"Romo Sucks!"
The classic. Short and Sweet. Probably been shouted at more metroplex TV's than "Obama's a Muslim!"
Answer: Romo's rating has been in the top 10 in the NFL for every year he has qualified. (He's actually statistically better than anyone you're probably comparing him to.)
Advanced stats simply can't be deployed for these mouthbreathers, so we keep it as simple as their accusation. Here's Romo's career rating in context with the top tier of current QB's, Cowboy Super Bowl winners, and recent legends, respectively:
Aaron Rodgers: 105
Peyton Manning: 97.2
Tony Romo: 95.8
Tom Brady: 95.7
Drew Brees: 95.3
Tony Romo: 95.8
Roger Staubach: 83.4
Troy Aikman: 81.6
Tony Romo: 95.8
Joe Montana: 92.3
Dan Marino: 86.4
Brett Favre: 86
John Elway: 80
Yes. A lot of good quarterbacks throw interceptions. You should watch their games some time too. Here's a look at those same QB's and their career INT/attempt rate:
Aaron Rodgers: 1.8%
Tom Brady: 2%
Peyton Manning: 2.6%
Tony Romo: 2.7%
Drew Brees: 2.7%
Tony Romo: 2.7%
Troy Aikman: 3%
Roger Staubach: 3.7%
Joe Montana: 2.6%
Tony Romo: 2.7%
Dan Marino: 3%
John Elway: 3.1%
Brett Favre: 3.3%
Answer: Rodgers and Brady aside, Romo throws about as many picks as his best contemporaries, and much less than those two Cowboys who you say he'll never be as good as.
"I haven't trusted Romo since he blew that '06 Seattle playoff game."
Answer: Oh, you mean the guy who led his offense on a textbook late 4th qtr 70 yard drive, going 3/3, without having to burn a timeout? OK, so he won't be a Hall of Fame holder. Maybe he shouldn't have been the only QB in the league asked to hold on FG's. Even after the botched field goal attempt, his defense, starting at the Seattle 2 yd line, with all three timeouts and 1:14 left, proceeded to give up a 20 yd run to Shaun Alexander. Ballgame.
"Romo chokes in the 4th quarter!"
Answer: (from ESPN.com): Romo has the highest fourth-quarter passer rating among all active quarterbacks. And it's not even close. His 102.1 rating is more than five points higher than the second man on the list, Aaron Rodgers.
Answer: (from USA Today): Romo has a career passer rating of 93.1 in the final two minutes of a game. Fox Sports says that's the best of all active quarterbacks and the fourth-best since 1991.
"Just wait 'til December. That's when Romo will fold, per usual."
Answer: During the final four weeks of the season over the last four years, Romo ranks in the top five in comp. %, TD-INT ratio, YPA, and rating. In December, teams are depleted and must rely on depth, and the Cowboys don't have it.
"Romo's just not the leader the Cowboys need to win a close game"
Answer: Only seven QB's who played during Romo's time in the league rank higher than his 20 4th Quarter comebacks, while he ranks 20th all time. Since 2011, no one has more than his 12 game-winning drives.
"The Cowboys just won't win the big one with Romo as their quarterback."
Because of it's insufferable ambiguity, perhaps the most frustrating. We've seen the stats that show he's not terrible. It's the million dollar question for Cowboys' fans, and for fans of every team that doesn't win the Super Bowl every year. In the Cowboys case, it must be understood that a team is more than it's quarterback, or even it's offense. In all of Romo's qualifying seasons, Dallas has had a scoring defense in the top half of the NFL only twice. They were 13th in '07 and went 13-3. They were actually 2nd in 2009, winning Romo's only playoff game over Philly, even with the underwhelming offensive support of the Barber/Felix and Austin/Roy Williams tandems.
Answer: Never watch or talk football with these people again.
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