The Tony Romo Reality Check

[DFWJC]

So someone is tired of people bringing up Romo--which I think we all are-

So he starts a full-blown thread about.....Romo

 

[DFWJC]

Cowboys have a divisional playoff game in less than 48 hours and some of y'all are rehashing the Romo years?

 

[DFWJC]

Did he EVER have a top 10 defense? I remember having the 32nd ranked defense in 2012 or '13.

Yeah, at the very beginning of his career, he had a couple of top 10s.
But Romo then was not Romo later (after years of working on his mental game and mechanics) and he would be the first to tell you that. But by then he had back issues.

It would be nice if we as fans could focus on this week.

What started this hornet's nest was that silly thread directly comparing Romo and Dak in playoffs....as if the teams you play or play on have no bearing....
So that person basically started a fight in the forum on purpose and for no reason.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Tony Romo was an excellent QB for the Dallas Cowboys. I don’t know about you, but despite the Cabo incident and the occasional untimely turnover early in his career, I always loved him as he gave me hope.

However, I’m sick of seeing him brought up in many threads lamenting how he was never given a supporting cast. It’s ridiculous and untrue. In his ten seasons as the starter, Romo went to the playoffs only 4 times despite playing with true super stars at WR, a HOF TE, and Tyron Smith in his prime, along with HOF Demarcus Ware and other pro bowl players. In 6 playoff games, he only threw 8 TD passes.

In his first playoff win, he led the offense to 34 points vs Philly when he passed for only 228, but the team also rushed for 198. Lots of support in that game as the defense held Philly to 14 points and created 4 turnovers.

In his second playoff victory, he led the offense to 24 points vs the Detroit Lions, passing for 242 and 2 TDs. The defense held Detroit to 20 points, so they did not require a high scoring affair.

In his 4 losses, the scores were 20-21 (passed for 189 while team rushed for 116); 17-21 (passed for 201 while team rushed for 154); 3-34 (passed for 156 with an INT while team rushed for 92), 21-26 (passed for 191 while team rushed for 148).

I supported and loved Romo as my QB, but I’m sick of this false narrative that he wasn’t supported. He had a good OL, a good to great running game from time to time, great receivers and TE, and his defense averaged holding teams to 22.6 points per game in his 6 playoff games. Take away the 34 Minnesota scored when Romo’s offense only scored 3, and his defense held the other 5 teams to 20.4 points per game while we went 2-3 In low scoring games. Over six playoff games with that high powered offense, Romo passed for an average of 201 yards per game while the team rushed for an average of 130 per game. So there was balance.

Tony Romo was a great talent who didn’t step it up in his 6 playoff games despite leading teams that were 13-3, 11-5, 12-4 in 3 of his only 4 appearances. The worst year of his 4 appearances in the playoffs was the 9-7 team in 2006 when we had the game won before he fumbled the snap.

It’s fine for us to love Tony Romo, the hope he gave us as Cowboys fans, and the gaudy stats he put up during his seasons as the Cowboys QB. But let’s stop the false narrative that those teams depended only on his arm, that he had no run game, and that the defense didn’t perform in the playoffs for him. The facts do not support that narrative.

Yeah I don't want to hear this crap about him not having talent. That's the irony they hype up how great he was and then in the same sentence say he needed a ALL PRO team around him. We know he had some years where the talent wasn't up to par. But you know what? Aaron Rodgers did to. Eli Manning did to. Drew Brees did to.


Fact is, Romo was good. Point blank period.
He was good enough to beat bad teams but not good enough to beat a team he wasn't suppose to.

The Romo run was fun. Had a great time even if it didn't end in a SB or even a NFC championship. But people need to stop rewriting and revising history. He was Phillip Rivers. Had similar careers.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Did he EVER have a top 10 defense? I remember having the 32nd ranked defense in 2012 or '13.

Yep. He had it a few times especially under Wade.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

He had talent around him, just in the wrong spots.

I fully believe we should have been building a team like the early 2000s Eagles did around McNabb. Tough trenches, underwhelming receivers.

He didn’t need all pro receivers (especially with Garrett wasting their talents). He needed protection and a defense that could keep a lead.

Eagles didn't build those teams well though Andy Reid and McNabb just kept them afloat. Todd Stinkston and James Trash shouldn't have been anyones starting receivers.

