Kyle Orton will start in place of Tony Romo for the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. Given Romo’s history of choking and the fact that the game will decide which team advances to the playoffs, some people feel that Orton may actually give Dallas a better chance to win. Terrell Owens is one of those people.
We all remember the infamous “that’s my quarterback” press conference where TO had tears streaming down his face in defense of Romo, but he’s going with the numbers in this situation.
“My thing with Romo is he’s been inconsistent late in ballgames,” Owens said during an appearance on the NFL Network. “Going into a situation like this you don’t have him No. 1. With Tony Romo you kind of already know what to expect. Late in the game it’s a toss-up.
“So if you look at what Kyle Orton has done — he’s done more with less. In this situation, I think the uncertainty with (the Eagles) not playing against Orton, he has an edge.”
Prior to Owens presenting his argument, NFL Network showed a few statistics about Romo’s play in clutch situations versus Orton’s play. Since 2008, Orton has throw a touchdown pass every 13.7 pass attempts in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. Romo has thrown a touchdown pass every 28.7 pass attempts in the same situation. Orton has thrown one interception every 40.1 pass attempts in the final five minutes, and Romo has thrown one every 20.1 attempts.
When asked if he would want Romo or Orton to be starting if he was a Cowboys receiver, TO said you would “obviously” want to have your starting quarterback in there. Owens was then flat-out asked if he thinks Orton gives Dallas a better chance to win.
“I do,” he said. “If it’s a shootout late in the game, everybody’s expecting Tony to throw some interceptions. Not to take anything away from what he’s done this year. He’s been spectacular, but going into situations like this everybody expects the obvious. That’s for him to make a mistake.”
Cowboys fans have seen Romo throw away their season on more than one occasion. That said, I still think he would give Dallas a better chance to win on Sunday. We’re talking about Week 17 with a quarterback who has attempted 15 passes in the last two seasons. Orton is ice-cold, and the Cowboys are likely going to have to score a lot of points to keep up with the Eagles. Orton may give Dallas a better chance in the fourth quarter, but Romo wouldn’t have choked all those games away if he didn’t keep the Cowboys close. I’m not convinced Orton will even be able to do that.
