Stopping the New Romo Myth

[percyhoward]

Career ratings with the game tied in the third quarter, fourth quarter or overtime --
Tony Romo 106.7

Exactly. It's got nothing to do with the score and everything to do with the first quarter.

 

[Clove]

Improve the pass defense

As I've said before, we've done that at some point. Wake me up when we draft a 1st round QB and add him to this stocked roster.

 

[DandyDon52]

Don Meredith was the same.... Dandy had to play in ice bowl and against GB and Lombardi in their prime.
Had he played another year or 2 I think he would have won it all.

"I disagree. I thought Romo's performance in last season's playoffs was very good. Detroit's defensive line was all over him with 6 sacks, 4 QB hits, and 13 pressures. Still, he managed to convert a key 4th and 6 which helped complete a 4th quarter comeback. His performance against GB was very good too. Romo played well enough to win but the lost fumble essentially lost us the game. Our defense wasn't good enough to slow down a one legged QB."

Romo and offense were shut out in 4th qtr, biggest game of the year and they / he cant put any points on the board!
That is why they lost. Overall it was a team loss, they all made mistakes, witten running the route too short, jg calling timeout, bailey missing fg,
Dez messing up the catch, murray fumbles, Romo fumbles and takes some key sacks.

But the main thing was not scoring at all in the 4th. GB only scored 6 and that was the difference.

 

[black label]

 

[mwj473]

And once again, in the playoffs, Romo does things to destroy our year.

Care to share these "things"?

 

[Alexander]

And you ask Elway, quite possibly the most physically talented QB ever to do it with no support, and you also get gaffes. Is there a point?

Yes, the point is, the environment Romo had around him last season was what he needs to win it all.

 

[Alexander]

The point which zoomed over your head is that no QB in NFL history has ever taken a team "on their back" and won anything. It's a stupid myth created by football know-nothings that needs to die.

Elway literally did take a weak supporting cast and carry them to multiple Super Bowls. Good luck finding many QBs who could take the kind of offensive skill players and unbalanced dependency on him they had and do the same.

He did not win championships until Denver had the zone running game as the foundation of their offense.

Romo has shown he is barely good enough to make the playoffs unless he has the support of a running game.

And before the panties start riding up, that is not a slam. Just a simple fact.

 

[jnday]

I don't have the motivation to go back and list all the moves Jerry made around Romo, to make things easier for him. What more can you do?

There was more moves and changes to this team to be "Romo friendly" than for any QB in history.

 

[Alexander]

There was more moves and changes to this team to be "Romo friendly" than for any QB in history.

Yes, they were really getting "Romo Friendly" with people like Phil Costa starting on the OL.

Romo has had no more done for him than any other QB when you look at it. But despite that, the team has always been expected to go as he does.

What he has not had is the benefit of taking the pressure off of him to be perfect, until last season.

I just do not understand how anyone cannot see he was a more comfortable and efficient QB with that kind of philosophy than he was in previous seasons.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Yes, they were really getting "Romo Friendly" with people like Phil Costa starting on the OL.

Romo has had no more done for him than any other QB when you look at it. But despite that, the team has always been expected to go as he does.

What he has not had is the benefit of taking the pressure off of him to be perfect, until last season.

I just do not understand how anyone cannot see he was a more comfortable and efficient QB with that kind of philosophy than he was in previous seasons.

Running game.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I don't know if the 'focal point of the offense' is the right verbiage.

He's the QB...he's always going to be the focal point of the offense.

But, less is more with Romo.

When he throws less attempts, he plays more efficiently. As I've said countless times, there's a dropoff in performance when he gets over 35 attempts and he's strongest on attempts 25-35.

He also audibled less and we got the play off more quickly this past season. Sometimes, Romo overthinks things and we just need to snap the ball otherwise the opposing pass rushers can make an easy cadence or snap read off the ball. And the constant audibling is more likely to confuse the rest of the players on the team after a while. Switch things up too much and at the last second, somebody doesn't hear or doesn't understand a certain adjustment and that botches the entire play.

