Romo's Play

[Apollo Creed]

Romo is still a top 5 QB in this league. I argue that till I'm blue in the face, and the man has single handedly saved our franchise and brought it back to relevance.

My only concern is one of BPs QB commandments. Squat, a lot, fat QBs dont win championships. Romo looks a tad bit out of shape to me. And when I met him in the offseason he didn't really look chiseled by any means.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

But WR around the league make those catches as does Austin expect he did not in this case. Austin also dropped a perfect pass on a slant with room to run had he held on to it. All in all Austin did a lot of good things but like most of the players including Romo it is the one or 2 plays we are missing on that can change a game. I'm clearly not looking to put our woes on one guy when I see alot of guys even those who are making big plays missing plays that can be the differance of winning and losing

Everybody misses plays. To miss a play is not a killer, per say. The killer is if you miss a play and it results in a turnover. For me, the way in which I view the game will always be with an eye towards turnovers. I realize that these kinds of plays are made all the time in the NFL. For a team like San Diego, who have like 10 WRs who are 6-5, that is their offense. They structure their passing game around the high throw and the back shoulder throw. For me, I don't really like it much. You see more potential TOs with that kind of throw and I believe in doing anything and everything to try and cut down on potential for turnovers. I just believe that it's the most key stat in the NFL. Anything you can do to avoid it or reduce it, I'm in favor of.

 

[Doomsday101]

Romo is still a top 5 QB in this league. I argue that till I'm blue in the face, and the man has single handedly saved our franchise and brought it back to relevance.

My only concern is one of BPs QB commandments. Squat, a lot, fat QBs dont win championships. Romo looks a tad bit out of shape to me. And when I met him in the offseason he didn't really look chiseled by any means.

But old guys do? Come on BP had Vinny and Bledsoe here and Phil Simms was not an overly athletic guy. Romo shows the ability to get out of the pocket and away from pressure. I love BP but his words and action have not always been exact.

 

[TNCowboy]

I also see their WR making acobatic catches not all of their passes are perfect sometime the WR has to go out and make the play. This is not about protecting Romo but it seems Romo is asked to throw the perfect pass all the time and yet no one else in the league including manning throws perfect passes all the time

I don't recall any reasonable poster suggesting that Romo make every throw perfect.

Of course they don't make perfect throws every time. With respect to Romo, he rarely does.

Their WRs are making acrobatic catches? I don't see that either of those teams has a more athletic or talented WR corps than the Cowboys do. But because of how well Manning is throwing the ball, guys like Collie and Garcon are making plays for them.

Romo is off. He's missing receivers all the time. Part of it is he's probably rattled by his offensive line. But part of it - whether you want to admit it or not - is that he just isn't making a lot of great throws.

 

[Doomsday101]

Everybody misses plays. To miss a play is not a killer, per say. The killer is if you miss a play and it results in a turnover. For me, the way in which I view the game will always be with an eye towards turnovers. I realize that these kinds of plays are made all the time in the NFL. For a team like San Diego, who have like 10 WRs who are 6-5, that is their offense. They structure their passing game around the high throw and the back shoulder throw. For me, I don't really like it much. You see more potential TOs with that kind of throw and I believe in doing anything and everything to try and cut down on potential for turnovers. I just believe that it's the most key stat in the NFL. Anything you can do to avoid it or reduce it, I'm in favor of.

I understand everybody misses plays thing is some of the plays we are missing. As I said I see alot of guys coming up short in critical situations be it Romo or one of the other weapons. I see way to many big plays being left out on the field. Everyone wants to blame the coaches fine I think they share in it but my biggest beef is lack of execution when I see the plays there for the taking and we are coming up short on them. As for the high pass we are no different than other teams who will have high passes and yet the WR is expected to come up with it.

 

[aikemirv]

It's hard to point to Romo and say that his play is poor. I mean, he has posted better numbers every year and we have had success as a team, even if it was not the level of success we have wanted as fans.

