NFL.COM Blog: Stop the madness: Romo has only one flaw... He's a choke artist

[Jay]

Peyton may not be a choke artist anymore but his legacy is not what many expected it to be at this point. Romos career is headed down that same path. You have Ben and Brady in one corner and Peyton and the rest in another.

Anyone who thinks that Ben is a better quarterback than Peyton is crazy. Give Peyton any of those defenses that Ben won a Super Bowl with, and Peyton would do the same.

The two aren't even comparable, sorry. People may say that winning is the bottom line, but as some point you've gotta look at other things. Peyton is a much, much better quarterback than Ben.

 

[Sammy Baugh]

Romo gets a bad rap for his botched hold in the playoffs. If that had happened in the second game of the season it would have been forgotten by many. Because it happened at such a crucial, visible time, its importance has become overblown.

That being said, IMO the greatest problem with Romo is not that he is a choker, it is that he is prone to turnovers, fumbles and interceptions both. Such play catches up with you. Unless a turnover-prone QB gets lucky, over the course of the last weeks of the regular season and the playoffs, he is going to kill the team with turnovers.

Put differently, if Romo learned to take care of the ball better, the "choker" tag would over time get removed.

 

[Aikmaniac]

I still think it's amazing that an undrafted QB is being compared to a first-round QB (Peyton).

That speaks volumes on how good Tony really is.

 

[Bull Frog]

I always feel like we have a chance to win when the game is on the line with Romo. I haven't forgotten Chutch, Qball, Vinnie or Bledsoe and those awful years. I'm happy with our QB.

 

[stilltheguru]

I still think it's amazing that an undrafted QB is being compared to a first-round QB (Peyton).

That speaks volumes on how good Tony really is.

That has nothing to do with nothing actually.

 

[Aikmaniac]

That has nothing to do with nothing actually.

Does that mean it has everything to do with everything?

 

[RoadRunner]

When the stakes get the highest, Romo crumbles under the pressure? Kind of like in that playoff game against Seattle, where Romo brought the team back as a QB? Wow, with the game's minutes ticking away the choke artist gets his team back in the game. Some choke artist. Thanks Jamie for that stellar insight. And the NFLN execs wonder why their ratings plateau. Maybe it needs to put DOWN its Dukes.

I have to play devil's advocate here and remind you of what happened on that chip shot field goal attempt.

 

[RainMan]

Romo gets a bad rap for his botched hold in the playoffs. If that had happened in the second game of the season it would have been forgotten by many. Because it happened at such a crucial, visible time, its importance has become overblown.

That being said, IMO the greatest problem with Romo is not that he is a choker, it is that he is prone to turnovers, fumbles and interceptions both. Such play catches up with you. Unless a turnover-prone QB gets lucky, over the course of the last weeks of the regular season and the playoffs, he is going to kill the team with turnovers.

Put differently, if Romo learned to take care of the ball better, the "choker" tag would over time get removed.

Consider I'm a huge Tony Romo fan. I cringe when I hear people ask for a replacement already (do they not remember the QB hell we had been in?). But I don't think the botched hold is necessarily overblown. True, it wasn't Tony Romo the "QB" that made that error, but it was still him. He can't dodge it -- and it's a pretty big blemish at this point. My gosh, it's already considered one of the top 50 or 100 biggest choke plays on a lot of lists. It is what it is at this point. In time, maybe he can play it down.

 

[RainMan]

When the stakes get the highest, Romo crumbles under the pressure? Kind of like in that playoff game against Seattle, where Romo brought the team back as a QB? Wow, with the game's minutes ticking away the choke artist gets his team back in the game. Some choke artist. Thanks Jamie for that stellar insight. And the NFLN execs wonder why their ratings plateau. Maybe it needs to put DOWN its Dukes.

Personally, I don't get your angst.

Romo has won big games. It's not as if he's "incapable" of winning anything that remotely seems significant. But when the chips have been at their absolute most, he's turned in some of his worst performances in some form or another.

I don't think this is deniable at this point --- nor do I think is it deniable that he has been among the most prolific QBs to ever play from September through November. Granted, that's not the most ringing of endorsements, but you know damn well there are a number of fan bases hoping he never gets that whole December thing figured out.