Combine that with Romo's throws being much more accurate this past season because whatever he was working on with his throwing mechanics worked and we started to do other things like use a productive and efficient player like Murray, more often and use more Beasley on pivot routes than Witten....it led to the season it did.

My largest fear right now is that they will have Romo practicing every day of the week during the season. Yes, his back may feel stronger, but I think it's best to use him like last year where he took Wednesdays off. It seemed to freshen him up a bit and allowed Weeden some valuable snaps that Romo really doesn't need at this point.

To me, it was about all of those factors. Using him more to his strengths and using certain players around him more to their strengths than anything else. We have had the mentality that Romo is a top QB, so 'why wouldn't we want to use him more often?' and 'he's good at reading defenses, so why shouldn't he audible until he deems fit?' But the reality is that he's not at *that* level of greatness. Very few QB's will ever be at that level.





YR

 

[Doomsday101]

I've seen this new Romo myth popping up, and we need to squash this right now.

There is this idea that Romo was able to have a great year because he wasn't the focal point of the offence. First I would say this is ridiculous. When Romo had bad games or wasn't healthy this team still lost even with the running game, and when Romo wasn't there at all this team lost.

I've always thought Romo was an elite quarterback, and that we would see that if he had the following things

- an offensive line that could protect him
- a running game
- and a defense.

Basically if he was on a good team, you would see how elite he was as this is what elite quarterbacks have. I think Romo was elite last year. I know he lead the league in QB Rating, and I think he lead in QBR as well, not positive on the latter though.

But it wasn't about DeMarco Murray directly. It was about the time of possession battle that helped this defense stay on the right side of the ledger.

Who are the two standard bearers at the QB position? Rodgers and Brady.

Aaron Rodgers became a starter in 2008, a year and a half after Romo became a starter. Romo missed some time due to injury, but so did Rodgers, yet Rodgers has 1600 attempts with a lead compared to Romo who only has 1325 attempts. Romo actually has a higher qb rating than Brady when they play with a lead.
Hell, he has a higher quarterback rating than Brady when they both are trailing. The problem with Romo is that he has 1913 attempts when trailing compared to 1325 attempts with the lead. That inbalance is hugely detrimental to Romo, and causes him to be far more aggressive.

2.84 td to interception rating with the lead
2.08 td to interception rating when trailing

The reason Romo was so good last year is that he at least hit 50/50 last year between trailing and leading.

Did the running game help this defense last year and as a result help Romo? Absolutely. Can an improved defense allow Romo to pass more in a game, without taking unnecessary risks? Again, absolutely. The key end game is to have the lead while conducting offense and not be FORCED to pass the ball. As long as we are passing the ball on our terms, we will see efficient high quality play out of Romo regardless to an extent of how much we actually run the ball.


A lot of people look at pass attempts in a game, ignoring the fact that if Romo has to throw the ball 40 times, it's probably a bad situation in the first place.

This team should create an identity of not necessarily a rushing offense, but an imposing one. One that sets the pace of the game not just in terms of time of possession, but in terms of points scored. And you score points by passing the ball. It's time to impose this offense on other defenses with Bryant, Witten, Williams, Beasley, Escobar e.t.c. I hope the offensive line can get to the point where they don't need to keep tight ends in for help.

You score points with this offense early and often, and you let what looks like it could be a great defense pin its ears back. I see no reason this team can't be better than the 2009 Saints. Hell, I think we were better than them in 2009...

All I can say just as the running game was a big help to Troy Aikman it is also a big help to Tony Romo. Frankly a very good running game can be a big benefit to any QB. Drew Brees has been a top notch QB yet NO has tried to get a better running game to go along with a very good QB because running can help a team stay in favorable down and distance situations and it keeps defense off balance. I think Tony is and has a been a great QB but a quality running game not only benefits Tony it benefits the entire Dallas Cowboys team. Tony can put up stats but Dallas has shown what a very good running attack along with great play from the QB can accomplish. It showed in the 90's and it will show what it can do now.

