The thing about Romo "not coming through" is IMO luck, or should I say bad luck.
1. Would he have come through except for the slick ball game in Seattle in 2006 playoffs? He did the QB thing perfectly, it was the holding for the kicker part where things went wrong.
2. How about that Giants playoff game in 2007 playoffs. Would he not have come through except for Pat Crayton mysteriously not running through his route?
3. How about the first Giants matchup in 2011 - did he not put us up 12 points with under 5 minutes to go. Any decent defense should hold that lead. What's more when he got the ball back he threw up a perfect pass that Miles "lost in the lights". Or how about him driving us down the field for the tying FGA with about 45 seconds on the clock only for JPP to truck a 330 pound OG and block the kick with his long arms.
4. How about the 2nd Giants game last year - Dez came down about a quarter of an inch out. Romo threw that pass well within the end zone but Dez just didn't quite get control of his body enough to pull that ball down.
The truth is people just "forget" when Romo doesn't come through and focus on those instances when he has failed. Why - it seems to me to be more of a media creation starting with that Cabo trip in 2007 during the bye week. Then you have all the focus on his golf game and his hat position and so forth. They just really like to pick on him for some reason. I assume it is because of his notoriety and fame and position as QB of the Cowboys and dater of gorgeous blonde women. It sells so they continue to play the game. They generate a lot of confirmation bias - they hound on Romo's failures and mostly pay little attention to his victories and triumphs.
I honestly truly believe he is the 4th best QB in football right now behind Rodgers, Peyton Manning and Brady. I think he is better than Brees, Big Ben, Eli and Matt Ryan. I also believe there is no other QB in the league who would have had more success with this team over the past 2 years. The only reason we have been within sniffing distance of the playoffs has been Romo's tremendous play. I am very happy with him and do not want another QB here for the next 3-5 years health pending, of course.
I think Garrett has this team steered in the right direction and if Jerry and Stephen play the salary cap game right we could win a SB sometime in the next 3 seasons. We have a very good young core that is about to have a number of players entering their prime. I believe a lot of the injuries have been just bad luck and we should enjoy a good jolt from almost getting 3 draft classes at once with how many injuries where were to the 2011 and 2012 draftees. The key is to keep the young players entering their primes under Cowboys control (Lee, Dez, Tyron, MO, Bruce) at reasonable costs while making careful decisions on vets like Spencer, Rat, Free and Austin. You can't sacrifice the ability to re-sign the first group of players to keep the second group - that is bad personnel management. I think the real key to pulling it off is to develop some OLs (fingers crossed for Leary, TFred and Parnell) cheaply and to start re-stocking the DL with cheaper high draft picks who are ready to play.
The last time I felt this good about this team was in 2007. I actually probably had almost more worries back then because of Anthony Henry's yearly injury at the halfway mark and the #3 and #4 CBs were Jacques Reeves and Nate Jones. The Safeties weren't particularly good in coverage either (RW11 and Ken Hamlin). If only we had a league average secondary we would have been in the SB slugging it out against the Patriots. I think this team could be that good if the young Safeties come through and the OL gels by playoff time. I think we have something good brewing with some of these young guys and we need them to break out (Parnell and Leary) and establish themselves. They both have immense physical talent and are hard working and a bit nasty on the field. It will add a huge dimension to our offense. I just don't think many DL can go through TFred, Leary or Parnell.
This board could use a huge dose of some optimism. This team will be good.
