Romo's Sudden and Mysterious Rise

[Idgit]

Yeah, Romo is playing top notch right now. With this Oline and running game, there should be no excuses to play below his regular season stats, or meldown in the win and in game /playoff games this year. If he continues to play at his regular season level in those games, he may be able to shake the choker label.

Or rather, it will be even more obvious than it already was that the choker label was applied to Tony but existed in the first place because of the quality of his defense.

How good would the guy look with a truly elite defense behind him? Scary thought.

 

[percyhoward]

You have it backwards.

I think you're both right. Yes, we could have run better, but we also should have run more. And some of that second part is on Romo.

 

[ufcrules1]

Or rather, it will be even more obvious than it already was that the choker label was applied to Tony but existed in the first place because of the quality of his defense.

How good would the guy look with a truly elite defense behind him? Scary thought.

If everything was elite around him...i.e. Running game, Oline, defense, running game, etc.. well, he wouldn't have to do a whole lot. I would say all teams have weaknesses but the QB is in position where he can put the team on his shoulders and help overcome most of them granted he is on an above average team and is a very good qb.

 

[gimmesix]

Percy, the points you make above should be obvious to anyone who has been watching the games since Romo came on the scene. The problem has never been Romo, but the players around him. Even Stephen said as much a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks for putting together the objective numbers that support the observations of many, including myself.

I try not to pay attention to those who think Romo's year is an aberration. It's pretty obvious they don't know what they are talking about and simply lump the QB in with the team's failures.

 

[DandyDon1722]

If everything was elite around him...i.e. Running game, Oline, defense, running game, etc.. well, he wouldn't have to do a whole lot. I would say all teams have weaknesses but the QB is in position where he can put the team on his shoulders and help overcome most of them granted he is on an above average team and is a very good qb.

UFC for you that's like putting Tony in the HOF. But...I respect that and as I've always said you're better than 95% of those posters who hate on Romo and you'll notice are NEVER around anymore. They won't even post on other aspects of the team because their bread and butter has been taken away.

 

[ufcrules1]

UFC for you that's like putting Tony in the HOF. But...I respect that and as I've always said you're better than 95% of those posters who hate on Romo and you'll notice are NEVER around anymore. They won't even post on other aspects of the team because their bread and butter has been taken away.

Thanks DandyDon. I want nothing more than Romo to prove me wrong. I love the guy as a person but I have just seen how he plays in win and in/ playoff games and he plays at a level that is below the regular season and that leaves me with zero faith in him in those games. He not only has a good oline he has THE top oline in the league, he doesn't just have a good running game, he has one of the top running games in the league. He has an elite receiver and TE. Our defense is suspect but based on how strong our offense is, we should be able to overcome the deficiency of the defense. If he plays at a high level(equal or above his regular season level) in a win and in game/ playoff game and we still lose this year, I will be the first to come to his defense here.

 

[crashintonickdm]

this guy has always been good. I'm not sure what is so mysterious about this.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Thanks DandyDon. I want nothing more than Romo to prove me wrong. I love the guy as a person but I have just seen how he plays in win and in/ playoff games and he plays at a level that is below the regular season and that leaves me with zero faith in him in those games. He not only has a good oline he has THE top oline in the league, he doesn't just have a good running game, he has one of the top running games in the league. He has an elite receiver and TE. Our defense is suspect but based on how strong our offense is, we should be able to overcome the deficiency of the defense. If he plays at a high level(equal or above his regular season level) in a win and in game/ playoff game and we still lose this year, I will be the first to come to his defense here.

I just really really really (I could keep going but I'll stop) hate this line of thinking. It's the definition of crafting a very small and very specific sample size to fit your agenda.

I mean Washington last year was a win and get in game... But because it wasn't week 17 you somehow ignore that? And he won that game with a broken back.

Statistical analysis has consistently proven across multiple sports that the idea of "clutchness" if it exists cannot be statistically quantified. Some of our best sports stars across sports have played both miserably and fantastically in late season important games. You just remember the times they played well (or poorly) to fit any narrative you're predisposed to believe.

But hell since we are here... the stats we do have on Romo late game are all fantastic. Highest 4th quarter rating. Most comeback wins. Best active rating in two minute drill situations. Etc. Etc.

Like dude. You're kind of self-ruining one of the great success stories in sports in Romo because... Well... I don't know why.

 

[KJJ]

Romo having back surgery made the Cowboys more determined to run the ball this season. The improved running game and Romo not being 100% healthy has made him play smarter and do less. His decision making has been better and the poise he showed in the pocket on the game winning throw to Dez vs the Giants Sunday Night was the best I've seen from him. Romo always seems to play his best football when he has some sort of ailment.

