Plankton
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To be 7-1 in a football season.
If you were a Dallas Cowboy fan entering the season, entertaining such a notion would have been unlikely considering the projected state of the defense, the relative inactivity in free agency, and a draft class whose best selected defensive player, Notre Dame LB Jaylon Smith, didn’t figure to be a contributor on defense.
The quarterback position was also a position of consternation. Tony Romo was viewed as the undisputed leader of the team, and a top echelon player at the position, but one coming off of two breaks of a collarbone, and a laundry list of prior ailments that had shortened seasons for him in prior years. After watching the uninspiring play from his understudies in 2015, resulting in a 4-12 season, one of the most important positions on the team was that of the backup quarterback.
In a league where there aren’t 32 competent starting quarterbacks, backups are a whole different animal. Many teams sit and hope that they don’t have to go to the bench for that position, as what is on the bench is often far worse than what is in the lineup. In 2015, when Romo went down, the lack of quality generated by Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel and Kellen Moore doomed their season. Following free agency and the draft, when Moore, with all of three games of playing time in his career, slated to be Romo’s #2, and the draft bringing Dak Prescott, a fourth rounder largely viewed as being a developmental prospect, the Cowboys and the fan base appeared to be in a sit and pray mode when it came to the health of their #1 quarterback.
The dominoes began to fall in a strange way afterward. First, Moore suffered what became a season ending broken leg during 11 on 11 drills in camp. The Cowboys opted to bump the raw Prescott to the #2 position, and give him a chance to demonstrate that he could hold the position. Prescott got the start in the preseason game against the Rams, and played excellent football. He followed this up with further solid play against the Dolphins in relief of Romo.
And, then, the Seattle preseason game happened.
Romo, facing live reps for the second time that preseason, scrambled from the pocket and went into an awkward slide as he approached the line of scrimmage. At the time that he slid, Seahawk DE Cliff Avril, chasing from behind, forcefully tugged Romo vertically down as he slid. This torqueing left Romo in a heap on the ground, writhing in pain.
It left the fan base with a sick feeling in the pits of their stomachs.
Prescott stepped into the game, and stood in well against a seasoned Seattle defense, throwing a touchdown pass to a tightly guarded Jason Witten. After the game, the Cowboys were greeted with some sobering news – despite the team downplaying the injury to Romo, he was determined to have suffered a compression fracture in his spinal column, and would be lost for at least 8-10 weeks.
Season over? Not quite.
Prescott, despite being a rookie coming from a zone read spread offense in college, has been the revelation of this NFL season, playing with the poise, decisiveness and effectiveness of a seasoned veteran. His steady play and even keeled demeanor have contributed greatly to this wholly unexpected Cowboy run of success. In this case, success has bred success, where the defense has outperformed expectations, the running game has been a steady, dominating force, and the Cowboys have played with a free, confident swagger.
And, to some, this is potentially threatened by the return of their once franchise leader and number one quarterback.
Romo has now recovered to the point where he may be ready to begin dressing on gameday. And, this has introduced the question as to whether he should regain his starting position. There has been a somewhat unwritten rule in the NFL that a player shouldn’t lose his starting role due to injury, but that hasn’t always held to be true. The question raised is, what is best for the team? Will a move like this threaten the chemistry of the team? Will the delicate balance between confidence and doubt be introduced?
And, is Dak Prescott potentially the better option for the 2016 Dallas Cowboys than Tony Romo?
If one looks to history, some within the Cowboy past and some with other teams having successful seasons, one can see where making a change doesn’t necessarily portend a bad outcome on the other side.
Here are some examples from the Super Bowl era of teams that made changes due to injuries suffered by their #1 QBs, and what the team did afterward when the quarterback returned to full health.
