Romo thoughts

[ROMOTOOWENS]

As many know , I would stick up for the guy no matter what but something is different this year. I know we cant remove games from the schedule and accurately look at the whole body of work. It was brought up last week to take away the Rams and Murray is such and such. For once though , lets just forget about the Denver game because he really was awesome that day until the final minutes. I mean he has had other good games this season or really good parts of games . He was extremely accurate early and has been off target lately. As good as his numbers are, we know as fans that he really hasnt played like the numbers suggest. I know its probably hard for you guys to grasp - me questioning Romo, but its what I need to do. Deep down I realize he hasnt been that good lately.

So heres my question- Is he on the decline? If this is the case then we are in real trouble for the next 2 to 3 yrs at least because of his contract.

Do you think it has more to do with the offense? Im leaning more to this probably because Im biased, but I do think Wit is declining some. I think the offense misses Miles Austin. I think Dez is still learning some things unfortunately.

Physically? Could he be hurt and he is not saying something. He has taken some huge shots especially in the Lions game. Has he lost arm strength. ? Does he look overweight? I havent noticed the arm strength but thats hard to tell. As far as the weight thing- I know he showed up heavy, but he just doesnt look as quick as he once did- and that could be age.

Mentally- we have all seemed to question his careful throws this year, meaning the shorter passing game. We Romolovers would like to believe he is taking better care of the ball. Is he being too cautious?


Im just coming clean with my thoughts and possible reasons. It could be a combo of everything mentioned or it simply could mean Im overreacting. I would love to here your thoughts and I sure hope Im just overreacting

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

Im not setting any traps here to come back and nail you with some stat. Im not looking for excuses for him either. If you thought he already sucked, then now he sucks more

 

[PDay8810]

besides staubach and lilly. I can't think of a more likeable down to earth Dallas Cowboy ever. Romo has overcome a lot to get to where he is and has earned everything. Great football player and seems to be an even better person. Whats not to like?

but it's football and it's the Dallas Cowboys....It remains all about playoff success for a franchise like the Dallas Cowboys. Romo has had his role as to why the monkey sits on this teams back. Jerry and his coaches have had a bigger one but Tony is the face of this team and there always seems to be a pass like that last pass against Washington last year. The game was where it was for many reasons other than Tony, but the game was still winnable and then that pass. Maybe it's old school Dallas fans that still recall all the greatness of Captain America.

to your point....Tony is fine, still a top 10 QB and far from the biggest reason why we're 5-5. He is however, a reason.....goes with the job. Certainly in Dallas it does.

I still think this season has a chance to be a good one. That has much to do with having Romo.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Seems to me it's a mental vs physical issue for Romo this year. Fair or not, until he wins when the lights are brightest, his legacy will only be stats in the minds of most people.

 

[jarntt]

The bad - His accuracy has been off and that is a problem. He has been getting pretty good protection by NFL standards and is still struggling. Read two interesting stats on twitter tonight:

@RainerSabinDMN: Forty-one QBs have a better passer rating on third down than #Cowboys QB Tony Romo. Romo's rating? 57.6.

@RainerSabinDMN: #Cowboys QB Tony Romo has completed only 47.1 percent of his attempts on third down, worst rate among starters who've played every game.

The good - I think it's temporary. He is a good QB and certainly our best option. But for some reason other than the guys that completely and unfairly tear him apart, everyone else, from fans, to coaches, to Jerry, to announcers make excuses for him. He needs someone to sit down and tell him he has played poorly lately and he needs to be better. Too bad Parcells isn't around right now.

 

[Manster7588]

Seems to me it's a mental vs physical issue for Romo this year. Fair or not, until he wins when the lights are brightest, his legacy will only be stats in the minds of most people.

Agree here. No I'm not a shrink but I really think the overbearing media and fans who are all over Romo's mistakes have him afraid the take any risk at all. He's thinking to much out there rather than just laying the game the way he knows how. I think somewhere in the middle of today's Romo with yesterdays Romo lies a very good QB.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Agree here. No I'm not a shrink but I really think the overbearing media and fans who are all over Romo's mistakes have him afraid the take any risk at all. He's thinking to much out there rather than just laying the game the way he knows how. I think somewhere in the middle of today's Romo with yesterdays Romo lies a very good QB.

I think Romo is a hell of a QB. People never focus on his successful 4th quarter drives to win a game, case in point, the Vikes 2 weeks ago. Part of it is, that when he errs, it always seems to be at the worst possible moment. Agony for boys fans, amusement for everyone else.

He gets a bad rap as a result, but I understand the frustration for fans, with the lack of success post season. I mean, it's the same BS people always say about Peyton, and I've always liked him better than Brady myself, even with 2 less rings.

Perhaps it is the scrutiny and over the top coverage that is finally getting to him. It seems likely that he is over thinking things, instead of just playing.

