Tony Romo: The Whipping Boy in Dallas

Of the 38 QBs who played enough to be included in the 2012 TAVA rankings, Romo’s place (7^th) certainly generated some of the most discussion. Romo? The choke-artist? Higher ranked than Brees?!

Well, first, this is for 2012 only, not an entire career. And second, Romo is often criminally underrated. He has been the whipping boy for Cowboys fans and haters alike, the reason excuse for why the team loses in the playoffs or misses them altogether. And  if the Cowboys don’t improve their rushing attack and/or their defense, that’s set continue in 2013. There will be more disappointment, and more blame (unfairly) placed at Romo’s feet.

Let’s take a look at the Cowboys 2012 Season. They were 8-8 and tied for the 15^th best record in football, pretty much right in the middle. But how did they get there? Here’s some stats from their 2012 campaign

The defense was

·         24^th in points against

·         25^th in yards per play

·         27^th in the % of downs series that led to a first down or TD

EVEN THOUGH

·         The team was 11^th in the starting field position of the opponent’s offense (for anyone who thought the problem was Romo turning it over in his own end).

Now some statistics about the offense.

The offense was

·         31^st in rushing yards per game

·         31^st in yards per carry

·         19^th in starting field position

·         29^th in total number of drives

Romo had to come up with more points than the average QB, he had less drives to do this in, he had below average field position, and he had the second worst rushing attack in the league. It’s not surprising then that Romo had more attempts than any QB not named Drew Brees or Matthew Stafford. Yes, he had 19 interceptions, but so did Brees and Stafford had 17 himself. Every.single.thing (except the passing attack) about the 2012 Cowboys was decidedly below average or worse. Romo didn’t drag them down to average. Romo, and his top ten rankings in Attempts, Yards, Completion %, Yards Per Attempt, TDs, and QB rating dragged them UP to average (kicking and screaming).

And yes, with a chance at the playoffs on the line in Week 17, Romo had one of his worst games of the season and the Cowboys had to talk about next year. But all wins and losses count the same, and it’s too easy to forget that if it wasn't for Romo’s ability to lead them to 5-2 in a difficult seven games directly before that, there would have be no chance to squander in the first place. In those seven games, the Cowboys opponents averaged 28 points/gm and the Cowboys rushed for 61 yards/game. It was Romo, averaging 40 attempts per game and 347 yards  (over 8 yards an attempt), all while completing 69.7 % of his passes and throwing for 14 TDs and 3 INTS, that brought that them to 8-7 after a 3-5 start. 

The Cowboys are still unlikely to be serious Superbowl contenders in 2013. And when either a poor defense, a poor rushing attack, or both dooms the Cowboys once again, the season will come to an end, and  too many people will once again blame Tony Romo. 


CHECK BACK IN TOMORROW for an article about why, with all the buzz about the 'niners, the Seahawks, and the Broncos, we shouldn't forget about the Falcons.