In 1968, the Baltimore Colts undisputed leader, Johnny Unitas, suffered an elbow injury during the final game of the preseason. With Unitas on the shelf, the Colts turned the operation over to journeyman QB Earl Morrall (remember this name), a former #1 draft pick by the New York Giants. All Morrall did was lead the Colts to a 13-1 record, win the NFL MVP award, and lead the Colts into Super Bowl III. Unitas was in uniform for the playoffs, but Don Shula opted to stick with Morrall. In the Super Bowl, Morrall threw three interceptions, and was lifted in the second half for Unitas, who was unable to lead a comeback in the game.
The following season, 1969, the Kansas City Chiefs lost their signal caller, Len Dawson, to a knee injury in the second game of the season. His backup, Jacky Lee, suffered an injury the following week in a loss to the Bengals. Third stringer Mike Livingston, a first round pick the previous season, took over, and led the Chiefs to 6 consecutive wins, including their best offensive showings of the season. Hank Stram chose to put Dawson back in the lineup when he was healthy again, and Dawson, despite dropping two regular season games to the Raiders, led the Chiefs to consecutive road playoff wins over the previous two AFC Super Bowl representatives (Jets and Raiders), and won MVP in the Super Bowl win over the Vikings.
In 1972, there are two instances of this playing out, one involving the Cowboys.
In the preseason, Roger Staubach suffered a separated shoulder. The Cowboys elevated veteran QB and former starter Craig Morton to the starting role, and he led the Cowboys to a 10-4 record, good enough for second place and a playoff berth. Despite Staubach regaining his health during the season, Landry chose to stick with Morton into the playoffs. In San Francisco, the Cowboys were losing to the 49ers 28-13, and Morton was not playing well. Landry inserted Staubach into the game, and Staubach led the Cowboys back to an improbable victory. Landry chose to make Staubach the starter the following week, and Staubach looked very rusty in a 26-3 loss to the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game.
In the AFC, the Miami Dolphins lost QB Bob Griese to a broken leg and dislocated ankle in the fifth game of the season. At the time, the Dolphins were 4-0. One Earl Morrall, serving as the Dolphin backup, took the reins, finished that game off, and led the Dolphins to nine consecutive wins. Morrall led the Dolphins to a divisional playoff win over the Browns, and with Griese back to full health for the Championship Game, Morrall started against the Steelers, and was pulled at halftime with the game tied 7-7. Griese led the Dolphins to a win over the Steelers, and finished off the perfect season with a 14-7 victory over the Commanders in Super Bowl VII.
In 1991, the Cowboys were faced with a decision to make. In the Week 12 matchup with the undefeated Commanders, Troy Aikman went down with a sprained MCL in the third quarter of the game. Steve Beuerlein, acquired that offseason from the Raiders, took over, and finished off the upset win over Washington. Beuerlein went on to lead the Cowboys into the playoffs for the first time since 1985 by winning the remaining four games of the season, highlighted by a road win over the Eagles. With Aikman back to full health, Jimmy Johnson chose to keep Beuerlein as the starter. The Cowboys won a road game against the Bears, but were struggling defensively the following week against the Lions in the divisional round. After a Beuerlein interception was returned for a touchdown, leaving the Cowboys trailing 17-6, Johnson inserted Aikman back into the lineup. It made no difference in a 38-6 Lion romp.
One of the most important changes, and one viewed to parallel the present Cowboy situation somewhat, is what happened with the 2001 New England Patriots. In the second game of the season, Drew Bledsoe took a huge hit from Jet LB Mo Lewis, and was badly injured with a severed artery in his chest. Tom Brady, at this point an untested backup, finished off the loss to the Jets. Brady then went on to win 11 of the next 14 regular season games to lead the Patriots to the division title. Despite regaining his health, and possessing a $100 million contract, Bledsoe did not get his job back upon his return. He did come off the bench for an injured Brady in the AFC Championship Game and lead the Patriots to a road win over the Steelers, but Brady was back on the field for the Super Bowl, where he began his legendary run with an upset win over the heavily favored Rams.
As you can see from above, there is historical precedent showing how the situations have been handled both ways. Some resulted in championships, some had no impact on losing efforts in the playoffs. It can be shown, though, that the fabric of the team, if strong and tested, can withstand a change at the quarterback position, and continue to have success.
