"Romocoaster"

The quarterback, it’s one of the most difficult positions to play in sports. Quarterbacks and leaders go hand and hand, you can’t be a successful quarterback without being a successful leader. It’s the guy everyone in the huddle looks to and relies on. The greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, with the exception of Dan Marino, have championships to back their high level of play up. Granted there have been teams that have won the big game without a hall of fame quarterback. Like John Gruden’s Buccaneers in 2002 with Brad Johnson or even the Giants; granted Eli Manning has made some immaculate plays, but it’s hard to believe they would have won their last super bowls without that pass rush, having held New England to a total of 31 points in the two super bowls combined.

When building a super bowl contending team, like every NFL team is trying to do, it’s important to start with a quarterback you can rely on, to not just manage the game but win the game. The Cowboys are in a tough situation. Quarterback Tony Romo seems to have all the intangibles to be a great quarterback, the ability to make all the throws, move in the pocket and of course lead the team. What Romo is struggling with is finishing games; this year (2012) when Romo has the ball with two minutes or less to go in the half he has a 58 percent completion rate, only 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and 2 sacks. That’s not a quarterback you want driving down the field to win the game for you. In a two minute drill sacks are almost equivalent to interceptions, the clock stays running and more often than not you just put your team in second or third and long. So Romo usually won’t be the guy to drive down the field and win a game for you, but what about throughout the game. Is he a quarterback that keeps the offense on the field on third down? Unfortunately, for the Cowboys it’s not just at the end of halves. This year and throughout Romo’s entire career he struggles on third down. This year on third down, Romo has a gut wrenching 69.1 quarterback rating, a measly two touchdowns and five interceptions. That’s just not a winning formula.

The question remains, how long do you put up with this type of performance? This is Romo’s eleventh year in the league and still can’t win the games that count. Jerry Jones and the Cowboys have been very patient, not benching him yet. They continue to stand behind their quarterback and say he is the man for the job. Romo is making a monster 9 million dollars this year and scheduled to make 11.5 million next year. Whether the Cowboys just don’t see a better option than Romo now or if they are just going to hope for the best remains to be seen. I will tell you this though, if Romo doesn’t start making boss man Jerry Jones happy then he might just find himself in the unemployment line with about 7.9 percent of the U.S.