 

[WillieBeamen]

As I've said before, we've done that at some point. Wake me up when we draft a 1st round QB and add him to this stocked roster.

LOL stocked roster. A team with a defense with not a single pro-bowl talent besides Greg Hardy and Sean Lee, both of whoms availability are a question mark as of now. Look, im not saying Romo hasnt played a role in this teams shortcomings, but thinking we can just pick a QB in the first round as the answer to win a SB doesnt make sense to me.

 

[Alexander]

but thinking we can just pick a QB in the first round as the answer to win a SB doesnt make sense to me.

Of course it is. I mean, just look at all the teams that have been able to do that. It is just that easy. Get a Russell, Sanchez, Quinn, Gabbert or Griffin and wait on the Lombardis to come.

 

[ufcrules1]

LOL stocked roster. A team with a defense with not a single pro-bowl talent besides Greg Hardy and Sean Lee, both of whoms availability are a question mark as of now. Look, im not saying Romo hasnt played a role in this teams shortcomings, but thinking we can just pick a QB in the first round as the answer to win a SB doesnt make sense to me.

He will NEVER have a perfect team in this day in age in the NFL. Last year his team was good enough even though the defense wasn't great. The defense was at least average in the league and they NEVER quit in a game all season. He had one of the best offensive lines in the whole NFL and all kinds of weapons. Now this year we add a healthy Lawrence, Sean Lee, Greg Hardy, Randy Gregory, and Byron Jones? This my friend is a super bowl caliber team. The only thing we are missing is a solid RB.

 

[Picksix]

I've seen this new Romo myth popping up, and we need to squash this right now.

There is this idea that Romo was able to have a great year because he wasn't the focal point of the offence. First I would say this is ridiculous. When Romo had bad games or wasn't healthy this team still lost even with the running game, and when Romo wasn't there at all this team lost.

I've always thought Romo was an elite quarterback, and that we would see that if he had the following things

- an offensive line that could protect him
- a running game
- and a defense.

Basically if he was on a good team, you would see how elite he was as this is what elite quarterbacks have. I think Romo was elite last year. I know he lead the league in QB Rating, and I think he lead in QBR as well, not positive on the latter though.

But it wasn't about DeMarco Murray directly. It was about the time of possession battle that helped this defense stay on the right side of the ledger.

Who are the two standard bearers at the QB position? Rodgers and Brady.

Aaron Rodgers became a starter in 2008, a year and a half after Romo became a starter. Romo missed some time due to injury, but so did Rodgers, yet Rodgers has 1600 attempts with a lead compared to Romo who only has 1325 attempts. Romo actually has a higher qb rating than Brady when they play with a lead.
Hell, he has a higher quarterback rating than Brady when they both are trailing. The problem with Romo is that he has 1913 attempts when trailing compared to 1325 attempts with the lead. That inbalance is hugely detrimental to Romo, and causes him to be far more aggressive.

2.84 td to interception rating with the lead
2.08 td to interception rating when trailing

The reason Romo was so good last year is that he at least hit 50/50 last year between trailing and leading.

Did the running game help this defense last year and as a result help Romo? Absolutely. Can an improved defense allow Romo to pass more in a game, without taking unnecessary risks? Again, absolutely. The key end game is to have the lead while conducting offense and not be FORCED to pass the ball. As long as we are passing the ball on our terms, we will see efficient high quality play out of Romo regardless to an extent of how much we actually run the ball.


A lot of people look at pass attempts in a game, ignoring the fact that if Romo has to throw the ball 40 times, it's probably a bad situation in the first place.

