Romo is Clutch?
As a society we have made advances in technology, politics, and the way we treat people. Social media has broadened the horizon in which we communicate with each other. Smart phones have made our lives infinitely more efficient. We have changed the way we treat women. Racism, while still a prevalent and touchy issue, is nowhere near where it was in the 1960's. We are generally more accepting. Now, you'd think with a nation so evolved as ours, we would know the difference between what is a myth and what isn't, right? Wrong. Let's give you a list of myths that are widely regarded as the truth:
- Chewing gum stays in your stomach for years after you swallow it. Really? Studies show that it might stay in for a little while longer than other foods, but it will end up going where all the other food goes. It digests fine.
- Dropping a penny from the Empire State Building will kill someone if it hits them. I'm sure you just face-palmed yourself. Anybody who has took a physics class knows that a penny dropped from the ESB would reach a terminal velocity of 100 mph. It would hit you with 1 foot-pound energy. In other words, You Won't Die. You'll probably get a bump on your head. You can join Hasim Rahman and Jeremy Lin as honorary members of the Hematoma Club.
Alright, so how does this have any correlation to sports? Sports have myths too, and some are still used and abided by to this day. The most popular yet flawed myth around the sports world is:
- Tony Romo Isn't Clutch. This one baffles should baffle everyone. One of the best quarterbacks in the NFL is known to be anti-clutch. Another face-palm.
So far, the Cowboys are 7-5 and are leading the NFC East, one of the worst divisions in football, and have a huge matchup with the Chicago Bears tonight. They have no notable wins, and 4 of their 5 losses have come to teams with high-potent offensive attacks: San Diego, Denver, New Orleans, Detroit. You get the point. In all of these games, Tony Romo has had stellar numbers. The numbers should prove this point. The so-called "choker" has a career total of 19 4th quarter comebacks, and 21 game winning drives. That's right. This is the guy that can't win, right? He already has one other game winner this year, against the Minnesota Vikings. In 2012, a season that saw the Cowboys go a very average 8-8, Tony Romo had 5 comebacks. So if Romo wasn't in tune with his star player, the Cowboys could've gone 3-13. He's great in November too. Of his 21 game winners, 9 have came in November. The only active quarterback to have more game winners with less experience than Romo is Matt Ryan, who is playing like a Division 3 water boy this year. Romo also missed most of the 2010 season. So if you do the math, he would have 3 that season, and 24 total.
But the Cowboys are America's team. Why are they winning/losing close games all the time? Shouldn't they have the best players? What about the front office?
Outside of drafting Jason Witten, Dez Bryant, and a few select players that have a direct impact on the team, the Cowboys have whiffed in every single draft. In the last 4 drafts, the Cowboys have only brought in 2 game changers to help Romo: Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray. Bryant has emerged as one of the best recievers in the league. Murray is injury-prone and is only good in stretches. Even with those offensive additions, the Cowboys have only managed to score 30 points or more just 5 times in 12 games. The front office has failed to help acquire talent that will balance the offensive attack. The running game can be good at times, but injuries keep it from being a consistent threat.
Aside from having an aggravatingly nutty owner/president/GM, Romo has cycled through 3 different head coaches, Bill Parcells, Wade Phillips, and Jason Garrett. The work and frustration that goes with a changing staff is daunting enough, yet Romo has still managed to put up Pro Bowl-like numbers year after year.
Romo is clearly one of the top QBs in the league. So there has to be a reason why they can't win games at home when they are favorites. How about the defense? The Cowboys have the worst total defense in the NFL, giving up a regurgitating 4,754 yards on the season. They have the 31st worst pass defense in a conference that contains the likes of Kaepernick, Stafford and Brees. They give up 25 points a game. This isn't a defense you start on your fantasy team, ever. The defensive coordinator, Monte Kiffin, is probably too old/unfit to handle the rigors of being a coach, and obviously can't run a college defense, let alone a pro defense. The crazy owner hired Kiffin over the offseason, and fired one of the best defensive minds in the NFL, Rob Ryan. This is the same Rob Ryan that turned the Saints defense 180 degrees. With 6 of the same 11 starters from last year, the Saints went from being dead last in yards per game, to 7th. They also went from being 31st in points per game allowed to 5th.
Romo's play has been money in close games too. Since 2008, while tied or trailing by up to 7 in the 4th quarter, Romo has 36.8 pass attempts per interception, and only 9 interceptions at that. He has the best passer rating in the 4th quarter of any QB since 2006 (102).
