Dallas Cowboys' Romo gets another shot at Eagles: QB prepares for second meeting with Philadelphia
(Dallas Morning News, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Nov. 1--IRVING -- Now in his second season as the Cowboys' starting quarterback, Tony Romo knows what to expect from Eagles fans. After somehow acquiring Romo's cellphone number leading up to his first start against Philadelphia last season, they bombarded Romo with calls.
As the owner of a new, $67.5 million contract extension, Romo should expect Eagles fans to be even harder on him Sunday in his first trip to Lincoln Financial Field as the starter.
"It's going to be a hostile environment for him, but that's OK," tight end Jason Witten said. "That defense is tough to get yards on, and their fans will be rough on him, especially with the new contract."
If Romo learned one thing in his lone start against Philadelphia last season, it's that actually facing the Eagles' defensive scheme is a lot different than practicing against it.
With a chance to close in on an NFC East title last Christmas, the Cowboys suffered a 23-7 loss at Texas Stadium.
Romo was limited to a career-low 142 yards on 14-of-29 passing. He threw a touchdown pass to Terrell Owens, but was intercepted twice and sacked three times. Romo's 45.5 passer rating remains his career low, even after he tied a team-record with five interceptions this season at Buffalo.
Through seven games this season, the Eagles have allowed an NFC-low 117 points and own the fourth-ranked defense in the conference. Plus, they have done it without safety Brian Dawkins and cornerback Lito Sheppard, secondary stalwarts who have combined to miss nine games.
The constant has been defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, who has been in Philadelphia since 1999. The Eagles will bring a cornerback on a blitz on one play. They will bring seven players the next play.
"They are very sound," Romo said. "They are the one team I would describe as very structured chaos. They bring exotic stuff, but they are very structured. They don't leave stuff just wide open. When they do stuff, they do it more for a rhyme and reason than to be exotic."
The NFC East's other young quarterbacks went through similar pains against the Eagles in their first starts.
New York's Eli Manning completed just 6-of-21 passes for 148 yards, failed to throw a touchdown pass, was intercepted twice and sacked five times for a 16.9 passer rating in a loss.
Washington's Jason Campbell completed just 15-of-27 passes for 182 yards with one touchdown pass, two interceptions, two sacks and a 57.9 rating in a loss.
Manning and Campbell were making the second and fourth starts, respectively, of their careers.
Both quarterbacks won the second time around against Philadelphia. Manning threw three touchdown passes without a pick. Campbell wasn't spectacular, but he did pass for 209 yards and a touchdown.
"What they do is, their blitz package is something where they can come at you from a lot of different ways," Cowboys assistant head coach Tony Sparano said. "And at the same time, with their nickel pressure, they can give you a bunch of different looks. Those are things during the work week you have to spend the most time on."
The best way to beat the Philadelphia blitz is with big plays. In the Cowboys' season opener against the Giants, with Johnson pupil Steve Spagnuolo as New York's defensive coordinator, Dallas closed out the 45-35 win with a 51-yard touchdown pass from Romo to Sam Hurd against a blitz.
"When you make a few plays, that will make you back off," coach Wade Phillips said.
Last Christmas against the Eagles, Romo's longest completion went for 17 yards. The Cowboys finished with a season-low 201 yards and tied a season low with 51 plays, holding the ball for only 22 minutes, 54 seconds.
"They kind of do what they do," Romo said. "Most of the time when a team's doing a lot of stuff, they're not really that great at it."
As the owner of a new, $67.5 million contract extension, Romo should expect Eagles fans to be even harder on him Sunday in his first trip to Lincoln Financial Field as the starter.
"It's going to be a hostile environment for him, but that's OK," tight end Jason Witten said. "That defense is tough to get yards on, and their fans will be rough on him, especially with the new contract."
If Romo learned one thing in his lone start against Philadelphia last season, it's that actually facing the Eagles' defensive scheme is a lot different than practicing against it.
With a chance to close in on an NFC East title last Christmas, the Cowboys suffered a 23-7 loss at Texas Stadium.
Romo was limited to a career-low 142 yards on 14-of-29 passing. He threw a touchdown pass to Terrell Owens, but was intercepted twice and sacked three times. Romo's 45.5 passer rating remains his career low, even after he tied a team-record with five interceptions this season at Buffalo.
Through seven games this season, the Eagles have allowed an NFC-low 117 points and own the fourth-ranked defense in the conference. Plus, they have done it without safety Brian Dawkins and cornerback Lito Sheppard, secondary stalwarts who have combined to miss nine games.
The constant has been defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, who has been in Philadelphia since 1999. The Eagles will bring a cornerback on a blitz on one play. They will bring seven players the next play.
"They are very sound," Romo said. "They are the one team I would describe as very structured chaos. They bring exotic stuff, but they are very structured. They don't leave stuff just wide open. When they do stuff, they do it more for a rhyme and reason than to be exotic."
The NFC East's other young quarterbacks went through similar pains against the Eagles in their first starts.
New York's Eli Manning completed just 6-of-21 passes for 148 yards, failed to throw a touchdown pass, was intercepted twice and sacked five times for a 16.9 passer rating in a loss.
Washington's Jason Campbell completed just 15-of-27 passes for 182 yards with one touchdown pass, two interceptions, two sacks and a 57.9 rating in a loss.
Manning and Campbell were making the second and fourth starts, respectively, of their careers.
Both quarterbacks won the second time around against Philadelphia. Manning threw three touchdown passes without a pick. Campbell wasn't spectacular, but he did pass for 209 yards and a touchdown.
"What they do is, their blitz package is something where they can come at you from a lot of different ways," Cowboys assistant head coach Tony Sparano said. "And at the same time, with their nickel pressure, they can give you a bunch of different looks. Those are things during the work week you have to spend the most time on."
The best way to beat the Philadelphia blitz is with big plays. In the Cowboys' season opener against the Giants, with Johnson pupil Steve Spagnuolo as New York's defensive coordinator, Dallas closed out the 45-35 win with a 51-yard touchdown pass from Romo to Sam Hurd against a blitz.
"When you make a few plays, that will make you back off," coach Wade Phillips said.
Last Christmas against the Eagles, Romo's longest completion went for 17 yards. The Cowboys finished with a season-low 201 yards and tied a season low with 51 plays, holding the ball for only 22 minutes, 54 seconds.
"They kind of do what they do," Romo said. "Most of the time when a team's doing a lot of stuff, they're not really that great at it."
posted by The Gryphon at 9:16 PM
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