Anyway, here's the reason I don't disagree with Dukes: Like he said, Peyton was once a choker. As with Romo, the label was in some ways unfair. Peyton had won big games, just not the biggest of the big. And they weren't always his fault. But the label was there, as it has been for others. Some overcome it. Others never do.

Dukes seems to think Romo will break out of the label. I do as well.

 

[sonnyboy]

We absolutely dominated that first half, sonny. Go back and rewatch it, or even just look up the play-by-play on NFL.com. I'm not sure what happened, but I think Andy Reid morphed into a skinny red-headed dude and took over our playcalling in the second half.

I had done nothing but praise Garrett that entire season, but after physically manhandling the Giants front seven at the point of attack the entire first half, we reverted into Andy Reid ball. Seriously, go take a look at the difference in playcalling in the half and tell me your stomach doesn't turn over.

That was the first time in his career as our offensive coordinator that it seemed to me that Jason Garrett was just over his head.

I still hold out hope, but that was one of the worst things I've ever seen out of any Cowboys coaches. It was a total joke. Combine that with the drops and receivers cutting off routes, and that loss can't be blamed on Romo. That's just reaching there.

Thanks. I was close to going off on a we outplayed the Giants tangent when I made this post yesterday.

Didn't need this validation, because I saw it with my own two eyes, but, the after game and after season analysis from NY was very telling.

Multiple credible people covering the team and within the team admitted to a man that the Cowboys outplayed them and perhaps should have won that game.

So many opinions on why we didn't win that game, but I think the game is clear evidence of a simple truth that you can't deny.

Football, like all sports in not perfect. We know the best team doesn't always win, but I'll go a step further and say the best team on any given day doen't always win.
Sometimes one team clearly outplays another and still loses.

We can talk about the play calling and mistakes we made, but that's on us. My problem was with a handful of poor to incorrect calls that had a HUGE impact on the game.

1) Ware's first drive offsides. We all know he wasn't. That play would've ended the drive. Instead we get a Giants game opening TD 2 plays latter.

2) Personal foul face mask on Reeves at the end of the half. This play was a perfect example of incidental contact. No doubt it should have been a no call or at worst a 5 yard incidental call. Those extra 10 yards was HUGE. The giants had little time left and almost certainly end up kicking a FG without those yards

3) Davis' personal foul on Strahan. This call really shocked the hell out of me. I didn't even know the rule or if it is one. Strahan is one all fours within stricking distance of Romo's legs during a live play. How the hell you going to tell a lineman that he's not suppose to continue blocking a defender and protect his QB.
I know a cheap shot when I see one. This was not unneccessary roughness. It was an OL doing his friggen job.

4) Intentional grounding on the next to last drive. Clear cut and the only one the NFL admitted was wrong.

You take away any one of these bad calls and we probably win. Take away any two and I guarantee it.

 

[Jay]

100% agreed Sonny.. but like has been said, Romo is our QB so he's front and center to take the blame. Just sort of how it works..

 

[DallasEast]

Thanks. I was close to going off on a we outplayed the Giants tangent when I made this post yesterday.

Didn't need this validation, because I saw it with my own two eyes, but, the after game and after season analysis from NY was very telling.

Multiple credible people covering the team and within the team admitted to a man that the Cowboys outplayed them and perhaps should have won that game.

So many opinions on why we didn't win that game, but I think the game is clear evidence of a simple truth that you can't deny.

Football, like all sports in not perfect. We know the best team doesn't always win, but I'll go a step further and say the best team on any given day doen't always win.
Sometimes one team clearly outplays another and still loses.

We can talk about the play calling and mistakes we made, but that's on us. My problem was with a handful of poor to incorrect calls that had a HUGE impact on the game.

1) Ware's first drive offsides. We all know he wasn't. That play would've ended the drive. Instead we get a Giants game opening TD 2 plays latter.