 

[pansophy]

Good defense in 2007 with pro bowlers
LB Greg Ellis
LB DeMarcus Ware
CB Terence Newman
FS Ken Hamlin
SS Roy Williams

I guess the Cowboys needed pro bowlers on the DL too

13th in scoring defense is hardly a "good defense". These were the prime years that Jones paid for stars that had junk next to them and certainly behind them. We would be awesome the first few weeks while all our stars were on the field, but play would drop dramatically as soon as guys started getting hurt or had off-the-field issues that kept them from playing.

Patriots rarely had stars other than Brady on the roster, but they were very good across the board without much drop off in their subs.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

13th in scoring defense is hardly a "good defense". These were the prime years that Jones paid for stars that had junk next to them and certainly behind them. We would be awesome the first few weeks while all our stars were on the field, but play would drop dramatically as soon as guys started getting hurt or had off-the-field issues that kept them from playing.

Patriots rarely had stars other than Brady on the roster, but they were very good across the board without much drop off in their subs.

Its also worth noting though that the Cowboys good players would get star coverage. Pats good players wouldn't. Patriots had some stacked teams they just never got the praise they probably deserved.

 

[pansophy]

Its also worth noting though that the Cowboys good players would get star coverage. Pats good players wouldn't. Patriots had some stacked teams they just never got the praise they probably deserved.

That’s probably true.

 

[BoysForLife]

So someone is tired of people bringing up Romo--which I think we all are-

So he starts a full-blown thread about.....Romo

You noticed that too huh?

"I'm tired of hearing about Romo. So I'm going to start a thread that prominently focuses on Romo"

LOL

 

[BoysForLife]

That’s probably true.

There's no probably about it

People talk all the time about the 2007 team that was "stacked" with 13 pro bowlers

One of those 13 was ken Hamlin. Anyone who thinks Ken Hamlin was ever near the top of the league is insane.

Watch the last game at Texas stadium vs Baltimore. In particular watch the back to back 75+ yard TD runs by McClain and McGahee

On both (not one, but both) of those runs, "Pro bowl" safety Ken Hamlin had a clean shot on both guys in the hole. And he straight whiffed on mcgahee and got run straight over on the other by McClain

You're point about the Cowboys being over hyped when they have a decent season could not be more true. The secondary in particular (other than Newman) was shamefully bad for most of the time Romo was under center.

 

[MarcusRock]

How many HOME playoff games did Brady play in his career? In the AFC he played in 13 Conference championships mostly at home. Worst win/Loss records in the NFL since the year 2000: Bill's-11th, Jets-6th, Dolphins-15th.

So clearly the weak division contributed to post season success. The playoff games were played through NE.

A weak division can work against post season success. If you aren't toughened up for when you face the other big boys in the playoffs, you lose. But the Patriots having 1st place schedules year after year means they were getting the AFC and NFC's best year after year during the regular season. Why'd they also perform well in those games? 6 games against the division, 10 against other teams in those days. You can discredit a winner all you want but it doesn't change the fact that they won, division or not.

 

[tunahelper]

A weak division can work against post season success. If you aren't toughened up for when you face the other big boys in the division, you lose. But the Patriots having 1st place schedules year after year means they were getting the AFC and NFC's best year after year during the regular season. Why'd they also perform well in those games? 6 games against the division, 10 against other teams in those days. You can discredit a winner all you want but it doesn't change the fact that they won, division or not.

Okay you dodge the fact they had a padded wins due to a weak division. The argument of tougher outer division is mute, since year over year scheduling does not guarantee the teams will still be good.

What we do know is the AFC East sucked for 20 years and that helps your overall record and assists gaining home field advantage in the playoffs. BTW the Patriots were .500 on the road in AFC Championship games during that stretch, so home field definitely helps a lot.

 

[Blackspider214]

I agree with everything you said but your very first sentence isn't correct. He was a good QB for Dallas, not excellent.

But to your main point, yes, Romo had very good teams on offense in his career. He played with prime Dez, prime Witten. A very good T.O. Demarco Murray who was a monster in 2014. Romo gets ton of excuses and what could have beens instead of actually performing on the field.

 

[T-RO]

Romo's real line vs. Green Bay in 2014 season:
16-19-223 yards 2 TDs 0 INT

Sheer Romo brilliance

DEZ CAUGHT IT...and this is the stat line including that catch. Might have added a TD a moment later.