It also can be shown that staying the course can keep the momentum going, and allow a team to achieve their goals.
At the end of the day, the Cowboys have an envious situation. In a league ripe with mediocre to poor quarterback play at the starting position, and even more dire options on the bench, the Cowboys have a bright, energetic, developing quarterback in Prescott, whose best days are ahead of him, and a veteran quarterback with a full grasp of the offense, superior skill for reading defenses, and the respect of his team.
For anyone to say that replacing Prescott with Romo will cause a problem for the team is banking on the chemistry being dependent on who the starting quarterback is. Within a team, that chemistry comes from number 1 through 53 on the roster, not just the QB position. If the constitution of the team is such that changing the QB will result in problems in play, then the makeup of the team is fragile. Based on how the team has rallied around their rookie QB, I don’t believe that this is the case.
Conversely, for people to say that Prescott hasn’t been tested yet, how many games will it take? He has won all of his road games this year. He rebounded during his worst game of the season to lead his team to a win over the Eagles in a critical divisional game. Thus far, he has passed every test. That doesn’t mean that he won’t have a clunker someplace, but this has happened to every quarterback in the league. Look no further than this week’s opponent. Ben Roethlisberger was awful in his first game back from knee surgery, but he still remains a dangerous and accomplished player.
The debate over who to start rests on a couple of issues – momentum and chemistry. From a physical skill standpoint, Prescott is the superior player in areas of physical strength, speed and youth. Romo is the superior player in terms of situational knowledge, knowledge of the offense, and football experience.
If replacing Prescott with Romo is problematic just because of the fear of injury to Romo, then this whole thing was a house of cards to begin with. If replacing him is problematic because of chemistry, then tell that to the 1969 Chiefs and 1972 Dolphins, who still managed to win the Super Bowl anyway. The key is to make the change due to a player giving you the best chance to win.
At 7-1, it’s nice to still have options.
The question is how and whether to use them.
If you were a Dallas Cowboy fan entering the season, entertaining such a notion would have been unlikely considering the projected state of the defense, the relative inactivity in free agency, and a draft class whose best selected defensive player, Notre Dame LB Jaylon Smith, didn’t figure to be a contributor on defense.
The quarterback position was also a position of consternation. Tony Romo was viewed as the undisputed leader of the team, and a top echelon player at the position, but one coming off of two breaks of a collarbone, and a laundry list of prior ailments that had shortened seasons for him in prior years. After watching the uninspiring play from his understudies in 2015, resulting in a 4-12 season, one of the most important positions on the team was that of the backup quarterback.
In a league where there aren’t 32 competent starting quarterbacks, backups are a whole different animal. Many teams sit and hope that they don’t have to go to the bench for that position, as what is on the bench is often far worse than what is in the lineup. In 2015, when Romo went down, the lack of quality generated by Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel and Kellen Moore doomed their season. Following free agency and the draft, when Moore, with all of three games of playing time in his career, slated to be Romo’s #2, and the draft bringing Dak Prescott, a fourth rounder largely viewed as being a developmental prospect, the Cowboys and the fan base appeared to be in a sit and pray mode when it came to the health of their #1 quarterback.
The dominoes began to fall in a strange way afterward. First, Moore suffered what became a season ending broken leg during 11 on 11 drills in camp. The Cowboys opted to bump the raw Prescott to the #2 position, and give him a chance to demonstrate that he could hold the position. Prescott got the start in the preseason game against the Rams, and played excellent football. He followed this up with further solid play against the Dolphins in relief of Romo.
And, then, the Seattle preseason game happened.
Romo, facing live reps for the second time that preseason, scrambled from the pocket and went into an awkward slide as he approached the line of scrimmage. At the time that he slid, Seahawk DE Cliff Avril, chasing from behind, forcefully tugged Romo vertically down as he slid. This torqueing left Romo in a heap on the ground, writhing in pain.