It isn't easy to be a QB in the NFCeast, that's for sure. Too much praise, too much criticism, too much exposure (i thought id puke if i heard another thing about Griffs knee this summer, and i love the guy. Cant imagine for other fan bases but it would've pissed me off big time)

It's the nature of the large markets and fans expectations of greatness in the Beast. This suckiness has been a rude awakening to us all. Not necessarily a bad thing. I have always been more a fan of just 'proving it on the field', than jumping up and down and hyping things.

 

[Mrhappi06]

Lots of good posts here that make me think it was not a good idea to give Romo any extra responsibility/ burden in regard to the offensive scheme. Maybe that has added to the pressure.

 

[jarntt]

Lots of good posts here that make me think it was not a good idea to give Romo any extra responsibility/ burden in regard to the offensive scheme. Maybe that has added to the pressure.

I agree, but don't think it really adds any pressure. I think Romo is a very smart person, but I also feel that when he thinks too much it negatively impacts his play. I think you see it as he holds the ball too long waiting for something to happen, as he cringes or doesn't follow through as the pass rusher approaches his vicinity, when he ignores Dez because there were two guys on him at the line even if he gets open and when he constantly checks out of a run play just because there are 8 guys in the box - sometimes you run it anyway if you've only ran 8 running plays. I think he is best when he just reacts and plays. Jerry (and maybe Garrett too) wanted to make him Peyton Manning, but he's not Peyton Manning. Just let him be Tony Romo. Whatever we are doing has not worked for over a month, so let's do something else and that starts with running the ball more and using more motion with Dez IMO.

 

[bigdeal701]

IMO Romo has been fine, its the receivers who need to step it up. Earlier in the season Dez was seeing a lot of one on one coverage, and Romo was hitting him often. Lately teams have been doubling Dez and being physical with him at the line. I believe the Saints even put a safety on Witten, leaving single coverage on Williams. Williams is not beating that coverage so Romo has no where to go with the ball. I also blame the play calling, the OC is not adjusting. Something needs to be done to get the ball to Dez more, if that means sending him in motion, lining him up in the slot, or more crossing routes. The defense is also part of the blame, we started out running the ball well in New Orleans, but the defense couldn't stop a nose bleed and we fell to far behind and abandoned the run. With no running game teams can play the pass, putting more pressure on Romo to win the game. Play better defense, run the ball better, and those double teams will stop on Dez and Romo will then have someone to throw to.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

to me it seems the play calling almost seems forced.
Dont know how to explain it properly so I am sure I will do a horrible job trying to explain what I think.

It is like we force the run plays. & the defense simply walks up & plays the run, then we force the pass plays to try & free up the run plays. The defenses simply go back into pass defense. We never dictate to a defense but they dictate to our offense. I have to go with we are being outcoached. If Romo is part of the coaches decisions then he carries some blame too.
I did love when Romo adlibbed & made Beasley & Dez switch spots changing the design of the play.
I think our offense is just way to predictable for defenses before the play starts. They make easy adjustments to it.

 

[blue jersey jinx]

to me it seems the play calling almost seems forced.
Dont know how to explain it properly so I am sure I will do a horrible job trying to explain what I think.

It is like we force the run plays. & the defense simply walks up & plays the run, then we force the pass plays to try & free up the run plays. The defenses simply go back into pass defense. We never dictate to a defense but they dictate to our offense. I have to go with we are being outcoached. If Romo is part of the coaches decisions then he carries some blame too.
I did love when Romo adlibbed & made Beasley & Dez switch spots changing the design of the play.
I think our offense is just way to predictable for defenses before the play starts. They make easy adjustments to it.

 

[jarntt]

to me all the focus on the play calling and on Kiffen is at least in part misguided. Like everyone else they need to step up their game and we can all point out examples of this, but the players need to execute. There are many times during a game that you can pick a play out of a hat and if the players execute it will be looked at as a smart call.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

to me all the focus on the play calling and on Kiffen is at least in part misguided. Like everyone else they need to step up their game and we can all point out examples of this, but the players need to execute. There are many times during a game that you can pick a play out of a hat and if the players execute it will be looked at as a smart call.

I agree that a lot of players have to step up, but we have one of the most predictable offenses around.
Dont know if we need to change up formations or whatever. Run out of a passing formation pass out of a running formation or something. Also maybe have Romo fake change a play on his Kills. I think the defense might be playing romo as well. Shows a run defense romo checks out to a pass & they adjust. It would be cool to fake change to a pass & run it anyways.
I am not necessarily calling out the play it self. But something in the combination makes us very predictable.

 

[jarntt]

I agree with all, but weren't we predictable in the 90s? How about the old Redskin teams with the counter Trey?

Here's some examples of what I'm saying. If it's 4th and goal from the 2 inch line and the OL gets a push and the RB gets in, then the play call was genius. If the guy is stuffed, they should have ran the ball or kicked the FG. Or if you throw a fade and a defender nicks it with his fingertip and knocks it away you are an idiot, while if it's tipped, but still completed for a TD you are brilliant.

