11/05/24
December 31, 2012
Romo, Cowboys Toss Away Opportunity: For the second straight season, the Dallas Cowboys lost a final week game and the NFC East, keeping them out of the playoffs in a 28-18 loss to the red-hot Washington Redskins. Dallas quarterback Tony Romo threw three interceptions, including a crushing late giveaway to Rob Jackson on a swing pass. "I wish I had made a better decision at that time," Romo said.
Jerry Jones likes to buy handsome guys for his team. Romo's got some good passes in him, but he's not a real leader, which is what you need if you're gonna try to win with a bunch of mirror-bound muscular studs. He gets this button-eyed look after he throws his second or third pick, and then he's off by himself on the sideline -- either blaming his receivers or himself, who cares -- but he ain't getting his team ready for the next possession. Lookin' like a male model!
Playing like one, too.
posted by Hugh Janus at 02:52 PM on December 31, 2012
Horrible game from Romo. Terrible interceptions. Honestly, Mark Sanchez wouldn't have thrown balls up for grabs like Romo did. He's average, at best, and when the pressure is on, he's one of the worst.
The Cowboys are a confused team with a ineffective head coach. When it comes to Jones and all the duties he has with the team, until he gives up some of his power to someone who understands how to put together a winner (and he, himself, settles into the background) the team will continue to have absolutely nothing in common with Cowboys teams of the past, with the exception of the star on their helmets.
posted by dyams at 03:06 PM on December 31, 2012
The problem is with the offensive line and running backs. The cowboys are one dimensional allowing teams to play the pass all the time. Never liked Garrett but have to stick with him, hire new OC & line coach. And please God, a GM.
posted by AKD2486 at 04:31 PM on December 31, 2012
To me, Romo needs to go somewhere else and start over. I still think he can be a good QB, but it's not going to happen in Dallas.
posted by Bonkers at 04:54 PM on December 31, 2012
Before the game, I told a friend, who's a Cowboys fan, that Romo was having a particularly non-Romo December, and that the usual Romo might show up. Jeez, I hate being right...
I don't hate it, really, cuz, well, fuck the Cowboys... =D
posted by MeatSaber at 05:55 PM on December 31, 2012
I think the Cowboys are in a very similar situation as the Bears. They have been replaced with a far more cohesive and competitive team in their division. And the NFL just doesn't allow room for that much error.
It's just impossible to come down on Romo because he means well and plays hard. But he doesn't have the talents of Rodgers or the Mannings. You see the way Rodgers places his passes? The ball's half-way to Jennings when he turns blind to his right and it lands right in his hands. Romo doesn't have that relationship with his receivers. Who chucks the ball up in the air like that with the season on the line?
That to me is an indication of poor game-planning or team awareness. These are things you work on in the off-season. Instead, the big story at Cowboys camp is them worried about restraining Dez, and look, why is one of their players driving drunk during the season, much less killing a teammate. There's just too much talent in the NFL today to put up with Michael Irvin type shit like that.
Hats off to the Redskins for rising in the NFC East. What an incredible game and latter part of the season. Still, I hate Snyder/Shanahan with the power of a thousand suns and hope to see Seattle make a deep run into the playoffs.
posted by phaedon at 07:09 PM on December 31, 2012
And please God, a GM.
Hope the fella that is in charge of player personnel for the Cowboys took note that his team just got beat by a rookie sixth round pick RB.
Sometimes, having a functional, bona fide front office operation comes in handy.
Never thought of Romo as top 8 or top 10 material myself, but if there was ever a case to be made for that, it vanished with the arrival of this year's holy trinity of rookie QB's.
posted by beaverboard at 08:43 PM on December 31, 2012
I don't think Romo is top eight anymore
I'll take that as implying he was top 8 on your list, because he certainly wasn't anywhere else. His record in big games with his team favored is pathetic. He is a terrible decision maker and a poor leader.
posted by cixelsyd at 12:04 PM on January 01, 2013
He is a terrible decision maker and a poor leader.
Sounds like you are describing Jason Garrett.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 12:29 PM on January 01, 2013
Sounds like you are describing Jason Garrett.
Yeah, Princeton isn't there to produce Super Bowl coaches.
posted by jjzucal at 12:39 PM on January 01, 2013
I always thought Rob Ryan was their head coach. Garrett is ineffective, but so is Ryan. Just like his brother, though, he's entertaining to put on camera, so he'll keep his job too. You don't have to be a good coach if you're big and goofy. The way Alfred Morris shredded the Cowboys non-existent defense, he should be seeking employment elsewhere also.
posted by dyams at 12:45 PM on January 01, 2013
I'll take that as implying he was top 8 on your list, because he certainly wasn't anywhere else.
He was number 4 in QBR last year. Anyway, the comment was in regards to this thread from a couple years ago.
posted by tron7 at 05:50 PM on January 01, 2013
He is a terrible decision maker and a poor leader.
Sounds like you are describing Jason Garrett.
I cut Garrett some slack as he is not given the control necessary to be a successful head coach in the NFL. And I don't really see Garrett making any boneheaded calls that hurt the Cowboys in any way ... the same cannot be said for the Cowboys' defensive brain trust (yes, I did - used brain in a description of Ryan).
posted by cixelsyd at 06:20 PM on January 01, 2013
Cowboys non-existent defense
Say what you would like about the defense, but they did put Romo and Co. in prime position to win their way into the playoffs with 3 minutes to go. I'm not here to argue for Ryan, but I will say that Ryan's defense was absolutely ripped apart by injuries. I'm sure that its hard to do the things you want to as a defensive coordinator with only a handful of your original starters. Not to mention that the starters that were left were a shell of themselves at this point.
posted by sgtcookzane at 07:27 PM on January 01, 2013
And I don't really see Garrett making any boneheaded calls that hurt the Cowboys in any way
Garrett has killed the Cowboys several times in the past with questionable decision making and horrible clock management.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 08:32 PM on January 01, 2013
I don't think Romo is top eight anymore. Not just for this game. He's always been uneven with his deicsion making and now I think he's lost some of the brilliance that occasionally made me think he could be a great quarterback.