In week 2 of the 2011 season with cracked ribs and a punctured lung he hit Jesse Holley with a great throw down the field to help the Cowboys upend SF in OT. Earlier this season vs Houston Romo showed great composure by escaping the grasp of JJ Watt to throw a TD. It's been Romo having to do too much that's caused a lot of his problems. The running game has taken some of the load off him and it's made him a better QB despite his back issues.

 

[percyhoward]

If he plays at a high level(equal or above his regular season level) in a win and in game/ playoff game and we still lose this year, I will be the first to come to his defense here.

You can take that same distinction and apply it to each of the last three regular seasons, though.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Whatever happened to Robinson anyway? I know he left the Boys to the Jags for more money and fell off the face of the Earth.....the other blackhole not named Oakland. He did have great chemistry with Romo, too bad money will do that to you. Reminds me of Alvin Harper when he went to the Bucs to never be heard from again.

Yeah the concussions got him but even before that he just couldn't duplicate that chemistry he had with Romo. Which was very odd. It was like a instant connection they had.

He won't come close to that yardage , the td -int ratio should be on par.

No he won't yardage but his QB rating will be higher if he keeps this up and his TD's could be on par or more and his INT's could be less.

1st half in fact.

Right. I forgot all about that.

 

[ConstantReboot]

If everything was elite around him...i.e. Running game, Oline, defense, running game, etc.. well, he wouldn't have to do a whole lot. I would say all teams have weaknesses but the QB is in position where he can put the team on his shoulders and help overcome most of them granted he is on an above average team and is a very good qb.

Everything WAS not elite around Romo. Your only seeing for the first time in a very long time a more complete team around him. Yet he was still able to shoulder this team before this year. You forget the years when when we had no running game, no oline and a porous defense. I think your putting too much responsibility on the shoulders of Romo to do amazing things. Even top QBs such as Peyton and Brady need a good core group to make them special. They can't do it all themselves.

 

[DFWJC]

"Tony Romo is having the best season of his career to this point, and I am not even sure it is close. He is having a simply amazing season and, of course, picked a rather unlikely time to do it in his career arc." -- Bob Sturm

When Romo signed his contract extension, he said that he was not an 8-8 quarterback. If you're one of those like Sturm, you probably though he was just blowing smoke. After all, look at his "career arc." In his first four years, three Pro Bowls, a couple of top 5 seasons in passer rating and three trips to the playoffs. Since then, no Pro Bowls, only one top 5 season and never able to lead his team above .500. He'd become little more than an average quarterback. Now he's suddenly the #2 rated passer in the NFL, and his team has its best record this late in a season since 2009. Amazing. Unlikely.

Whatever.

These are the team's yearly rankings during the Romo era, excluding pass offense. The first ranking is the average rank in rushing yards/TD, the second is defensive pass rating/points allowed per drive. I then took the average of both rankings to make a "rest of team" ranking (in parentheses)

2006 8th, 21st (14.5)
2007 13th, 9th (11.0)
2008 21st, 17th (19.0)
2009 11th, 9th (10.0)
2010 22nd, 24th (23.0)
2011 24th, 22nd (23.0)
2012 29th, 27th (28.0)
2013 25th, 28th (26.5)
2014 7th, 17th (12.0)

If you were paying attention, you knew this when it was happening -- excluding the pass offense, from 2010-13, this was a bad team that would have had about 5 wins per season with an average QB performance.

Romo's best season was when he had his most complete receiving corps (2011 -- Dez, healthy Miles, Robinson). His season rating was above 100, but this didn't show in W-L because of how weak the rest of the team was. His next two best years (2009, 2007) were when he had his best teams around him. His worst year was 2012 when he had his worst team around him. These are not coincidences.

Top 5 Rated Passers Since 2010
Rogers 111.3 (17th, 12th) 14.5
Manning 105.1 (15th, 15th) 15.0
Brady 100.3 (7th, 13th) 10.0
Brees 100.2 (17th, 20th) 18.5
Romo 98.0 (21st, 24th) 22.5

The rankings in parentheses are for those teams' running games and defenses. The last number is the average of those two ranks -- it's where the team ranks without the passing game. Romo said it all with the words, "I'm not an 8-8 quarterback." Of course he isn't. His numbers over the last five seasons are up there with the game's elites. The main difference between him and the other four is that Romo did most of this on a bottom 10 team.

Which tends to have an effect on your career arc.

The whole point of looking at individual statistics is to separate the performance of the team from that of the individual player. If you weren't paying attention to the player's individual performance on bad teams (or didn't understand their significance), then naturally you are surprised by his individual performance this year. Sure it's his best season so far, but there's nothing amazing or unlikely about it.

Thank God for Percy.

 

[5Stars]

Everything WAS not elite around Romo. Your only seeing for the first time in a very long time a more complete team around him. Yet he was still able to shoulder this team before this year. You forget the years when when we had no running game, no oline and a porous defense. I think your putting too much responsibility on the shoulders of Romo to do amazing things. Even top QBs such as Peyton and Brady need a good core group to make them special. They can't do it all themselves.

