So far, two out of three things I wanted Romo to improve on seem...

[LarryCanadian]

to be moving in the right direction.

This is a bit positive so bear with me....

Romo is taking responsibility (at least verbally - hopefully he means it, I think he does) for the dumb mistakes. He is saying the right thing. This is a step towards maturity and the start of changing his mindset. You need to believe in what you are saying now, but that is the start to improving. He ISN'T saying "it was just like a punt" or "if this is the worst thing that happens to me", etc etc. Too early to tell if it will reflect on the passing game knucklehead plays or not.

Romo is protecting the ball more against fumbles. He is holding the ball centrally, less inclined to do wild scrambles, and keeping 2 hands on it, before doing his patented quick release. I WONDER IS THIS WHY ROMO HAS BEEN A BIT BEHIND ON A FEW OF HIS THROWS? Little bit slower on the draw passing from a safe ball hold position (pun intended). The fewer fumbles or less risky ball handling is a VAST improvement so far.

The risky throw behaviour just hasn't gone away yet, though. This is the last part. Comes down to where Romo is going to fall in the spectrum from bus driver to pure gun slinger.

LarryCanadian

 

[JonJon]

The staff just needs to do a better job protecting Romo from himself. He was throwing the ball way too fast last night without properly going through his reads, which is why he didn't see the defense properly. The sad thing is, there was no reason to rush the passes because the O-line did an outstanding job. The coaches should have picked up on this and gave the advantage more to the running game and focused more on passes of the 5 to 7 yard variety. It sounds elementary, but Romo may need someone to tell him not to force things before every play so that he won't forget and try to make something happen. We all know Romo can win, we just need him to be more consistent making good decisions and less consistent making bad decisions.

 

[LarryCanadian]

I agree, he had a ton more time than last year. The oline did a great job, and he threw the ball early, BUT I think this is intentional to try and prevent sacks and fumbles on his part. I think they have a strategy of ridding the ball more quickly. Thing is we don't have the quick separating type WR's. I agree, go through the reads.

LarryCanadian

 

[DandyDon1722]

Excellent post Larry but be prepared to duck. So many people want to go after all those other great, proven, QB's, in college or otherwise, who never have bad games.

In fact, I'm with them. There's gotta be at least 15 or 20 guys out there we could get. How hard can it be?

 

[Gemini Dolly]

Can I kiss you?

I love how optimistic you are that Romo will at some point learn.

 

[LarryCanadian]

Well, I wouldn't be as optimistic IF he was still saying "it's like a punt" OR if he was fumbling the ball twice a game in addition to throwing 2 bad picks (the bounce of the foot of Witten I'm not counting). Fumbles can be even worse because they are not down the field.

Changing the mind-set is the first step. Is it cliche that he is spouting or does he really mean it. I think he knows that they will lose games if he keeps lobbing it up there like on the 2 bad picks in particular. Both game changers. Eli dinks and dunks, and doesn't make the mistake and wins the game for his team. Romo NEEDS to learn that this season or it will be a LONG LOOONGG time before Dallas wins in the playoffs as not sure where else to get a QB.

The problem with the gunslinger style on the Cowboys team is we don't have the depth or defensive domination (not mean enough, nor consistent enough, nor create enough turnovers) to overcome a bad turnover machine at QB.

Romo HAS to improve the bad picks. In preseason and 2 games into regular season he is protecting the ball from fumbles MUCH better (quicker passes, holding ball more securely, less sand-lot scrambles). He IS saying the right thing and finger pointing at himself. This is leadership IF he means it. I think he does.

Can't sling together 4 wins in the playoffs by taking risks all the time. The risk and law of averages come and bite you. Managing the game, not to the point of a BUS DRIVER, but using common sense and NOT BEING IMPULSIVE or GREEDY in pass game is key. Take the small stuff.

LarryCanadian

 

[DandyDon1722]

I gotta say to that for as bad as a pick the last one was, why the hell was it even being called? Why was a deep pass even an option when we were running the ball so well?

Tony poorly executed a more poorly called pass option.