This team should create an identity of not necessarily a rushing offense, but an imposing one. One that sets the pace of the game not just in terms of time of possession, but in terms of points scored. And you score points by passing the ball. It's time to impose this offense on other defenses with Bryant, Witten, Williams, Beasley, Escobar e.t.c. I hope the offensive line can get to the point where they don't need to keep tight ends in for help.

You score points with this offense early and often, and you let what looks like it could be a great defense pin its ears back. I see no reason this team can't be better than the 2009 Saints. Hell, I think we were better than them in 2009...

Up here, everyone talks about how Russell Wilson walks on water, despite the fact the fact that he's had the #1 ranked defense for two years now, and one of the top running games in the NFL. But then they talk about Romo, and say just what you said - that the only reason he "didn't choke" this year was because of Murray, and now we're back to being screwed without him. They didn't notice that pretty much every time we needed a big play in the second half of the season, it was a pass. They forget about Murray's fumbling issues, especially the one in the GB game. They fail to take into consideration that our defense should be much improved this year. And they forget that we took the best running OL in football and made it better.

Nope, we're back to being screwed.

 

[WillieBeamen]

He will NEVER have a perfect team in this day in age in the NFL. Last year his team was good enough even though the defense wasn't great. The defense was at least average in the league and they NEVER quit in a game all season. He had one of the best offensive lines in the whole NFL and all kinds of weapons. Now this year we add a healthy Lawrence, Sean Lee, Greg Hardy, Randy Gregory, and Byron Jones? This my friend is a super bowl caliber team. The only thing we are missing is a solid RB.

I agree that the roster is in much better shape than it has been. The problem I have with Romo critics is they believe he has to play perfect week in/out for us to win. In that GB game what could he have done more that wouldve propelled us to a win? I saw QB in crunch time with basically the season on the line, make a perfect throw under pressure to our All Pro receiver who got screwed out of a clutch catch due to a poor call. Murray and the defense cost us that game.

 

[DFWJC]

Don Meredith was the same.... Dandy had to play in ice bowl and against GB and Lombardi in their prime.
Had he played another year or 2 I think he would have won it all.

"I disagree. I thought Romo's performance in last season's playoffs was very good. Detroit's defensive line was all over him with 6 sacks, 4 QB hits, and 13 pressures. Still, he managed to convert a key 4th and 6 which helped complete a 4th quarter comeback. His performance against GB was very good too. Romo played well enough to win but the lost fumble essentially lost us the game. Our defense wasn't good enough to slow down a one legged QB."

Romo and offense were shut out in 4th qtr, biggest game of the year and they / he cant put any points on the board!
That is why they lost. Overall it was a team loss, they all made mistakes, witten running the route too short, jg calling timeout, bailey missing fg,
Dez messing up the catch, murray fumbles, Romo fumbles and takes some key sacks.

But the main thing was not scoring at all in the 4th. GB only scored 6 and that was the difference.

Well, really, Dallas DID score in the 4th.
We all know that...so does Dez.

Anyway.
Green Bay had two long drives that ate up most of the clock in the 4th. Dallas started one drive in the 4th that ended with the play to Dez. That was the only incompletion (if you want to call it that) all quarter.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

This is one of those times where you are reading a post and you are thinking...Yep, Yep, You have me, I get you, I am feeling what you are saying and then bang a poster will throw something at the end that in your mind you hear a car breaks and tires squealing on pavement and you get whip lash because the last point ruins the rest of the post.

Help people from getting internet whiplash while reading posts and remember...

No more u turns

 

[percyhoward]

Less is more with Romo.

When he throws less attempts, he plays more efficiently. As I've said countless times, there's a drop off in performance when he gets over 35 attempts and he's strongest on attempts 25-35.

While technically true, you still haven't explained what makes it noteworthy. We might as well say "less is more with Brady, Manning, Romo, and Brees."

difference in passer rating after 30 attempts
(player's last five full seasons)
Brady -8.1
Manning -8.8
Romo -10.5
Brees -11.1