However, one of the things I absolutely believe has gone down hill, these past few years, are the mechanics of Romo. He has so much natural ability that he makes you forget about this but, I just watch Romo and I see him making decisions or sailing the ball or whatever it might be and I can't help but wonder if it was a bad decision to get rid of a QB coach. I know he works with Garrett and Garrett believes that he can do it but honestly, I do believe that Romo has regressed just a bit in this area. I know there is a fine line between restricting too much and not enough but it just seems as if Tony could benefit from this. It was talked about when we first let Wade go but it really hasn't been discussed much since. I wonder if it is time to revisit this. Lord knows that Garrett had better figure something out because we are not seeing the results we should be from this offense IMO.

The INT for Miles was on Romo and so was the INT to Witten IMO. He threw medicine balls to both Roy and Witten. I know your going to get hit but it just seems as if we are seeing a lot of throws that are resulting in negative results. Could be the result of how many times we are throwing but I just wonder if a QB coach would help focus things again?

Romo has ALWAYS had the tendency to throw high and he has always not thrown the slant that great and has been behind. My opinion is it has to do with his height (he can't throw over the lineman so he has to hit the gaps) and our Oline is not very good at giving space in the pocket for him to see that well.

I think the difference is that he has lost some of the magic he had in the beginning because he trys to stay in the pocket longer than he used to. Romo is at his absolute best when he is moving around in the pocket. That is where he creates the magic plays we have grown so used to. When Romo has to dodge a single rusher and move around he will complete the pass 9 out of 10 times.

 

[Doomsday101]

I don't recall any reasonable poster suggesting that Romo make every throw perfect.

Of course they don't make perfect throws every time. With respect to Romo, he rarely does.

Their WRs are making acrobatic catches? I don't see that either of those teams has a more athletic or talented WR corps than the Cowboys do. But because of how well Manning is throwing the ball, guys like Collie and Garcon are making plays for them.

Romo is off. He's missing receivers all the time. Part of it is he's probably rattled by his offensive line. But part of it - whether you want to admit it or not - is that he just isn't making a lot of great throws.

He is missing WR all the time? I think Romo has missed some throws but not many whether you agree or not.

 

[aikemirv]

I don't recall any reasonable poster suggesting that Romo make every throw perfect.

Of course they don't make perfect throws every time. With respect to Romo, he rarely does.

Their WRs are making acrobatic catches? I don't see that either of those teams has a more athletic or talented WR corps than the Cowboys do. But because of how well Manning is throwing the ball, guys like Collie and Garcon are making plays for them.

Romo is off. He's missing receivers all the time. Part of it is he's probably rattled by his offensive line. But part of it - whether you want to admit it or not - is that he just isn't making a lot of great throws.

66.3% comp percentage - exagerate much?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I understand everybody misses plays thing is some of the plays we are missing. As I said I see alot of guys coming up short in critical situations be it Romo or one of the other weapons. I see way to many big plays being left out on the field. Everyone wants to blame the coaches fine I think they share in it but my biggest beef is lack of execution when I see the plays there for the taking and we are coming up short on them. As for the high pass we are no different than other teams who will have high passes and yet the WR is expected to come up with it.

A big reason why I think we should settle down in our offensive game plan and try to get back to a more balanced attack. Personally, I agree with you. I've seen way too many points left on the field. I suspect is is because we are pressing. If we just play a smart game, lean on our defense to play well, we can allow the game to come to the players, so to speak. We have excellent talent. If the game plan allows the game to be more balanced, I think those plays start coming to us. You can attack and still be balanced. I get the feeling that "Attack" means "Throw the Ball" to Garrett and the Cowboys. I think we are hurting ourselves by not being more patient with our offense.

 

[TNCowboy]

66.3% comp percentage - exagerate much?

The offense also had 400 yds Sunday. Do you think they played an excellent game? The had nearly 400 against Washington. Do you think they played well then?

Stats don't tell everything. Of course, in your unbridled homerism, you, like D'day and a bunch of others, aren't willing to admit it.

The offense has scored 20 points in 2 games. A lot of things are wrong, and Romo is one of them.

