NFL Dallas Cowboys

Tony Romo Will Exorcise Playoff Demons in 2015

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It all started in 2007 after having an otherwise solid performance and leading his team down the field to attempt a game-winning field goal against the Seattle Seahawks, Tony Romo bobbled an obviously greased up football on the hold and in the process gave his detractors and every Dallas Cowboys hater out there a reason to say that the Cowboys will never win another Super Bowl as long as he is the starting quarterback.

That was it; it took exactly one play to turn Romo into the real life Ray Finkle of the NFL. After this one mistake on football’s biggest stage, the NFL playoffs, people all of a sudden started putting way too much focus on his record in December and January and began blaming every loss the Cowboys had on Romo.

Earlier that same year, Cowboys fans were already calling him the next savior and had literally put his name in the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor. They loved the fact that he could scramble and extend plays with his feet and didn’t mind that he took chances with the ball downfield; exciting play at the quarterback position was once again back in Dallas and it was about time after the likes of Quincy Carter and Drew Henson had their shots at it.

But all of a sudden, Romo couldn’t win the big game.

It didn’t matter that he won games to clinch playoff berths or even the NFC East crown, all that mattered was the pick he threw in the end zone against the New York Giants to end their playoff run in 2008. People only focused on the fact that he only has one win in the month of January for his entire career. No one cared that, for years, he never had an offensive line or that Patrick Crayton was the one who dropped an obvious touchdown pass in that game against the Giants; all of the blame was squarely on Romo.

Well this year, Romo actually has an offensive line and he has a sure-handed receiver and superstar in Dez Bryant. He also now has the NFL’s rushing champion in DeMarco Murray and a coaching staff that is committed to the running game and not placing the bulk of the offensive responsibility on his shoulders. And so far, the results speak for themselves.

With a hurt back, Romo went out and had arguably his best year to date. This season, he completed nearly 70 percent of his passes (a career-high), threw for 34 touchdowns (second most in his career) and matched his career low for interceptions at nine. But more importantly, he went out and put an end to the discussions about his struggles in December by going 4-0 in that month and throwing 12 touchdowns to only one interception.

He no longer feels the need to take unnecessary chances with the ball in key situations because he now knows that his team has the talent around him to get the job done on the next play. If a receiver isn’t open down the field for a big gain, he can simply check down to Murray as opposed to forcing a ball into tight coverage and risking a turnover because he has faith that the ground game can pick up the necessary yards to sustain drives.

Given the team’s change in philosophy and the fact that they are a better team on the road than they are at home, everything is setting up perfectly for Romo to finally put his playoff demons to rest and it starts this week with the Detroit Lions.

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

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