Sturm: On the Romo Signing

[DFWJC]

Peter King ‏@SI_PeterKing 6m
Some Tony Romo analysis coming in Tuesday column. Up in about an hour. You Romo haters will not be pleased.
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Should be interesting

 

[Fansince64]

I agree but he hasn't played well in almost all of them.

Let's look at some of these "Lose and Go Home" games as you like to call them where Romo didn't "play well" (your term):
1. 2006 Playoff Loss to Seahawks - Romo fumbles snap on FG attempt. Cowboys claimed ball was doctored. Rewatch the 3 plays before the FG attempt and pay attention to the football. Ball is a dull brown color. On FG attempt, ball looks like it has a coat of varnish on it - it is very shiny. Ball on next 3 plays for Seahawks is again a dull brown (i.e. not shiny). In the offseason between 2006 and 2007, rules committee changes rule that home team furnishes all balls for game and allows visiting team to furnish its own balls for special teams plays. Just a random coincidence I'm sure.
2. 2007 Playoff Loss to Giants - Let's ignore the two perfect TD passes Romo threw in the final few minutes. Remember the ball bouncing off of Fasano's facemask when he was 2 yards deep in the endzone? I do but apparently, you don't. With 20 seconds left, remember Romo rolling right (after, as usual, avoiding 2 free rushers) and lofting a pass to Crayton just as Crayton blew past a stationary DB. Remember Crayton with a full 2 step lead (and widening) on the DB suddenly slowing down to look back at Romo just after Romo had released the ball. Remember the ball landing about 5 yards deep in the end zone while Crayton (who had tried to speed back up after nearly coming to a full stop) was just crossing the goal line. Without that slowdown by Crayton, that ball hits him full stride in the endzone - Now given motor-mouth's ability to drop wide open passes (remember the 3rd and 19 drop 22 yards down field from the shadow of our own goalposts) maybe he drops that one too. I remember those 2 passes, apparently you don't.
3. 2009 Playoff Loss to Vikings - Remember Ray Edwards going over, under, around and through Marc Columbo in the first quarter (and really, all game long). I'm not sure, but it seemed like he had about 15 sacks in the 1st quarter alone. An exaggeration of course but there was actually one play I remember where he went around Columbo so quickly he actually had to wait for Romo to complete his drop before he could reach him for the sack. Now, why Columbo was starting at RT after his replacement (Free) had played so well and solidified the OL after Columbo was injured is another subject entirely (remember how our running game came to life the 2nd half of the year while Free was in there). In my mind, this was the game that convinced me we needed to rebuild our OL if we had championship aspirations. We rebuilt in 2011, just not to NFL stasndards. I guess in your mind Romo was responsible for playing QB and RT (not to mention LT, LG, C and RG).
4. 2011 Loss to Giants - Remember Romo escaping the rush and lofting a lollypop guaranteed TD pass to a wide-open Austin who somehow "lost it in the lights" (his words). I remember that, apparently you don't.

Now I am not claiming Romo is perfect - far from it. He has made dumb decisions and mistakes that have made me mad enough to shoot him on the spot. But, on balance, in these "Lose and Go Home" games, Romo's teammates have let him down far more times than Romo has failed on his own hook.


Monte Sliger

 

[Echo9]

I almost made the same post, but didn't due to the irony!!! It's just worse having to do it in person!

:laugh2:

You're welcome. It needed to be said, even if its falling on deaf ears.

 

[btcutter]

Yeah I guess we just have to agree to disagree. The cap management is the bigger issue IMO. I've never thought Romo was the problem. You can win with Romo, he just needs more support than he is getting. My big worry is that we will have too much money wrapped up in an aging core and unable to secure our young core.

