PJ’s Reaction: Week 4 - Lions 34, Cowboys 30
When time expired, all I could think to myself was: “This one falls entirely on Romo.” If he doesn’t throw just one of those three interceptions, there’s no way the Lions claw their way back into the game.
The more I thought about it, the more I thought there was more to the loss than just Romo. Romo doesn’t feel the need to make those risky throws if the running game is consistent enough to guarantee they can take some time off the clock. Granted, a three and out is better than a pick six, but when you’re trying to keep drives alive to eat up clock, you’re usually only given one opportunity per three downs to make a play.
Two of the interceptions came on first down, but only one of them was arguably a bad decision. The other was a good read where Witten had his man beat down the seam, but the throw didn’t get there due to pressure. The interception on third down wouldn’t have happened with a more aggressive play on the ball from Laurent Robinson.
While I think it would be unfair to expect the defense to stop Detroit from putting up any points on a short field, they still could’ve done more to stop a Detroit comeback. Two touchdowns for Detroit in the fourth quarter were almost foregone conclusions because the defense had no answer for Calvin Johnson.
We would be good to not fall apart at the seams going into the bye week half a game back of the division lead. We should be 4-0 after blowing two late leads — one to the defending AFC champs and one to the only undefeated NFC team other than the defending Super Bowl champs. We could be worse; we could be Philadelphia.
Tony Romo Played With a Punctured Lung And More
By now, you’ve no doubt heard that Tony Romo finished the second half of Sunday’s game against the 49ers with a punctured lung in addition to a fractured rib.
What you probably haven’t heard is that he also lead the team to victory while:
1. Chewing gum.
2. Texting
3. Conjuring the Holy Ghost to inhabit Jesse Holley
4. Canceling his Netflix subscription.
5. Talking trash about how planking is so passé, then planking for the comedic irony.
6. Breathing smoke into his lungs between plays and blowing out smoke rings from the puncture in his lung.
7. Reading his timeline on Twitter so he could watch his haters do a 180 in real time.
*UPDATE* 8. Team officials are now reporting Romo may have had a collapsed lung.
PJ’s Reaction: Week 2 - Cowboys 27, 49ers 24
This one had all of the makings of a disaster written all over it. Romo came out looking like he had a hangover from last week’s gut punch. Then, Romo went down with a broken rib and was expected not to return. Kitna came in and looked just as good as he did in relief of Romo last season, but it still didn’t look too good.
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Then, Romo came back on the field and took control of the game, throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns to Miles Austin and a 77-yard connection with Jesse Holley (more on him later).
With a performance like that, it’s easy to instantly forget this team’s problems, but we shouldn’t. Without the emergent performance of Jesse Holley, who accounted for 96 yards on the final two drives of the game (including the play that set up the game-winning field goal), the Cowboys could easily be sitting at 0-2. With a pretty good performance by the defense which had some timely stops, a gutsy performance by Romo and good play from Kitna in his stead, we still had to rally from two scores down and put it all on the unproven leg of Dan Bailey from 48 yards to force overtime after he had missed a 21-yarder.
The silver lining here is Romo’s embracing of the leadership role, playing through the pain and taking Holley aside to tell him he would be targeting him after realizing the ball needed to be spread around more to pull out the win.
Injuries are a big concern after this game. Felix Jones has a separated shoulder and Austin has a pulled hamstring. Hopefully, the long week will provide some time for the team to get healthy.
A hard-fought win is a hard-fought win, but it’s only week 2 and it was only the 49ers.
Interesting Stat: Romo is the NFL career leader in 4th quarter passer rating.
The “RomOH NO” Problem
I’m not going to jump on the Romo hate. I’m just not going to, but what I will do is talk about what Romo needs to do from here. Anyone who says Tony Romo is not a good quarterback either doesn’t like the guy or has become fed up with losing in heartbreaking fashion. Granted, in a lot of those heartbreaking losses the ball has been in Romo’s hands at key junctures, but the reason we’re even in position to win those games is #9. Tony Romo is not Quincy Carter. Tony Romo is not Clint Stoerner. Tony Romo is not Ryan Leaf. Tony Romo is not Drew Henson, and so on…
(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Tony Romo is a guy who not only puts up respectable numbers, but manages the game well and puts his team in a position to win ballgames… then, he sort of lets it slip away. It’s been explained as being anything from a lack of a competitive edge to simply not having what it takes to ascend to elite status. Both charges are completely baseless. The former would ignore the fact Tony Romo doesn’t just cash his football paychecks and retire home to a mansion after each game. He’s a competitor who loves basketball and knocks on the door of professional golfing in his spare time. Lack of competitiveness is not a concern, but I can understand why this is an accusation raised against him, and I’ll come back to this. As for the latter, the numbers Romo puts up and the throws he is able to make suggest he has the tools to become an elite quarterback. So what gives?
Romo doesn’t lack competitiveness. What he lacks is a killer instinct. What he lacks is the sense of urgency that every offensive play is precious. He still smiles off a missed connection with a receiver who’s made a mistake when the elite quarterbacks in the league would glare, not to assert dominance or throw a teammate under the bus, but to say, “Hey, you get that shit straightened out or I might not be so quick to look your way when we need a big play.” It’s the type of thing a leader does and the type of thing a quarterback must do. It turns teammates into an extension of the quarterback’s focus and drive, and in turn makes sure he isn’t having to do everything without help when it counts. The elite quarterbacks in this league don’t have a problem with their teammates disliking them for a few minutes and they hold themselves to a standard of protecting the football which doesn’t allow for the type of freak miscues that have plagued Romo throughout his career as a starter. When you think about how spectacularly disastrous Romo’s failings on the field have been — the botched field goal hold in Seattle and a late game INT against the Giants in the playoffs — you have to think there’s something a little unconventional at work against him. Nothing that can be coached.
This isn’t a post asserting reasons why Romo isn’t a good quarterback. This is a post asserting the reasons why Romo has yet to become a great quarterback, and I still believe he can be one. He should undoubtedly thrive under Jason Garrett this year if there weren’t a concern with an unproven offensive line. If Romo can overcome that this season, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be leading this team to victory. He’s got plenty of weapons at his disposal.
It’s very early in the season, but Sunday night in New York was an all too familiar scene in the Romo era to not arouse this type of discussion. Hopefully, we’ll never have to bring it up again.