So he has only 1 playoff win. Drew Brees has 5 wins in the playoffs, and that includes a playoff run that saw the Saints win the Super Bowl. Does anybody crown Drew Brees as a choker? People forget that in 2003, Drew Brees had 17 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Do you hear analysts bicker about that stat? What about Peyton Manning? Including a Super Bowl run, he is just 9-11 in the postseason. He has 8 one-and-done games as well. Is he a choker? He had Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne to
So he has only 1 playoff win. Drew Brees has 5 wins in the playoffs, and that includes a playoff run that saw the Saints win the Super Bowl. Does anybody crown Drew Brees as a choker? People forget that in 2003, Drew Brees had 17 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Do you hear analysts bicker about that stat? What about Peyton Manning? Including a Super Bowl run, he is just 9-11 in the postseason. He has 8 one-and-done games as well. Is he a choker? He had Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne to
throw to in Indianapolis, but he managed to get only one Super Bowl. Now he has Wes Welker and rising players like Eric Decker and Julius Thomas. Still though, he has greatly underperformed in big games in his tenure as the Denver Broncos quarterback. Whether it was last year against the Ravens, or this year against the Colts and the Patriots, Manning didn't play well at all. What were we saying about Romo again?
Let's not lie to ourselves about Tony Romo. We know who he is. He's an extremely cerebral and committed quarterback who has all but carried an underachieving franchise. If you think about it, Tony Romo is a lot like Lebron James. Both are stupendous talents who elevate the play of those around them. Also, both are heavily criticized by fans and media alike. James was "the guy that can't finish." Romo was the guy that choked on the last drive. James finally went to Miami to play with other great stars, and all of a sudden, he is a "finisher." Romo finally has a reciever (Bryant) that can stretch the field and make plays without pulling his hamstring every other game, and he isn't as bad a choker as he was before. Critics don't remember how Lebron carried the talentless Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2007 finals. They remember his offense being shut down and how the team got swept by the Spurs. Amassing over 500 yards and 5 touchdowns, Romo kept the defenseless Cowboys in the game vs the seemingly unassailable Denver Broncos, but everybody only remembers the interception with 2 minutes left. I always say "give street cred where street cred is due." If a guy can put up great numbers consistently but fall short every once in a while, he should have our vote. Tom Hanks is one of the greatest actors of all time. You wouldn't say that his career is a colossal failure just because he made disasters like The Terminal and The Bonfire Of The Vanities. Everybody makes a mistake here and there. Romo and Lebron- Game finishers.
One main reason why Romo is thought of as anti-clutch goes back to the 2006 playoffs. If anybody remembers that game, he muffed a field goal snap that would've won them the game. That moment stuck in people's minds. So whenever he throws a pick in crunch time, which is something all great quarterbacks do, we think back to the Tony Romo that muffed that snap 7 years ago. First impressions stick.
Regardless of what you may think about Mr. Romo, any GM would kill to have Tony as his franchise QB. He has inimitable talent and works as hard as any other player in the league. The myth that he isn't clutch is very unfounded.
His career is the quintessential roller coaster, complete with a launch track, steep climbs, high drops, on-ride cameras, corkscrews, cobra rolls, and loops galore. His NFL ride started with him being an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Illinois. After years of riding the bench, he found his starting job filling in full time for an injured (and passed his prime) Drew Bledsoe. He instantly brought a new energy to the franchise, and the Cowboys seemed like they had found the missing element in their group. He was winning. He had numerous "This Is SportsCenter" commercials. After his playoff gaffe that same year, his stock ultimately plummeted. He could pad up the stats and win some games, but he just didn't have that "clutch gene." As the rest of his career unwinded, we saw the same thing over and over. His blunders weren't all the same though. Maybe it was a screw up in the last regular season game instead of the playoffs. But still, through all of this, a camera was recording the ride. His emotions before games were caught by the networks. His reactions were recorded at press conferences. Amid the chaos that has surrounded his X2-like career, he is still one of the best in the game. In my expert opinion, he has made it through the ride. We know all we need to know about Tony Romo. Most would say, "Geez! I'm glad I won't have to do that again!" Not Tony. He embraces the challenges, and has proven himself at the highest level possible.
His career is the quintessential roller coaster, complete with a launch track, steep climbs, high drops, on-ride cameras, corkscrews, cobra rolls, and loops galore. His NFL ride started with him being an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Illinois. After years of riding the bench, he found his starting job filling in full time for an injured (and passed his prime) Drew Bledsoe. He instantly brought a new energy to the franchise, and the Cowboys seemed like they had found the missing element in their group. He was winning. He had numerous "This Is SportsCenter" commercials. After his playoff gaffe that same year, his stock ultimately plummeted. He could pad up the stats and win some games, but he just didn't have that "clutch gene." As the rest of his career unwinded, we saw the same thing over and over. His blunders weren't all the same though. Maybe it was a screw up in the last regular season game instead of the playoffs. But still, through all of this, a camera was recording the ride. His emotions before games were caught by the networks. His reactions were recorded at press conferences. Amid the chaos that has surrounded his X2-like career, he is still one of the best in the game. In my expert opinion, he has made it through the ride. We know all we need to know about Tony Romo. Most would say, "Geez! I'm glad I won't have to do that again!" Not Tony. He embraces the challenges, and has proven himself at the highest level possible.
Twitter: Follow me @RealDealSimon
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