I agree that our front office is too sentimental and loyal to a fault. JJ is just not a good GM.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

Should be interesting

I see ya out there, fighting those Romo haters on Twitter

What's funny is, the ignorance you are fighting is mostly national level ignorance, which I can forgive because they don't watch all the games and get their facts from the media take. This board has ACTUAL Cowboys fans who thinks Romo chokes every year, is terrible in the 4th quarter and December, throws 3 interceptions every game, etc. It's embarrassing.

 

[DandyDon1722]

I see ya out there, fighting those Romo haters on Twitter

What's funny is, the ignorance you are fighting is mostly national level ignorance, which I can forgive because they don't watch all the games and get their facts from the media take. This board has ACTUAL Cowboys fans who thinks Romo chokes every year, is terrible in the 4th quarter and December, throws 3 interceptions every game, etc. It's embarrassing.

It is embarrassing. Funny but I always used to feel Cowboy fans out if I just met them by happenstance and depending on their level of knowledge it was fun to talk. My last conversation was with a really nice guy at the airport with his family. He saw me with my hat on and shook my hand and started talking. After a couple minutes of listening he ended with this...

"Romo sucks. We gotta get rid of him and try to get Quincy Carter back. We'll win a Super Bowl I promise."

I did not make that up.

 

[zrinkill]

It's embarrassing.

Its the same type of morons who booed Troy Aikman his last few years in the league.

I realized a long time ago that the Cowboys have some of the worst fans in sports.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

It is embarrassing. Funny but I always used to feel Cowboy fans out if I just met them by happenstance and depending on their level of knowledge it was fun to talk. My last conversation was with a really nice guy at the airport with his family. He saw me with my hat on and shook my hand and started talking. After a couple minutes of listening he ended with this...

"Romo sucks. We gotta get rid of him and try to get Quincy Carter back. We'll win a Super Bowl I promise."

I did not make that up.

Did you end the conversation with the Bill Engvall line... Here's your Sign.

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

But if they had no QB they wouldn't be good enough, either. That's why it seems there is no point, or the point at least doesn't make any sense.

I don't think we would be a team that could not function under Orton. He would be the bridge to our next qb.

 

[DFWJC]

Peter King just posted this on SI.com

____________________________________W-L_____Rating___TD-INT Ratio
Seven seasons prior to Romo (1999-2005)_48-64___72.2 ______-10
Romo as starting QB (2006-2012) _______64-48____95.6 ______+86​

"(For symmetry's sake, I used the won-lost record for seven full seasons prior to Romo and seven full seasons with Romo, even though Romo has started 93 of 112 games in his seven seasons. Dallas' record with Romo starting is 55-38. The quarterback rating for Romo's seven years is for Romo only.)​

How do you look at those numbers and believe Romo is the problem? How do you look at those numbers and say, "Let's try a new guy who might be Tom Brady but also might be Gary Hogeboom?''​

It's fair game to criticize Jerry Jones for lots of things. Signing Romo to be the quarterback of the Cowboys for the next five or six years isn't one of them"​

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nf...ony-romo-colt-mccoy-peter-king/?sct=uk_t12_a2





​

 

[ufcrules1]