Would and should have gone down as one of the most brilliant QB performances ever. Only 3 incompletions and nearly 12 yards per attempt (!!!) despite playing on road in 10 degree frozen situation.

 

[MarcusRock]

Okay you dodge the fact they had a padded wins due to a weak division. The argument of tougher outer division is mute, since year over year scheduling does not guarantee the teams will still be good.

What we do know is the AFC East sucked for 20 years and that helps your overall record and assists gaining home field advantage in the playoffs. BTW the Patriots were .500 on the road in AFC Championship games during that stretch, so home field definitely helps a lot.

The way you're dodging the fact that they played top opponents outside of the division and still performed or that a weak division could actually harm them? And it's not a moot point about scheduling. Doesn't guarantee the teams were good the next year but you're saying Manning, Big Ben, and Rivers all had patchy careers in that same conference? They didn't. So if the 1st place teams they faced weren't good the following years, run the numbers.

BTW, with the conference championships they won at home, they went on to only have a 3-3 record in Super Bowls with Brady. Their record in the Super Bowl when they won the conference championship on the road: 3-0. So homefield advantage didn't help out all that much when it came to winning Super Bowls, did it? They were actually WAY BETTER when they had to go on the road to win a championship game. Battle tested, like I said. So they won the same number of Super Bowls whether they won CGs at home or on the road where they were perfect. They were good. Give credit where it's due.

 

[DFWJC]

There's no probably about it

People talk all the time about the 2007 team that was "stacked" with 13 pro bowlers

One of those 13 was ken Hamlin. Anyone who thinks Ken Hamlin was ever near the top of the league is insane.

Watch the last game at Texas stadium vs Baltimore. In particular watch the back to back 75+ yard TD runs by McClain and McGahee

On both (not one, but both) of those runs, "Pro bowl" safety Ken Hamlin had a clean shot on both guys in the hole. And he straight whiffed on mcgahee and got run straight over on the other by McClain

You're point about the Cowboys being over hyped when they have a decent season could not be more true. The secondary in particular (other than Newman) was shamefully bad for most of the time Romo was under center.

about half of those possibly deserved Pro Bowl honors.
it was allfan voting that wrapped up about midseason.
The Cowboys were all the rage that year and the popularity wave tried to cote their whole team in.
kickers, snappers, waterboys…..lol

Anyone who really thinks they had 13 true Pro Bowlers are fooling themselves

 

[tunahelper]

The way you're dodging the fact that they played top opponents outside of the division and still performed or that a weak division could actually harm them? And it's not a moot point about scheduling. Doesn't guarantee the teams were good the next year but you're saying Manning, Big Ben, and Rivers all had patchy careers in that same conference? They didn't. So if the 1st place teams they faced weren't good the following years, run the numbers.

BTW, with the conference championships they won at home, they went on to only have a 3-3 record in Super Bowls with Brady. Their record in the Super Bowl when they won the conference championship on the road: 3-0. So homefield advantage didn't help out all that much when it came to winning Super Bowls, did it? They were actually WAY BETTER when they had to go on the road to win a championship game. Battle tested, like I said. So they won the same number of Super Bowls whether they won CGs at home or on the road where they were perfect. They were good. Give credit where it's due.

I never took anything away from NE, so apparently you cannot understand what I wrote. I stated a simple fact, NE had an easier road to the SB because their division was weak. Now debates could be held on NE team greatness, but I don't care about all that nonsense.

 

[BoysForLife]

about half of those possibly deserved Pro Bowl honors.
it was allfan voting that wrapped up about midseason.
The Cowboys were all the rage that year and the popularity wave tried to cote their whole team in.
kickers, snappers, waterboys…..lol

Anyone who really thinks they had 13 true Pro Bowlers are fooling themselves

#facts

 

[gtb1943]

Romo competed against Eli Manning, (Donovan McNabb Michael Vick towards his end), and (Jason Campbell, Rex Grossman, RGIII). The thread is about his playoff performances and the fact that his defense and the run game stepped up for most of those games. He led three teams into the playoffs with 13, 11, and 12 victories and the number 1 seed and bye one year, yet he never won a game in the divisional round. He wasn’t very successful in the playoffs.

FYI….Brady had to get past some much better QBs in the AFC to win playoff games….including a guy named Manning

Like all so called Romo fans that are actually not, you forget one very important factor:

COACHING.

But then that was not an accident, was it?