2) Personal foul face mask on Reeves at the end of the half. This play was a perfect example of incidental contact. No doubt it should have been a no call or at worst a 5 yard incidental call. Those extra 10 yards was HUGE. The giants had little time left and almost certainly end up kicking a FG without those yards

3) Davis' personal foul on Strahan. This call really shocked the hell out of me. I didn't even know the rule or if it is one. Strahan is one all fours within stricking distance of Romo's legs during a live play. How the hell you going to tell a lineman that he's not suppose to continue blocking a defender and protect his QB.
I know a cheap shot when I see one. This was not unneccessary roughness. It was an OL doing his friggen job.

4) Intentional grounding on the next to last drive. Clear cut and the only one the NFL admitted was wrong.

You take away any one of these bad calls and we probably win. Take away any two and I guarantee it.

Eduncan, you're an American original. True, Reeves did not lose the game. The team did that, but will you concede this?

New York has a 2nd-&-10 with 42 seconds left in the first half at its 29 yard line. Eli Manning targets Jacques "Bullseye" Reeves by throwing to Steve Smith. The pass-and-catch is good for 22 yards.

New York now has the ball at the Dallas 49. There are 34 seconds left.

Out of nowhere, Manning targets Bullseye again by throwing at Steve Smith. It's an 11-yard completion. The ball is now at the Dallas 38, but wait!

Bullseye grabbed Smith's facemask. The refs pounced and declared it a 15-yarder variety, so the ball is now at the Dallas 23 with 28 seconds left.

BTW, Manning attempted to hit Plexico on 1st-&-10 on the next play. Did Reeves knock that pass down or was it an overthrow? Seriously, I don't remember. You're the "Video Guy". Post it.

BTW part II, Canty knocked down Manning's next pass attempt on 2nd-&-10, but on the next play...

On 3rd-&-10, Manning throws a 19-yard completion to Jeremy Shockey's replacement, Kevin Boss. Who was the closest defender, you ask? Why, it's old Bullseye, that's who!

The Giants now have the ball at our 4-yard line with 11 seconds left in the half. Next play is... * gasp! * is a touchdown! Extra pointer makes it a 14-14 tie at the half.

So, before you don't give me an answer as you usually do, let's review...

Reeves allowed a 22-yard reception, a 11-yard reception, added a 15-yard penalty as a change-of-pace play and a 19-yard reception. That's 67 yards, Eduncan, WITHIN 42 seconds. Once again, I agree with you that Bullseye didn't cost us the game, but you are willing to admit that your favorite third-string cornerback, who you would like Jerry Jones to pay like a first-stringer, directly contributed to seven of the Giants' 21 points?

Well?

Let me help you...

Music to help Eduncan think

.

......

 

[Stash]

Thanks. I was close to going off on a we outplayed the Giants tangent when I made this post yesterday.

Didn't need this validation, because I saw it with my own two eyes, but, the after game and after season analysis from NY was very telling.

Multiple credible people covering the team and within the team admitted to a man that the Cowboys outplayed them and perhaps should have won that game.

So many opinions on why we didn't win that game, but I think the game is clear evidence of a simple truth that you can't deny.

Football, like all sports in not perfect. We know the best team doesn't always win, but I'll go a step further and say the best team on any given day doen't always win.

Sometimes one team clearly outplays another and still loses.

Very well said here and I couldn't agree more.

People can call it sour grapes or whatever else they want to, but I still think the '07 Cowboys were a better team than the Giants were that season, despite how things ended.

But I also believe that the Cowboys would not have beaten the Patriots in the Super Bowl that year either.

That's a maddening aspect of the NFL, and specifically the recent Cowboys teams.

One week they outplay the Steelers - in Pittsburgh - before changing their gameplan and giving the game away.

A month later they have a complete meltdown in a would-be playoff game and get blown out in Philadelphia.

 

[casmith07]

I think that Tony Romo is only going into his 3rd full season as our starter.

That's what I think his label is. How many years did it take Peyton Manning to win?

 

[DallasEast]

I think that Tony Romo is only going into his 3rd full season as our starter.

That's what I think his label is. How many years did it take Peyton Manning to win?

Manning lost his first three playoff games before winning his first one during the '03 playoffs.

He was drafted in 1998.