Can 'Boys go far with Romo? No question.
A liberal dose
August 05, 2007
Almost two weeks of watching Camp Cupcake has further convinced me of one thing.
Two things, actually:
Mavs owner Mark Cuban is right about the River Walk. It is nasty.
And the Cowboys' biggest question mark is not going to be one this season.
In fact, if how quarterback Tony Romo fares is really their biggest concern in 2007, the Cowboys are going to be just fine. Probably better than fine.
You will remember Owner Jones launched training camp by identifying 'good, strong quarterback play' as one of the things that had to happen for them to have any real Super Bowl aspirations. It was obvious he felt this was a question, not a statement.
And Romo didn't shy away from this characterization, declaring, 'In some ways, I am a question mark.' He grasps that, for this Cowboys team to flirt with achieving lofty expectations, he needs to play better than he did at the end of last season.
This is hardly breaking news, certainly not to anybody who was watching games in December. What might be surprising is what better means.
Because in this case 'better' is not getting Romo to do more than he did on his best days. This is not a Quincy situation, about crossing your fingers and hoping Romo develops into a passable quarterback.
Cowboys QB coach Wade Wilson coached Q and Rex Grossman and does not bat an eyelash when asked if this is the most talent he has started with at the position. He does not need to teach Romo how to take a snap (like he did with Q) or help him bounce back from a 1.3 QB rating (like he did with Grossman last season against the Vikings).
Romo already has proven he is easily one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the league on his best days. We saw his high end in November, Thanksgiving to be specific. We know what he can do.
The only question surrounding Romo is how quickly he can dial down the negative plays from his game. And how to do so without curtailing the impulsiveness that makes him genius.
'I tell him all the time we like Romo. That's a good thing,' Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. 'The thing we got to do is make sure we do it as consistently as we can, and then the downside of it is, we minimize the bad plays, the plays that are not winning football plays.'
What they are trying to do is emphasize the smart without handcuffing him. The perfect example came a couple of days ago in practice.
The Cowboys were working on the 2-minute drill. It was third down. Romo was supposed to spike the ball. He freelanced instead, throwing to T.O., who was not expecting the ball and did not catch it. Fourth down, no timeouts, the field-goal team scrambling -- it was obviously the wrong freelance.
When Cowboys coach Wade Phillips talked to Romo, though, he did not bust his butt for opting out of the spike. What he told him was to throw into the end zone next time.
The message is clear: Romo is free to follow his instincts. What Wade, Garrett and Co. need him to do better is use his football brain when doing so.
And if the Cowboys' biggest question is whether Romo can do this, they are going to be just fine.
August 05, 2007
Almost two weeks of watching Camp Cupcake has further convinced me of one thing.
Two things, actually:
Mavs owner Mark Cuban is right about the River Walk. It is nasty.
And the Cowboys' biggest question mark is not going to be one this season.
In fact, if how quarterback Tony Romo fares is really their biggest concern in 2007, the Cowboys are going to be just fine. Probably better than fine.
You will remember Owner Jones launched training camp by identifying 'good, strong quarterback play' as one of the things that had to happen for them to have any real Super Bowl aspirations. It was obvious he felt this was a question, not a statement.
And Romo didn't shy away from this characterization, declaring, 'In some ways, I am a question mark.' He grasps that, for this Cowboys team to flirt with achieving lofty expectations, he needs to play better than he did at the end of last season.
This is hardly breaking news, certainly not to anybody who was watching games in December. What might be surprising is what better means.
Because in this case 'better' is not getting Romo to do more than he did on his best days. This is not a Quincy situation, about crossing your fingers and hoping Romo develops into a passable quarterback.
Cowboys QB coach Wade Wilson coached Q and Rex Grossman and does not bat an eyelash when asked if this is the most talent he has started with at the position. He does not need to teach Romo how to take a snap (like he did with Q) or help him bounce back from a 1.3 QB rating (like he did with Grossman last season against the Vikings).
Romo already has proven he is easily one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the league on his best days. We saw his high end in November, Thanksgiving to be specific. We know what he can do.
The only question surrounding Romo is how quickly he can dial down the negative plays from his game. And how to do so without curtailing the impulsiveness that makes him genius.
'I tell him all the time we like Romo. That's a good thing,' Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. 'The thing we got to do is make sure we do it as consistently as we can, and then the downside of it is, we minimize the bad plays, the plays that are not winning football plays.'
What they are trying to do is emphasize the smart without handcuffing him. The perfect example came a couple of days ago in practice.
The Cowboys were working on the 2-minute drill. It was third down. Romo was supposed to spike the ball. He freelanced instead, throwing to T.O., who was not expecting the ball and did not catch it. Fourth down, no timeouts, the field-goal team scrambling -- it was obviously the wrong freelance.
When Cowboys coach Wade Phillips talked to Romo, though, he did not bust his butt for opting out of the spike. What he told him was to throw into the end zone next time.
The message is clear: Romo is free to follow his instincts. What Wade, Garrett and Co. need him to do better is use his football brain when doing so.
And if the Cowboys' biggest question is whether Romo can do this, they are going to be just fine.
posted by The Gryphon at 11:26 AM
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