 

[Doomsday101]

A big reason why I think we should settle down in our offensive game plan and try to get back to a more balanced attack. Personally, I agree with you. I've seen way too many points left on the field. I suspect is is because we are pressing. If we just play a smart game, lean on our defense to play well, we can allow the game to come to the players, so to speak. We have excellent talent. If the game plan allows the game to be more balanced, I think those plays start coming to us. You can attack and still be balanced. I get the feeling that "Attack" means "Throw the Ball" to Garrett and the Cowboys. I think we are hurting ourselves by not being more patient with our offense.

I think when we start losing 3 or 4 yards in running plays as we were vs Chicago you best find some other way of attacking them. I'm all for mixing in the run but this is not the 90's team. This coming game I expect alot of passing vs Houston after all McNabb just put over 400 yards on them hitting 28 out of 38 passes because that is where their is weakness on Houston defense as opposed to their front 7 where they have good talent.

 

[Doomsday101]

The offense also had 400 yds Sunday. Do you think they played an excellent game? The had nearly 400 against Washington. Do you think they played well then?

Stats don't tell everything. Of course, in your unbridled homerism, you, like D'day and a bunch of others, aren't willing to admit it.

The offense has scored 20 points in 2 games. A lot of things are wrong, and Romo is one of them.

I think Romo has been off on some passes and have said so I don't think he is playing as bad as you are claming. You call me a homer? I have no problem calling players or coaches out however I don't over over board like you and the sister of the chicken little shy is falling crowd.

 

[aikemirv]

The offense also had 400 yds Sunday. Do you think they played an excellent game? The had nearly 400 against Washington. Do you think they played well then?

Stats don't tell everything. Of course, in your unbridled homerism, you, like D'day and a bunch of others, aren't willing to admit it.

The offense has scored 20 points in 2 games. A lot of things are wrong, and Romo is one of them.

Unbridled homersim - ok. I was saying "comon Romo" in that game a few times myself. (pass to Choice and the one behind Witten) I think he had a poor game for his standards too but I also believe he has spoiled us. He was a bit off - i agree but he is not missing WR's all over the place.

The fact of the matter is that we are putting it all on Romo to be perfect to win these games and that is just not fair. Brees was far from perfect last night and yet his team caused 4 turnovers and won the game. We need a better team effort and stop asking Romo to win it by himself.

 

[Smith22]

The darn shotgun is killing him. Garrett is so in love with the shotgun, he doesn't realize it puts the OL and Romo at a disadvantage. There is not threat of run or play action. The defense knows a pass is coming and has nothing else to worry about. Romo gets no roll outs or anything. You look at Brees and Schaub and play action is their friend. Not here and not for Romo.

I 100% agree with this post! The only run they fear is that stupid draw.

 

[ConstantReboot]

I hate to say this but it all started when Garrett came to Dallas.

First thing that Garrett did was try and change the mechanics of Romo. Before Romo had a almost sidearm throwing style similar to Philip Rivers. When Garrett came in, he showed Romo how to throw an overhand windup similar to what Aikman does.

When I heard that was what Garrett has done his style wasn't the same. He was off target on several of his plays in preseason. And it just didn't look natural.

Second thing that Garrett did was make Romo more of a pocket passer. It was well pointed out that Romo's happy feet was one of his weaknesses. So Garrett also worked on how to get him to stay confortable in the pocket just like Aikman and Brady.

The Romo or yesteryear and this year is different. Romo doesn't scramble as much as before because he is trained to stay in the pocket. Also his passes have been sailing high and off target.

Thus I have to conclude that this is Garrett's fault. Romo is overcoached. They are trying to change him into an Aikman type of QB. And in my opinion, Garrett might have singlehandedly destroyed what is and could have been the most prolific passer and offense that the Cowboys ever assembled.

Just take a look at the stats in 2007 to 2009.

Average points per game

2007 28.5
2009 22.5

2007-

Top 5 in scoring offense
Romo most dangerous QB out of the pocket
Romo throws a record 36 TDs
Romo top 5 in 3rd down conversions
Romo highest rated passer in 3rd down conversions
Teams gameplaned to contain Romo's scrambling ability

in 2009
Offense ranked 14th in scoring
Romo no longer has a high 3rd down conversion
Romo throws 10 fewer TD pass than 2007 (26)
Romo is made to stay in the pocket rather than improvise
Romo has a lower passing pct than 2007
Lot of Romo intangibles are no longer there. The long ball, scrambling for 1st down, etc.

