He had some good parts around him, but those parts often failed to do their part.
Some tend to forget details like Terrell Owens basically being a decoy in the 2007 playoffs against the Giants because of injury and with Glenn just coming back from injury, our receiving corps was pretty decimated. They forget that offensive line, which had looked so good during the regular season, getting exposed by the Giants' stunting defense once it was able to take away the run in the second half. They forget the defense giving up a 61-yard TD pass just before halftime when Dallas was up 14-7. They forget an end-zone drop by Fasano when Dallas regained the lead having to settle for a field goal. They don't usually forget Crayton's wide-open drop (which led to Dallas punting and a 25-yard return giving New York the ball on Dallas' 37 on the go-ahead TD drive) or hesitating on his route when he had the DB beat for a TD, but they seem to equate them equally with Romo throwing a desperation fourth-down interception toward Glenn because time was running out and he had no choice.
Yet with all the going against him, we only lost 21-17 ... and Romo gets blamed inordinately for it. The devil is always in the details.
That's history and we know the results and how it happened, but the expectations before those examples were just as high, if not higher. Fans today are still talking about how great our OL is, like Fredbeard is still starting and haven't been been subbing in a rookie and journeyman lineman along most of the OL. Or conveniently forget how inexperienced and below average our TEs that we started this season with, none are remotely close to the young all-pro Witten, especially in a scheme that has traditionally been very TE dependent not just in catching but blocking. Or how woefully average to below average our WR corps was before Amari, like hiring a new WR coach was going to somehow make them more talented. Or that a 3rd year QB is expected to being able to read, change and adjust at the line like the seasoned vet Tony that also had the benefit of sitting and learning from a great coach, Payton, before even being a starter.
I'm not trying to say Dak is better, because he just doesn't have the same natural talent as Tony. Tony was fairly and unfairly bashed just as Dak has been, it comes with the territory being the QB, especially in Dallas. Dak gets bashed when we win, because it wasn't pretty enough or by enough points. People say it was Dak's fault and sometimes it is, but Tony also got us in similar situations throwing bad INTs or taking a bad sack. Tony had the habit of holding the ball too. While they are different QBs, the one trait they do share is they're both fighters and keep showing the ability to bring the team back despite their own mistakes. Much like Dak, people questioned if Tony would learn from his mistakes. It's easier to judge Tony now, because it's history now and we have his whole body of work to judge him by. I think the same with Dak as I did with Tony at this point of their careers, I like them, but need to see if they can take the next step, cautionally optimistic.
I can't imagine actually being this far from reality.
