the process of driving for a TD at the end of the 3rd quarter / beginning of the 4th quarter.

Do you critique Romo games the same way because I hate to break it to you, it can be done. For example, did you know we scored 0 points in the 4th quarters of the NY Giants 2007 and GB 2014 playoff games? Did you also know we only scored 3 points in the 3rd quarter against the Giants and 7 points in the 3rd quarter against the Packers in those same 2 games? Did you know we only scored 3 points total against Minnesota? That's pretty pathetic offense. Maybe it couldn't have hurt to replace Romo, they may have won. I think even Weeden could have put up more points.

Those defenses weren’t letting up over 400 yards a game and playing with battered defensive backs off the street like GB in 2016. Nor did Dak have Jason Garrett calling plays and keeping him out of game planning meetings.

Dallas also got rid of Dez, the guy that caught 9 passes in that same 2016 game for 134 plus yards. Why did they get rid of him?

 

[Super_Kazuya]

Romo in 2014 - 3705 yards, 34 TD's, 79.7 QBR
Dak in 2016 - 3667 yards, 28 TDs, 78.8 QBR

And your saying those aren't similar stats? lol

And then factor in this was a rookie season for Dak ….


As for the bet statistical seasons for a Cowboy QB …

Romo in 2012 - 4903 yards, 65.6 completion %, 28 TDs ( By the way, Romo didn't make the Pro Bowl or All Pro on his best statistical season eather
Dak in 2019 - 4903 yards, 65.1% completion %, 33 TDs
By the way, Romo didn't make the Pro Bowl or All Pro on his best statistical season either

lol... they sure are similar stats when you add up rushing touchdowns and passing touchdowns like they are the same thing. Talk about disingenuous. A rushing TD is not a passing TD, there are a dozen players on the roster who can run behind the line for a 1 yd td and most QBs don't care about them or they would have more. Despite throwing the ball 24 less times, Romo had 11 more passing touchdowns. Romo's TD% of 7.8 was #1 in the NFL in 2014. Dak had a good year in 2016 but it wasn't anywhere close to being as good as Romo. And neither Romo's 2012 or Dak's 2019 are anywhere close to being all-time great Cowboys seasons, or even great seasons for them. You might want to look up a man named Roger Staubach.

 

[Aviano90]

Those defenses weren’t letting up over 400 yards a game and playing with battered defensive backs off the street like GB in 2016.

Dallas also got rid of Dez, the guy that caught 9 passes in that same 2016 game for 134 plus yards. Why did they get rid of him?

NY had a battered secondary and receivers were open.

Not sure why they let go of Dez. Glad they did though.

 

[khiladi]

Romo in 2014 - 3705 yards, 34 TD's, 79.7 QBR
Dak in 2016 - 3667 yards, 28 TDs, 78.8 QBR

And your saying those aren't similar stats? lol

And then factor in this was a rookie season for Dak ….


As for the bet statistical seasons for a Cowboy QB …

Romo in 2012 - 4903 yards, 65.6 completion %, 28 TDs ( By the way, Romo didn't make the Pro Bowl or All Pro on his best statistical season eather
Dak in 2019 - 4903 yards, 65.1% completion %, 33 TDs
By the way, Romo didn't make the Pro Bowl or All Pro on his best statistical season either

Dak threw 23 TDs against one of the weakest schedule in the league and a RB averaging 5 YPC on first down.

And Romo played 15 games, not 16. He also threw 70%.

2012, the Dallas offense sucked and was getting maligned in the press. That’s when the reigns from Garrett began to get pulled. Talk was that Dallas should play more hurry up, because they couldn’t score in the first half. Garrett couldn’t devise a game plan to save his life. Kevin Ogletree was his brothers pet project third receiver.

Dak wouldn’t have lasted a game in that season they were bottom of the league in play action.