Well I can go on and on about the differences. But all in all, Garrett has ruined this offense more than what the eye can see. I think he is trying to change the offense to suite his confort level rather than utilize the offense's talents and skills.

Garrett, I think has done more harm to this offense than any other Dallas coach. I hope to be proven wrong but the stats don't lie and I would be very happy to eat crow. But so far the facts prove that Romo is not the same QB and its because of what Garrett has done to him.

 

[baj1dallas]

I think it's pretty simple. He is just not that good when he gets a lot of pressure up the middle. He's average or slightly below average. Otherwise he's above average. But Brees isn't good when he's pressured up the middle either. And Manning isn't great when he's pressured. And Favre has been terrible this season and McNabb is inconsistent and Eli Manning is mediocre etc etc.

 

[CowboySwagger]

All structures and organization have foundations and platforms.

There is an earthquake in Dallas and the tectonic plates are our O-line.

By no means are the woes of the Cowboys on Romo or Garrett..IMHO.

All this short stuff, Romo having do option timing routes, and 3 step drop, and lack of running game, and has been predicated on a very weak offensive line. Since Romo's been here he has had the biggest and stupidest O-line ever!!

Yeah some of our O-line has made the pro bowl but thats all smoke and mirrors due to design and our back field or quaterback's individual efforts.

In 2007, the reason we didn't beat the Giant, the O-line. What stalls most of our drives O-line. What makes Romo have to panic O-line. I have been watching tape these past several weeks (from 07 to present) to see Romo's and Garrett's tendencies....I mean every play in slow motion counting how many are in the box, what was the pre-snap read, and the O-line blocking assinments.

This O-line is terrible in: blitz pick up, on seven step drop backs, on running plays where someone has to pull. With the exception of Free being the only light on the O-line, Kosier is not the same and is aging and now cause of that will now be a penalty machine. Gurode and Davis are just stupid, ex. vs the Bears on many critical running, passing, and screen plays they are double teaming some irrelevant linemen, pure bonehead. That leaves Columbo.....the guy is servicable right now...I love his nastiness and attitude...but I am worried about his injuries....I really do but his better days are behind him.

Please, Please watch the film, and dissect it and you will see how most if not all our woes derive from this horrid O-line play. If Romo just had, not a life time, but manageable time to throw he would be great and Garrett could run the ball more.

I never see Brady, Peyton, or Brees ever...ever...ever having to run for their lives on a consistent basis. I never see their drives stalled by their O-line play.

I love this team and will endure the growing pain but put blame where it should be.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I think when we start losing 3 or 4 yards in running plays as we were vs Chicago you best find some other way of attacking them. I'm all for mixing in the run but this is not the 90's team. This coming game I expect alot of passing vs Houston after all McNabb just put over 400 yards on them hitting 28 out of 38 passes because that is where their is weakness on Houston defense as opposed to their front 7 where they have good talent.

If this were the case, I would be more willing to accept this but that was not the case with Chicago. I believe we only had two rushing plays that resulted in -4 yards, both by Jones. One was a delay where we didn't block Urlacher (not really Jone's fault) and the other was an off tackle play where Briggs shot the gap and killed the play before Jones could reach the corner. Think about this though. Jones only had 7 carries for 7 yards. He lost 8 yards on those two plays so at some point, he had to have had some success in order to get back to 7 yards on 7 carries. I'm not going to try and sit here and say we were doing great in the running game but I don't think it was nearly as bad as is made out to be. In fact, there was a series where we had excellent succes with the running game. It was the only series that I thought we actually focused on the run to start with. Early in the game, we started a series with the running game and really had pretty good success. Barber up the middle for 7 yards, Barber again up the middle for 7 yards, Barber off right tackle for 8 yards, Jones over left end for 4 yards. The next play was Jones off right end for -4. That drive started at our 25 and up to this point, was at the Dallas 45 when we managed to get a holding call and 3 straight pass plays, all incomplete. The only other point in the game where we actually ran the ball in succession (like this) was on the series we scored a TD to Gronk. Those were mostly short yardage plays but all positive.

