Romo under Texas-sized pressure to excel

By Connor Byrne  |   Tuesday, May 01, 2007  |  Comments( 16 )

Dallas Cowboys
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The Dallas Cowboys disappointed early in the 2006 season by stumbling to a 3-3 start. As a result, then-head coach Bill Parcells pulled veteran starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe and replaced him with the unknown, unproven Tony Romo.

The former undrafted free agent from Eastern Illinois emerged as one of the NFL's great Cinderella stories, winning five of his first six starts and throwing 10 touchdowns against just four interceptions. Dallas was 8-4 through 12 games and ready to take its place as a legitimate Super Bowl contender from the NFC. However, Romo and Co. stumbled in the final quarter of the season, going 1-3 and eking into the playoffs with a 9-7 record.

In the Cowboys' Wild-Card round matchup in Seattle, the 27-year-old Romo completed 17-of-29 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown. He played well, but he'll always be remembered as the guy who fumbled away Dallas' chances in the end. In the waning seconds, Martin Gramatica was lining up for what would have been a chip-shot game-winning field goal, but Romo fumbled the snap. He was then tackled by Seahawks defender Jordan Babineaux, and Dallas lost the game, 21-20.

Heartbreak aside, Romo's final stat line for the year included 19 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, a stellar 95.0 quarterback rating and a season-ending Pro Bowl bid. However, he's far from a lock to be a consistently great passer in the NFC. In fact, toward the end of the year it appeared opposing teams had figured Romo out.

So with the 22nd pick in this past weekend's draft, Dallas had a chance to grab a player who appears more of a sure thing than Romo. That, of course, was ex-Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn. Projected by most as a top-five pick, Quinn plummeted into the 20s, where the Cowboys could have grabbed him. Instead, owner Jerry Jones traded the pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a second-rounder in 2007 (which was unloaded for more selections) and a first-rounder next year. The Browns took Quinn, leaving Dallas with Romo at the helm.

It's certainly admirable of the normally impatient Jones to have faith in his starting passer, but was it the right decision? Honestly, it's hard to say; however, Romo was among the league's shakiest starting QBs entering the playoffs last year. Once teams began to get a feel for the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder's game, they seemed to have the correct idea on how to neutralize him. Romo then became little more than an average performer, not a Pro Bowl-caliber one.

Quinn, though overrated during his career with the Irish, has a chance to be a franchise QB for the Browns. If Romo struggles this year, Dallas will no doubt be looking to next April's draft for an answer under center. And that's an answer the Cowboys may have let slip away this past Saturday.

The pressure's on now, Tony. Big time.

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