Detractors Finally See Tony Romo’s True Value

By Kelly Anderson on November 3, 2014

Given the fact there are some Dallas Cowboys fans out there who are still mad at Jerry Jones for firing the legendary Tom Landry 25 years ago, I’m sure this article about why Tony Romo is such a vital piece to this team’s success will fall on deaf ears. It doesn’t matter that he has a 69-49 record as a starter on mainly mediocre teams, or that he has 22 fourth quarter comebacks and 26 game winning drives to his credit, they will continue to only look at the negatives. I know that what I’m about to type is an exercise in futility, but hopefully this past Sunday’s game will at least put a temporary muzzle on all of the Romo detractors out there.

If you look over his career, he really has only had one or two good teams to work with; the rest have been full of overrated stars (both of the Roy Williams experiments, Marion Barber, etc.) or aging players who were well past their primes (Flozell Adams, Keith Brooking, etc.). So, he has always had to carry this team no matter who was on it. Sure, he may throw an interception here or there, but that’s because he was always running for his life due to a porous offensive line. In the past, the Cowboys were only able to do something offensively when he would scramble away from one of the many free rushers that were coming at him and he would create something deep downfield with his explosive arm. However, the credit never went to him, only to the receivers on the back end of the play. But if he threw a pick, he was being way too reckless with the ball and was holding this team back from true success.

Now, I will admit that Romo has made some bonehead mistakes in games, but how can you overlook the fact that he threw for over 500 yards and five touchdowns while putting up 48 points in a game and put the blame for a loss on him? If you put up 48 points and lose, why isn’t the defense crucified for giving up 51?

Well, this year it appears that Jerry has finally given Romo an offensive line and a running game to work with, and you saw it pay immediate dividends when the team got off to a 6-1 start. But a running game can only be effective if you have a quarterback who can make defenses pay for stacking the line. Say what you want about Romo, but he is an accurate passer who can make any throw on the field and defenses know this, so they have no choice but to honor this when facing this offense.

Brandon Weeden didn’t strike any fear in the hearts of the Arizona Cardinals defensive coaches this week, so they decided to key on the run and were more than happy to let him try and beat them with his arm. You saw yesterday just how inaccurate he is. He was throwing way too far ahead or behind Dez Bryant on five to eight yard in routes all day. What makes things worse is that he gets regular reps in practice every week with the first team unit, because the team gives Romo every Wednesday off to rest his back. He couldn’t even reach back and rely on the chemistry he established with Bryant when they played together at Oklahoma State. His worst moment came in the second half of a 14-10 ballgame when he underthrew an open 6-foot-5 Jason Witten, who was being covered by a 5-foot-9 defensive back in Tyrann Mathieu; this led to an interception by Mathieu, and essentially ended any chance the Cowboys had of winning the game.

For years, Romo’s critics have said that you can put anyone in an at quarterback on this team and they would be successful. Well, this Sunday’s game and the Cowboys’ 6-9 record without Romo should put an end to that.

Kelly Anderson is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bgipp01 or add him to your network on Google.