Good post....the thing about ufcunrules is that he only wants to enjoy the good times and do the "hey, now all us realists and homers can unite" stuff when Romo finally has a team around him!

It's the same thing with another poster who comes here proclaiming how Romo cannot win these "win or go home, spotlight game, elimination games" crap. Ohhhh, but now Romo is doing good so I want to be happy too!

It's a shame that posters for years have dogged the hell out of Romo because he is a "choker" when Romo had nothing but scrubs around him....but now they want to have a good time with the fools like me that have stuck with Romo through thick and thin! I have no use of posers like that.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Good post....the thing about ufcunrules is that he only wants to enjoy the good times and do the "hey, now all us realists and homers can unite" stuff when Romo finally has a team around him!

It's the same thing with another poster who comes here proclaiming how Romo cannot win these "win or go home, spotlight game, elimination games" crap. Ohhhh, but now Romo is doing good so I want to be happy too!

It's a shame that posters for years have dogged the hell out of Romo because he is a "choker" when Romo had nothing but scrubs around him....but now they want to a good time with the fools like me that have stuck with Romo through thick and thin! I have no use of posers like that.

The term "chocker" should not be identified with Romo at all. He has lead more comeback wins than any other recent QB that I can remember. Sure he doesn't do it all the time because if he did, he would be considered amazing. But for what he had to deal with for so many years such as no oline, no defense no running game, bad playcalling etc. Its amazing how he has been able to be productive for so long and all the media has been able to do is classify him as chocker.

Thus I'm glad that Collinsworth put it in perspective in the Giants game that Romo now doesn't have to do it all himself. He has others to rely on to win games.

 

[5Stars]

The term "chocker" should not be identified with Romo at all. He has lead more comeback wins than any other recent QB that I can remember. Sure he doesn't do it all the time because if he did, he would be considered amazing. But for what he had to deal with for so many years such as no oline, no defense no running game, bad playcalling etc. Its amazing how he has been able to be productive for so long and all the media has been able to do is classify him as chocker.

Thus I'm glad that Collinsworth put it in perspective in the Giants game that Romo now doesn't have to do it all himself. He has others to rely on to win games.

Nice....and with all the crap that Romo has had around him, the Cowboys still finish 8-8. But, to posers, that 8-8 is all Romo's fault. It's a shame and embarrassing at the same time.

It's never can the Cowboys win these supposed "win or go home, elimination game, spotlight games", it's "Romo" that cannot win those foolish statements.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Nice....and with all the crap that Romo has had around him, the Cowboys still finish 8-8. But, to posers, that 8-8 is all Romo's fault. It's a shame and embarrassing at the same time.

Totally agree. Some people I guess look at football games through a magnifying glass. They only see the QB and nothing else. They forget or don't realize is that football is a team sport.

With how crappy those 8-8 teams were, I still amazed that we finished in the middle of the heap. Without Romo we would be in the same class as the Skins, Raiders and the Titans vying for the #1 pick in the draft.

 

[5Stars]

Totally agree. Some people I guess look at football games through a magnifying glass. They only see the QB and nothing else. They forget or don't realize is that football is a team sport.

With how crappy those 8-8 teams were, I still amazed that we finished in the middle of the heap. Without Romo we would be in the same class as the Skins, Raiders and the Titans vying for the #1 pick in the draft.

You want to make a bet with me?

If the eagles come to Texas and win this game with a defense that allows the eagles to outscore the Cowboys, and if it all comes down to Romo to try and make a comeback but gets picked off? Guess who get the blame for the loss?

Romo! The same posers that want in on the fun so far, will be the same ones that will come here and blame Romo for not winning a "spotlight game"! Pathetic!

 

[ConstantReboot]

You want to make a bet with me?

If the eagles come to Texas and win this game with a defense that allows the eagles to outscore the Cowboys, and if it all comes down to Romo to try and make a comeback but gets picked off? Guess who get the blame for the loss?

Romo! The same posers that want in on the fun so far, will be the same ones that will come here and blame Romo for not winning a "spotlight game"! Pathetic!

LOL I would be with you but I would lose. In fact, I totally agree with you. The media seem to want to hide the fact that Dallas has been a talent-less team for so many years and that Romo has been carrying the load all this time. If we lose to the Eagles they will bring up that same argument that Romo is a chocker.

 

[5Stars]

LOL I would be with you but I would lose. In fact, I totally agree with you. The media seem to want to hide the fact that Dallas has been a talent-less team for so many years and that Romo has been carrying the load all this time. If we lose to the Eagles they will bring up that same argument that Romo is a chocker.

I don't listen to the media, if the Cowboys lose this coming game, I just come here to read the same posers spew their nonsense about how Romo lost the game. It's simple...why turn on ESPN when I can come here and see/read the same crap from the same posters that now want to join in on the fun! lol