Let's look at some of these "Lose and Go Home" games as you like to call them where Romo didn't "play well" (your term):
1. 2006 Playoff Loss to Seahawks - Romo fumbles snap on FG attempt. Cowboys claimed ball was doctored. Rewatch the 3 plays before the FG attempt and pay attention to the football. Ball is a dull brown color. On FG attempt, ball looks like it has a coat of varnish on it - it is very shiny. Ball on next 3 plays for Seahawks is again a dull brown (i.e. not shiny). In the offseason between 2006 and 2007, rules committee changes rule that home team furnishes all balls for game and allows visiting team to furnish its own balls for special teams plays. Just a random coincidence I'm sure.
2. 2007 Playoff Loss to Giants - Let's ignore the two perfect TD passes Romo threw in the final few minutes. Remember the ball bouncing off of Fasano's facemask when he was 2 yards deep in the endzone? I do but apparently, you don't. With 20 seconds left, remember Romo rolling right (after, as usual, avoiding 2 free rushers) and lofting a pass to Crayton just as Crayton blew past a stationary DB. Remember Crayton with a full 2 step lead (and widening) on the DB suddenly slowing down to look back at Romo just after Romo had released the ball. Remember the ball landing about 5 yards deep in the end zone while Crayton (who had tried to speed back up after nearly coming to a full stop) was just crossing the goal line. Without that slowdown by Crayton, that ball hits him full stride in the endzone - Now given motor-mouth's ability to drop wide open passes (remember the 3rd and 19 drop 22 yards down field from the shadow of our own goalposts) maybe he drops that one too. I remember those 2 passes, apparently you don't.
3. 2009 Playoff Loss to Vikings - Remember Ray Edwards going over, under, around and through Marc Columbo in the first quarter (and really, all game long). I'm not sure, but it seemed like he had about 15 sacks in the 1st quarter alone. An exaggeration of course but there was actually one play I remember where he went around Columbo so quickly he actually had to wait for Romo to complete his drop before he could reach him for the sack. Now, why Columbo was starting at RT after his replacement (Free) had played so well and solidified the OL after Columbo was injured is another subject entirely (remember how our running game came to life the 2nd half of the year while Free was in there). In my mind, this was the game that convinced me we needed to rebuild our OL if we had championship aspirations. We rebuilt in 2011, just not to NFL stasndards. I guess in your mind Romo was responsible for playing QB and RT (not to mention LT, LG, C and RG).
4. 2011 Loss to Giants - Remember Romo escaping the rush and lofting a lollypop guaranteed TD pass to a wide-open Austin who somehow "lost it in the lights" (his words). I remember that, apparently you don't.

Now I am not claiming Romo is perfect - far from it. He has made dumb decisions and mistakes that have made me mad enough to shoot him on the spot. But, on balance, in these "Lose and Go Home" games, Romo's teammates have let him down far more times than Romo has failed on his own hook.


Monte Sliger

I might have read your post if there was some spacing in there.

 

[DFWJC]

Peter King just posted this on SI.com

____________________________________W-L_____Rating___TD-INT Ratio
Seven seasons prior to Romo (1999-2005)_48-64___72.2 ______-10
Romo as starting QB (2006-2012) _______64-48____95.6 ______+86​

"(For symmetry's sake, I used the won-lost record for seven full seasons prior to Romo and seven full seasons with Romo, even though Romo has started 93 of 112 games in his seven seasons. Dallas' record with Romo starting is 55-38. The quarterback rating for Romo's seven years is for Romo only.)​

How do you look at those numbers and believe Romo is the problem? How do you look at those numbers and say, "Let's try a new guy who might be Tom Brady but also might be Gary Hogeboom?''​

It's fair game to criticize Jerry Jones for lots of things. Signing Romo to be the quarterback of the Cowboys for the next five or six years isn't one of them"​

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nf...ony-romo-colt-mccoy-peter-king/?sct=uk_t12_a2​

on SI.com.....

So winning and turnovers mentioned...in a good way.
I think we all agree we want better for the team though.

 

[vlad]

to Bob Sturm. For me, it's a good spring cleaning exercise with your blocked list to see who falls in with Sports Sturm vs just some dude in the next cubicle over.


J/k, sort of. It is a fair barometer of judging people's analytic skills with regards to NFL football.

 

[Fansince64]

I might have read your post if there was some spacing in there.

I can see where low/no IQ readers might have a problem. Let's be honest, the post contained more than 25-30 words and thus was incomprehensible to you.


Monte Sliger

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

As I read through this thread, I think that a lot of posters believe that we are not far away or that we have the talent to win a championship. I suppose that could be true. I mean, if we make the playoffs and if we get hot, I guess anything can happen.

I just don't believe that we are that good. I do not believe we are as talented as many believe we are.

