Breaking Down Tony Romo’s NFL Career

"give Romo a coach who can manage, a real defense and a real offensive line and he will deliver at least 1 Super Bowl"

QB - Tony Romo

Tony Romo may be one of the greatest NFL QB’s the league has ever seen

from the 1st game of the season to the 15th game of the season.  From the 16^th game into the postseason is another story that has yet to be told.  Even Robert Griffin III tried to console Romo in his 1-6 in "win or go home" games, according ESPN.com.

Let’s take a brief look at his career (see stats from NFL.com)

The top 3 QBs drafted in the 1^st round of the 2003 NFL draft were:

Round	Pick	NFL Team	Player	College
1	1	Cincinnati Bengals	Carson Palmer	USC
1	7	Jacksonville Jaguars	Byron Leftwich	Marshall
1	19	Baltimore Ravens	Kyle Boller	California

The last 3 QBs drafted overall through 7 rounds of the 2003 NFL draft were:

Round	Pick	NFL Team	Player	College
6	200	New York Jets	Brooks Bollinger	Wisconsin
7	232	Washington Redskins	Gibran Hamdan	Indiana
7	241	San Francisco 49ers	Ken Dorsey	Miami

Tony Romo Career Stats

Take a look at some of the big schools that some of the 2013 playoff QBs attended:

Year	Round	Pick	NFL Team	Player	College
1998	1	1	Indianapolis Colts	Peyton Manning	Tennessee
2000	6	199	New England Patriots	Tom Brady	Michigan
2005	1	24	Green Bay Packers	Aaron Rodgers	California
2012	1	1	Indianapolis Colts	Andrew Luck	Stanford
2012	1	2	Washington Redskins	Robert Griffin III	Baylor
2012	3	75	Seattle Seahawks	Russell Wilson	Wisconsin

These playoff QB’s played at Division I schools on big stages at some point in their college careers.  Whether it was during the regular season or in a bowl game the big school atmosphere prepared these guys for the NFL.  There probably were and are some QB’s who have played at small schools and did well in the NFL and Romo is one of them, but in order for Romo to reach the next level he will need help.

Romo was an undrafted QB from Eastern Illinois University making passes on the sidelines during the 2003 NFL combine.  Parcells was the man that picked him up and Parcells was a man who called him 'Pancho' , but knew how to manage Romo.

For some reason Jason Garrett and Cowboy fans want Romo to be something he is not, which is a big game QB who can do it all by himself.  I am not saying he will never win the big game, but for him to get there he is going to need help.  If Jerry Jones plans to resign Romo to a long-term deal, he better have a coaching plan in place. 

The truth…Romo contributed in every possible way to lose the “win or go home” ball game against the Redskins, but he had a lot of help.  Let's take a look at Romo’s contributors in the 28-18 loss vs. Skins:

• The defense gave up 274 total rushing yards.  274 yards!  With the season on the line, the Cowboys surrendered 200 yards on 33 carries to the rookie Alfred Morris to go with 3 TDs.  3 TDs?  The gimp legged RG3 added another 66 yards on 6 carries.  On one leg RG3 ran for 66 yards!  I know the Boys defense was without 6 starters, but the other guys could not catch a man with one leg?  Is that Romo’s fault?

• The offensive coaching staff provided no answer for the consistent blitz schemes being thrown at the offensive line.  Obviously the line was not talking to each other or either the line coach did not make any adjustments?  Additionally, no screen plays, no roll outs, or quick slants were called to counter the blitz.  Romo tried to do his best Peyton Manning imitation at the line of scrimmage, but the Skins did not respect it because they know it’s not real.  The Skins would have respected Romo, if the plays called effectively beat the blitz a few times, but Dallas never beat the blitz.

RB - Demarco Murray

• When was the last time you saw an NFL defense blitz a team 5 or 6 time consecutively?  Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett of the Skins called those blitz plays because the Boys did not change their game plan.  Is that Romo’s fault? 

• Garrett only gave the ball to Demarco Murray 17 times for 74 yards.  To me, Murray did well when he got his chances.  Why Garrett did not give him 20 to 25 touches to take the PRESSURE off of Romo, I don’t know.  Murray was the X factor and could have played a bigger role if allowed, but he was not allowed.

Cowboys vs. Redskins Box Score 12/30/2012

I will go on record as saying, "give Romo a coach who can manage, a real defense and a real offensive line and he will deliver at least 1 Super Bowl".  If the Cowboys had a defense similar, not exact, but similar to what QB Joe Flacco had in Baltimore over the last few years, Romo would have delivered 2 Super Bowls.  Put Joe Flacco on the Cowboys and the Boys go from 8-8 every year to 4-12.  I guarantee it!

See what a few fans posted right after the loss to the Skins on ESPN.com...

Again, I say…Romo contributed in every possible way to lose the “win or go home” ball game against the Redskins, but he had A LOT of help in losing.