Next, on that play against Det where we had the holding call at the end if the ref didn't throw a flag and we get another 5 yards the whole season would be different right now, but as it stands people here were actually saying that we should have knelt on the ball on 3rd down? That is complete lunacy, yet every other person here seemed to feel it was the wise move and blamed Garrett instead of the players that screwed up. No one is more open to unfair Monday morning criticism than the OC. At least the QB is graded on his own play even if harshly, but an OC is a failure if his players screw up.

Look at the bootleg Peyton ran against us. If that was sniffed out the Broncos would haev been killed for running Manning instead of letting him throw the ball, but instead it's another great call by Manning.

My long winded point is that execution on the play called is more important than what play was actually called...

 

[Schmoopy1000]

I agree with all, but weren't we predictable in the 90s? How about the old Redskin teams with the counter Trey?

Here's some examples of what I'm saying. If it's 4th and goal from the 2 inch line and the OL gets a push and the RB gets in, then the play call was genius. If the guy is stuffed, they should have ran the ball or kicked the FG. Or if you throw a fade and a defender nicks it with his fingertip and knocks it away you are an idiot, while if it's tipped, but still completed for a TD you are brilliant.

Next, on that play against Det where we had the holding call at the end if the ref didn't throw a flag and we get another 5 yards the whole season would be different right now, but as it stands people here were actually saying that we should have knelt on the ball on 3rd down? That is complete lunacy, yet every other person here seemed to feel it was the wise move and blamed Garrett instead of the players that screwed up. No one is more open to unfair Monday morning criticism than the OC. At least the QB is graded on his own play even if harshly, but an OC is a failure if his players screw up.

Look at the bootleg Peyton ran against us. If that was sniffed out the Broncos would haev been killed for running Manning instead of letting him throw the ball, but instead it's another great call by Manning.

My long winded point is that execution on the play called is more important than what play was actually called...

I agree. problem is though we dont have the talent to be predictable like in the 90's, where we send them a telegram saying we are gonna run & dare them to stop us. being less predictable with help with our lesser talent.
Also I dont mean to put all blame on Kiffen. I am sure the Romo audibles into what the defense is really wanting. I dont have the fix. I just know the defenses have been dictating to us instead of the other way around. Other teams can do any # of things out of the same formation. Some reason we have (using Poker terms) a major tell. Which makes it harder for the Players to execute.
BTW I completely get your monday morning QB syndrome. Also I thought those that complained about the run you refered too was nuts. It was the right call. Just as you say bad execution.

 

[bigdeal701]

I agree with all, but weren't we predictable in the 90s? How about the old Redskin teams with the counter Trey?

Here's some examples of what I'm saying. If it's 4th and goal from the 2 inch line and the OL gets a push and the RB gets in, then the play call was genius. If the guy is stuffed, they should have ran the ball or kicked the FG. Or if you throw a fade and a defender nicks it with his fingertip and knocks it away you are an idiot, while if it's tipped, but still completed for a TD you are brilliant.

Next, on that play against Det where we had the holding call at the end if the ref didn't throw a flag and we get another 5 yards the whole season would be different right now, but as it stands people here were actually saying that we should have knelt on the ball on 3rd down? That is complete lunacy, yet every other person here seemed to feel it was the wise move and blamed Garrett instead of the players that screwed up. No one is more open to unfair Monday morning criticism than the OC. At least the QB is graded on his own play even if harshly, but an OC is a failure if his players screw up.

Look at the bootleg Peyton ran against us. If that was sniffed out the Broncos would haev been killed for running Manning instead of letting him throw the ball, but instead it's another great call by Manning.

My long winded point is that execution on the play called is more important than what play was actually called...

I agree with you to an extent. I don't blame the OC when a play goes bad, but when he calls the same play over and over and it doesn't work over and over. It then becomes the OC's fault. Oh and what made the Manning bootleg such a great call is, he never runs that play. No one on his own team saw it coming let alone the defense. In the 90's we were predictable, the only thing with that was, even though they knew what was coming, they couldn't stop it. Those 90 teams had twice the talent the Cowboys have today.

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

I stumbled across this yesterday - some may have already seen it but I found it really interesting. It is basically 6 or 7 plays in the NO game in which Romo could have done something different. Basically it makes it look like he isnt seeing the field.

Tony Romo's Slump: Film Don't Lie - Blogging The Boys

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

The first 3 plays are kind of picky IMO, but plays 4-6 make me scratch my head

 

[jarntt]

I agree with you to an extent. I don't blame the OC when a play goes bad, but when he calls the same play over and over and it doesn't work over and over. It then becomes the OC's fault. Oh and what made the Manning bootleg such a great call is, he never runs that play. No one on his own team saw it coming let alone the defense. In the 90's we were predictable, the only thing with that was, even though they knew what was coming, they couldn't stop it. Those 90 teams had twice the talent the Cowboys have today.

that's kind of my point on that one. Imagine if it didn't work the criticism they would have gotten to allow a 40 year old QB that can't move and is currently throwing the ball better than anyone in history to run that play? But it worked, so it was brilliant...