The Dallas Cowboys finished 8-8 for the second straight season and missed the playoffs for the third straight year after losing to the Washington Redskins 28-18 Sunday with the NFC East on the line. Tony Romo threw three interceptions, including picks on back-to-back possessions in the first quarter, and a third to ruin a comeback attempt late in the game. The performance cemented nearly everything about Romo’s reputation as a player; he commits too many turnovers and chokes under pressure.
Former Cowboys legends Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders, who work for NFL Network, were among the commentators who were hard on Romo following the poor ballgame.
“I’m never going to say 8-8 is a success, not a guy who holds three rings. Playing hard is good. Winning is better,” said Irvin, via the Los Angeles Times. “You watch all these guys, Robert Griffin III, Eli Manning, Michael Vick — these are top quarterbacks, drafted in top spots, they know and feel like they belong in that situation. Tony Romo is the only undrafted QB in the East and sometimes, in those moments, he feels like, ‘I have to prove to everybody I belong here,’ and tries to do so much and that gets him into trouble.”
Sanders seemed even more fed up.
“How many times are we going to sit here as fans and say, ‘Here we go again?'” Sanders said. “I love to win at all costs. 1-6 in elimination games, that’s telling me something is not getting better around here. The kind of person I am, I need to jump off and try to correct this thing…. I can’t put this one thing all on Tony. But Tony brings me to the same situation at the conclusion of every year. Take a picture, this date, and see if we’re playing the same picture next year. We always think it’s going to get better, but it’s the same-old same-old.”
I don’t really agree with Irvin that Romo is out to prove he belongs with these other quarterbacks, but how can you not agree with Deion? It feels like the same thing over and over with Romo. The guy makes some spectacular plays and can move the ball, but he’s so unreliable with the game on the line. Dallas’ front office would have to be foolish not to see that by now and realize they need to make a change.
Photo credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE
