Romo and "Roughing the Passer" 2006-15

[percyhoward]

We've seen it over and over. Late hits, low hits, late and low hits...no flag.

Since 2009, according to nflpenalties.com, Dallas has benefited form the 3rd-fewest roughing the passer calls as a percentage of pass attempts. Only Baltimore and Jacksonville have had fewer calls per attempt than the Cowboys.

But that isn't the half of it. From 2007-12, Tony Romo had 85% of Dallas' pass attempts. According to PFR, Roughing the Passer was called just 5 times when Dallas had the ball: Twice when Romo was the QB, and 3 times when someone else was the QB. Was Romo -- who holds the ball longer than most QB -- perceived by the league to have been given an unfair advantage by such calls his first year as a starter, and did the league make a conscious effort to stop flagging these illegal hits on Romo after 2006?

The average team gets a RTP call about once every 5 games. From 2007-12, Romo got 2 calls in 83 games. Was 2013 an attempt by the NFL at a "make-up year" -- a reaction to the previous six seasons? If so, it was only a one-year deal. He's only gotten the call once in his 21 games since.

Roughing the Passer calls, by QB
2006 Romo 4, Bledsoe 1
2007 0
2008 Romo 0, Bollinger 1
2009 Romo 1
2010 Romo 0, Kitna 2
2011 Romo 1
2012 0
2013 Romo 4
2014 Romo 1
2015 Romo 0, Cassel 1, Weeden 1

Remember, Romo holds onto the ball longer than most. If anything, he should have been getting more of these calls than the average QB. Also, Romo owns the 4th quarter. His career Late & Close passer rating is the league's best. The 4th quarter when his team is trailing is the time when Romo is most likely to hold the ball for a big play opportunity, and when his opponents are most likely to tee off.

How many 4th-qtr RTP calls has Romo been the beneficiary of in his career? Zero. And only one in the 3rd quarter.

That's a total of one 2nd-half RTP call in his career. How does that compare to the other five top rated 2nd-half passers since 2006?

2nd-half Roughing the Passer Calls, since 2006
Rodgers 16
Brees 13
Brady 12
Rothlisbrgr 6
PManning 4
Romo 1

Pass Attempts per 2nd-half RTP Call, since 2006
Rodgers every 192 att
Brady every 224 att
Brees every 242 att
Roethlsbrgr every 391 att
PManning every 609 att
Romo every 2,209 att

 

[Idgit]

God, good stuff.

We've alluded to this when the data periodically comes out, but you collected the data and then told us what to think about it.

I don't know how much things change if the rest of the team agitates more after every questionable hit, but you have to think it'd help in the long run.

 

[Tommy]

Pass Attempts per 2nd-half RTP Call, since 2006
Rodgers every 192 att
Brady every 224 att
Brees every 242 att
Roethlsbrgr every 391 att
PManning every 609 att
Romo every 2,209 att

Holy Crap!

I knew it was bad but this stat is unbelievable!

 

[rynochop]

Pass Attempts per 2nd-half RTP Call, since 2006
Rodgers every 192 att
Brady every 224 att
Brees every 242 att
Roethlsbrgr every 391 att
PManning every 609 att
Romo every 2,209 att

This one is pretty unbelievable. Smh

 

[Tommy]

This one is pretty unbelievable. Smh

That stat is not a coincidence!

That stat is very telling and should be an embarrassment to the league!

 

[Blackspider214]

It's infuriating. Especially these days where you can hardly look sideways at a QB without getting a call. The one that stands out is the Packers playoff game where he got nailed a good 2-3 seconds after the play and there was no call.

 

[DandyDon1722]

Wow!

That is disgraceful.

The one that rally enraged me was in the Packers playoff game when Mathews went right after his knees long after the pass. Tony immediately went over to the referee and started complaining and the guy just walked away.

Other than that, however, it was a well-officiated game.

 

[BAZ]

Nice work OP.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

I always knew that was the case but seeing the data makes me want to puke.

 

[zrinkill]

John Mara controls the officiating crews ........ it should surprise no one that Romo is allowed to get killed.

 

[gimmesix]

Was just watching a 2009 game the other day where Romo got creamed with helmet-to-helmet contact on a sack. It's very apparent that the officials aren't as careful about watching over Romo as they are with others QBs for whatever reason.

Maybe there is something about his game that leads officials to pay less attention to the hits he receives. I don't believe there is an intentional bias against making those calls when he is hit, but there's definitely something there that causes them to not treat him with the same kid gloves.

I would say it's his escapability, but Rodgers is more of a scrambler than Romo. I would be curious to see if his numbers align with other mobile QBs. Rodgers might be more the exception that the rule there.

 

[Seven]

This one is pretty unbelievable. Smh

The three NFL darlings are right where they should be...................unbelievable.

 

[Idgit]

Was just watching a 2009 game the other day where Romo got creamed with helmet-to-helmet contact on a sack. It's very apparent that the officials aren't as careful about watching over Romo as they are with others QBs for whatever reason.

Maybe there is something about his game that leads officials to pay less attention to the hits he receives. I don't believe there is an intentional bias against making those calls when he is hit, but there's definitely something there that causes them to not treat him with the same kid gloves.

I would say it's his escapability, but Rodgers is more of a scrambler than Romo. I would be curious to see if his numbers align with other mobile QBs. Rodgers might be more the exception that the rule there.

There comes a point where it's impossible to deny that it's bias. It's not anti-Cowboys bias, but there's no way protecting Romo is not a topic of discussion before every game, and it still gets ignored too often. There's some reason why they're calling it so unevenly.

I'd agree there's probably a reason why it happens, but it can't be a good one. It's not like RTP is a difficult call to get right, and it's not like there's not a ref watching the QB on every single play.

 

[DFWJC]

It is pretty baffling.
I mean blatant roughing plays go un-called seemingly every game.
It would help Dallas tremendously for several reasons--two of which are that we'd get 1st downs and opposing players may do it less, thus keeping Romo healthier.

 

[J_Allen]

We all knew it was bad. It's a shame the organization won't do anything about it.

 

[Ken]

And then we wonder why he has problems finishing seasons....

 

[HoustonSucks]

Wow. Proof.

 

[CowboyRoy]

There comes a point where it's impossible to deny that it's bias. It's not anti-Cowboys bias, but there's no way protecting Romo is not a topic of discussion before every game, and it still gets ignored too often. There's some reason why they're calling it so unevenly.

I'd agree there's probably a reason why it happens, but it can't be a good one. It's not like RTP is a difficult call to get right, and it's not like there's not a ref watching the QB on every single play.

Its pretty obvious when looking at that list why Romo is so much different then the other guys. All the other guys up there are pretty much considered top 5 QB in the NFL for most of their careers if not all of their carerrs. They are all darlings of the NFL. Romo has NEVER been in that category.

 

[jobberone]

Great info PH.

 

[rynochop]

The other even more baffling part of this is the teams with Brady, Rodgers, and Brees have been pretty darn good the last 9 years so they should be throwing it less and getting rid of the ball faster to avoid sacks so taking even fewer hits.