Signing Romo to this contract is a problem for me personally, because I don't believe we are one or two players away.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

As I read through this thread, I think that a lot of posters believe that we are not far away or that we have the talent to win a championship. I suppose that could be true. I mean, if we make the playoffs and if we get hot, I guess anything can happen.

I just don't believe that we are that good. I do not believe we are as talented as many believe we are.

Signing Romo to this contract is a problem for me personally, because I don't believe we are one or two players away.

Then its a good thing he's signed for a more than a year then I guess. We need to continue to build the team and get better. I have yet to see an accounting that justify the cap hamstrung assertions I see.

Even then I ask myself: would I rather have Demarco Murray or Tony Romo for the next 3 years? I like Murray but not nearly as much as I like Romo.

I just don't see the downside to signing him. We don't have anyone for him to block, we still get to draft and we can still restructure $40m or so every year for the next several years to stay under the cap until Romo and Ware retire. Their replacements if drafted will be cost controlled as I am not going to hold my breath for a FA QB replacement.

If the plan is to build through the draft and resign our draft hits then I think we can do it. I am not positive of course but from looking at the sportrac numbers I can see how we could clear a ton of space should we decide we wanted to.

What's the downside?

 

[Idgit]

As I read through this thread, I think that a lot of posters believe that we are not far away or that we have the talent to win a championship. I suppose that could be true. I mean, if we make the playoffs and if we get hot, I guess anything can happen.

I just don't believe that we are that good. I do not believe we are as talented as many believe we are.

Signing Romo to this contract is a problem for me personally, because I don't believe we are one or two players away.

Unless you expect to be in a situation where having the QB position locked up with a quality player is a bad thing, I can't see any argument for not extending Tony Romo. If you're going to pay at or just under market rate at any position, it might as well be QB.

I think instead people instinctively don't like it because they don't like where the team is at, and the QB position is seen as the single biggest opportunity for improvement. People don't like the idea of their favorite team having a declining player at such a key position, so they make up salary cap arguments to rationalize what's really bugging them. Not everybody, of course, but this contributes to the general angst about extending a very good player who's demonstrated repeatedly over time that he can play at a high level at a critical position.

 

[2much2soon]

Tony is a wonderful athlete and an above average NFL QB. But it takes more than that to win championships.

It takes a leader at QB to drive and inspire a team.

I think that is where Tony is lacking.

And I'd beware of Romo's passing stats; I'd like to see them adjusted for how many times Dallas fell behind early and Romo threw on loose, prevent coverages. He has led charges in the heat of close games, but he also seems to go out and play flat until they fall way behind, way too often.

I'd also like to see the context of his unforced turnovers; my eye test after watching most of the games he has played in tells me many of them came at critical, game-and-momentum changing moments.

I was a big Romo supporter for a long time, but I am resigned to believing he will never win a championship.

Great leaders get the job done and don't need excuses laid on team mates by the fan base.

For the record, Staubach led a team heavy with rookies to the SB once. They were good rookies, but rookies nonetheless.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

Phil Simms chimes in on the Romo contract:

http://cowboysblog.***BANNED-URL***...eams-doing-cartwheels-trying-to-get-him.html/

Love Phil backing me up on the elimination game stupidity. Every time I ask KJJ or other Romo haters why no other quarterback in NFL history can ever be found to have played an elimination game, they freeze up like a snow cone.

"“The Dallas Cowboys were probably a 4-12, 6-10 team last year and he was at least fighting to get them into the playoffs to the last game of the year. Now, we’ve all of a sudden created a new stat for Tony Romo, elimination games. We don’t say it about any other quarterback, but elimination games for Tony Romo because it sounds a lot better. ‘We can get more losses on that column.’"

 

[Doomsay]

Phil Simms chimes in on the Romo contract:


Love Phil backing me up on the elimination game stupidity.

Citing the 1-6 record in elimination games is not smart or dumb, it's just a fact. It is also a fact that not just Tony underperformed in most of those games, it was largely a team effort, or a lack thereof.