Even if you look past this game to the Skinz game, we really did have very good success in the running game. We ran the ball 22 times for a 4.7 average. Skinz never really stopped us in the run game and still, we went away from it. To start the 4th quarter of the Skinz game, score 10-7 Skinz, we opened up the first drive of that quarter with the following: 14.21 in the 4th from the Dallas 18. Jones off left end for 11. Jones wide to the left for 5. Jones off right end for 3. Choice up the middle for 8. Shotgun, Pass to Miles, Holding on Bennett. Romo short to Williams for 1 yard, Romo incomplete to Witten. Romo to Witten, Barron Holding. False start Free. Romo to Witten for 14. Short of 1st and a Punt. After that series, there was only one other run play in the game. That was a 3rd and short to Choice for 8 yards. Down by 3 points in the 4th quarter, running the ball exceptionally well and we just abandon the run. We run 20 more plays, with just one more run for 8 yards and a first down and 19 pass plays.

It's not just Chicago. We just seem to abandon the run, even when it's working well for us. That's not smart football to me.

 

[ConstantReboot]

All structures and organization have foundations and platforms.

There is an earthquake in Dallas and the tectonic plates are our O-line.

By no means are the woes of the Cowboys on Romo or Garrett..IMHO.

All this short stuff, Romo having do option timing routes, and 3 step drop, and lack of running game, and has been predicated on a very weak offensive line. Since Romo's been here he has had the biggest and stupidest O-line ever!!

Was the oline a factor in the Bears game? Offense can only muster 1 TD.

In 2007 our oline was just as bad as this year and possibly worst. Yet Romo had a record breaking year.

The reason to that was that Romo was allowed to scramble and improvise. His longest TD passes was when the protection broke down and threw deep.

Garrett's coaching has taken that all away from Romo. Romo has become more of a pocket passer and because of that he has been forcing passes due to what the play was drawn out to be.

This is why I'm saying this is all Garrett's fault. He has overcoached Romo to the point that Romo is no longer Romo.

 

[kramskoi]

All structures and organization have foundations and platforms.

There is an earthquake in Dallas and the tectonic plates are our O-line.

By no means are the woes of the Cowboys on Romo or Garrett..IMHO.

All this short stuff, Romo having do option timing routes, and 3 step drop, and lack of running game, and has been predicated on a very weak offensive line. Since Romo's been here he has had the biggest and stupidest O-line ever!!

Yeah some of our O-line has made the pro bowl but thats all smoke and mirrors due to design and our back field or quaterback's individual efforts.

In 2007, the reason we didn't beat the Giant, the O-line. What stalls most of our drives O-line. What makes Romo have to panic O-line. I have been watching tape these past several weeks (from 07 to present) to see Romo's and Garrett's tendencies....I mean every play in slow motion counting how many are in the box, what was the pre-snap read, and the O-line blocking assinments.

This O-line is terrible in: blitz pick up, on seven step drop backs, on running plays where someone has to pull. With the exception of Free being the only light on the O-line, Kosier is not the same and is aging and now cause of that will now be a penalty machine. Gurode and Davis are just stupid, ex. vs the Bears on many critical running, passing, and screen plays they are double teaming some irrelevant linemen, pure bonehead. That leaves Columbo.....the guy is servicable right now...I love his nastiness and attitude...but I am worried about his injuries....I really do but his better days are behind him.

Please, Please watch the film, and dissect it and you will see how most if not all our woes derive from this horrid O-line play. If Romo just had, not a life time, but manageable time to throw he would be great and Garrett could run the ball more.

I never see Brady, Peyton, or Brees ever...ever...ever having to run for their lives on a consistent basis. I never see their drives stalled by their O-line play.

I love this team and will endure the growing pain but put blame where it should be.

...Dallas did beat them twice that year with the same o-line...just saying