It left the fan base with a sick feeling in the pits of their stomachs.
Prescott stepped into the game, and stood in well against a seasoned Seattle defense, throwing a touchdown pass to a tightly guarded Jason Witten. After the game, the Cowboys were greeted with some sobering news – despite the team downplaying the injury to Romo, he was determined to have suffered a compression fracture in his spinal column, and would be lost for at least 8-10 weeks.
Season over? Not quite.
Prescott, despite being a rookie coming from a zone read spread offense in college, has been the revelation of this NFL season, playing with the poise, decisiveness and effectiveness of a seasoned veteran. His steady play and even keeled demeanor have contributed greatly to this wholly unexpected Cowboy run of success. In this case, success has bred success, where the defense has outperformed expectations, the running game has been a steady, dominating force, and the Cowboys have played with a free, confident swagger.
And, to some, this is potentially threatened by the return of their once franchise leader and number one quarterback.
Romo has now recovered to the point where he may be ready to begin dressing on gameday. And, this has introduced the question as to whether he should regain his starting position. There has been a somewhat unwritten rule in the NFL that a player shouldn’t lose his starting role due to injury, but that hasn’t always held to be true. The question raised is, what is best for the team? Will a move like this threaten the chemistry of the team? Will the delicate balance between confidence and doubt be introduced?
And, is Dak Prescott potentially the better option for the 2016 Dallas Cowboys than Tony Romo?
If one looks to history, some within the Cowboy past and some with other teams having successful seasons, one can see where making a change doesn’t necessarily portend a bad outcome on the other side.
Here are some examples from the Super Bowl era of teams that made changes due to injuries suffered by their #1 QBs, and what the team did afterward when the quarterback returned to full health.
In 1968, the Baltimore Colts undisputed leader, Johnny Unitas, suffered an elbow injury during the final game of the preseason. With Unitas on the shelf, the Colts turned the operation over to journeyman QB Earl Morrall (remember this name), a former #1 draft pick by the New York Giants. All Morrall did was lead the Colts to a 13-1 record, win the NFL MVP award, and lead the Colts into Super Bowl III. Unitas was in uniform for the playoffs, but Don Shula opted to stick with Morrall. In the Super Bowl, Morrall threw three interceptions, and was lifted in the second half for Unitas, who was unable to lead a comeback in the game.
The following season, 1969, the Kansas City Chiefs lost their signal caller, Len Dawson, to a knee injury in the second game of the season. His backup, Jacky Lee, suffered an injury the following week in a loss to the Bengals. Third stringer Mike Livingston, a first round pick the previous season, took over, and led the Chiefs to 6 consecutive wins, including their best offensive showings of the season. Hank Stram chose to put Dawson back in the lineup when he was healthy again, and Dawson, despite dropping two regular season games to the Raiders, led the Chiefs to consecutive road playoff wins over the previous two AFC Super Bowl representatives (Jets and Raiders), and won MVP in the Super Bowl win over the Vikings.
In 1972, there are two instances of this playing out, one involving the Cowboys.
In the preseason, Roger Staubach suffered a separated shoulder. The Cowboys elevated veteran QB and former starter Craig Morton to the starting role, and he led the Cowboys to a 10-4 record, good enough for second place and a playoff berth. Despite Staubach regaining his health during the season, Landry chose to stick with Morton into the playoffs. In San Francisco, the Cowboys were losing to the 49ers 28-13, and Morton was not playing well. Landry inserted Staubach into the game, and Staubach led the Cowboys back to an improbable victory. Landry chose to make Staubach the starter the following week, and Staubach looked very rusty in a 26-3 loss to the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game.
In the AFC, the Miami Dolphins lost QB Bob Griese to a broken leg and dislocated ankle in the fifth game of the season. At the time, the Dolphins were 4-0. One Earl Morrall, serving as the Dolphin backup, took the reins, finished that game off, and led the Dolphins to nine consecutive wins. Morrall led the Dolphins to a divisional playoff win over the Browns, and with Griese back to full health for the Championship Game, Morrall started against the Steelers, and was pulled at halftime with the game tied 7-7. Griese led the Dolphins to a win over the Steelers, and finished off the perfect season with a 14-7 victory over the Commanders in Super Bowl VII.
