Steve Young agrees with what a lot of fans say about Dallas Cowboys' quarterback Tony Romo. Young said he believes that Romo is an elite quarterback, on the level of Drew Brees and Tom Brady, but struggles with his game management skills.
I have heard complaints about many quarterbacks over the years being nothing more than game managers but Young said that is the most important part of the job. Trent Dilfer, one of the quarterbacks always criticized as being nothing more than a game manager, agrees that Romo has greatness in him but he blames the problems on the team around him.
I have been watching Romo play since he was just a preseason quarterback from 2003-05. I always noticed something about him that I liked. When he finally came in to start in place of Drew Bledsoe in 2006, he immediately showed he was ready for the big time and has held on to the spot ever since.
Romo finished the 2011 season with a 102.5 quarterback rating, behind only Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady as active starters. He threw for 4,184 yards, 31 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions. There were moments during the season that he failed late in the game.
He cost the Cowboys victories early to both the New York Jets and Detroit Lions with turnovers at inopportune times but seemed to turn himself around as the season wore on. There was also the moment at the end of the Arizona Cardinals game where Romo raced the team down the field and then lined up and spiked the ball instead of calling a time out to set up for the field goal. Jason Garrett then iced his own kicker to call the time out and Dallas lost.
That is where Young explains what Romo is lacking right now.
"Game manager, that's 60 or 70 percent of the job," Young said. "To my mind, Tony Romo, the 30 percent that's the extra-highest level, point-of-the-spear championship play that Drew and Tom and all those guys do, Tony does really well. But he struggles with more of the commodity, the game manager stuff."
There were moments in the season where Romo managed the game fine. He led Dallas down to tie the game up with the New York Giants in their first meeting only to see Dan Bailey miss the field goal. He also led Dallas for the win on a number of occasions, with Bailey making the kicks needed to win the games. One perfect example was against the San Francisco 49ers.
With four minutes left in the game, and Dallas down by three, Romo went five for six to put Dallas in position to kick the game tying field goal to send the game into overtime. Then, in overtime, Romo hit a surprise 77 yard pass to backup receiver Jesse Holley to set up the game winning field goal.
"I think the only thing that's keeping Tony from ascending into the upper echelon of quarterbacks is his team, is the help from his friends and his teammates, and I think once that all comes together, you're going to see the fullness of Tony's greatness come out," Dilfer said.
I agree with that completely. Tony Romo is not what is holding Dallas back but he is the key that can help them win it all.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys' fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys' related news, good or bad