In 1991, the Cowboys were faced with a decision to make. In the Week 12 matchup with the undefeated Commanders, Troy Aikman went down with a sprained MCL in the third quarter of the game. Steve Beuerlein, acquired that offseason from the Raiders, took over, and finished off the upset win over Washington. Beuerlein went on to lead the Cowboys into the playoffs for the first time since 1985 by winning the remaining four games of the season, highlighted by a road win over the Eagles. With Aikman back to full health, Jimmy Johnson chose to keep Beuerlein as the starter. The Cowboys won a road game against the Bears, but were struggling defensively the following week against the Lions in the divisional round. After a Beuerlein interception was returned for a touchdown, leaving the Cowboys trailing 17-6, Johnson inserted Aikman back into the lineup. It made no difference in a 38-6 Lion romp.
One of the most important changes, and one viewed to parallel the present Cowboy situation somewhat, is what happened with the 2001 New England Patriots. In the second game of the season, Drew Bledsoe took a huge hit from Jet LB Mo Lewis, and was badly injured with a severed artery in his chest. Tom Brady, at this point an untested backup, finished off the loss to the Jets. Brady then went on to win 11 of the next 14 regular season games to lead the Patriots to the division title. Despite regaining his health, and possessing a $100 million contract, Bledsoe did not get his job back upon his return. He did come off the bench for an injured Brady in the AFC Championship Game and lead the Patriots to a road win over the Steelers, but Brady was back on the field for the Super Bowl, where he began his legendary run with an upset win over the heavily favored Rams.
As you can see from above, there is historical precedent showing how the situations have been handled both ways. Some resulted in championships, some had no impact on losing efforts in the playoffs. It can be shown, though, that the fabric of the team, if strong and tested, can withstand a change at the quarterback position, and continue to have success.
It also can be shown that staying the course can keep the momentum going, and allow a team to achieve their goals.
At the end of the day, the Cowboys have an envious situation. In a league ripe with mediocre to poor quarterback play at the starting position, and even more dire options on the bench, the Cowboys have a bright, energetic, developing quarterback in Prescott, whose best days are ahead of him, and a veteran quarterback with a full grasp of the offense, superior skill for reading defenses, and the respect of his team.
For anyone to say that replacing Prescott with Romo will cause a problem for the team is banking on the chemistry being dependent on who the starting quarterback is. Within a team, that chemistry comes from number 1 through 53 on the roster, not just the QB position. If the constitution of the team is such that changing the QB will result in problems in play, then the makeup of the team is fragile. Based on how the team has rallied around their rookie QB, I don’t believe that this is the case.
Conversely, for people to say that Prescott hasn’t been tested yet, how many games will it take? He has won all of his road games this year. He rebounded during his worst game of the season to lead his team to a win over the Eagles in a critical divisional game. Thus far, he has passed every test. That doesn’t mean that he won’t have a clunker someplace, but this has happened to every quarterback in the league. Look no further than this week’s opponent. Ben Roethlisberger was awful in his first game back from knee surgery, but he still remains a dangerous and accomplished player.
The debate over who to start rests on a couple of issues – momentum and chemistry. From a physical skill standpoint, Prescott is the superior player in areas of physical strength, speed and youth. Romo is the superior player in terms of situational knowledge, knowledge of the offense, and football experience.
If replacing Prescott with Romo is problematic just because of the fear of injury to Romo, then this whole thing was a house of cards to begin with. If replacing him is problematic because of chemistry, then tell that to the 1969 Chiefs and 1972 Dolphins, who still managed to win the Super Bowl anyway. The key is to make the change due to a player giving you the best chance to win.
At 7-1, it’s nice to still have options.
The question is how and whether to use them.
