Post by ccboy on Dec 24, 2009 23:03:29 GMT -7
Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys pointing to a big finish
By CLARENCE E. HILL JR.
chill@star-telegram.com
IRVING — So much for the talk of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo not playing well in the month of December.
Good-bye to the notion that he doesn’t play well in big games.
Romo is finally playing his best football when it matters most and has the Cowboys (9-5) two wins from the NFC East title and possibly a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Romo, however, has no time for reflections on how far he has come. And he wants no part of the instant evaluation.
He knows he ultimately will be judged on how he and the Cowboys do in the playoffs. With two games remaining, Sunday at the Washington Redskins (4-10) and the regular-season finale at home against the Philadelphia Eagles (10-4), Dallas easily could be left wanting again.
With the New York Giants (8-6) one game back and holding a tiebreaker advantage, the Cowboys could be sitting at home when the postseason begins if they don’t win out.
"The greatest enjoyment is improvement as a football team and obviously each individual tries to do that from season to season," Romo said. "But I don’t look back until after the season and say what did I not do as well to improve upon, and then you kind of get a season of those things. Right now it’s strictly about going forward. There’s nothing you look back on right now. That’s the only approach you can have, is to continue to try and reach your goals."
The goals for Romo and the Cowboys are to qualify for the postseason, win a playoff game for the first time in 13 years and reach — and win — the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1995 season.
It would be the culmination of a watershed season for Romo, shedding a label of America’s biggest tease to finally living up to the championship lineage as quarterback of America’s Team.
Romo certainly has taken steps in that direction over the past month as he is in the process of remaking his December legacy.
Before this year, Romo had a 14-19 touchdown-to-interception ratio in December to go with a 5-8 record since becoming the Cowboys’ full-time starter in 2006.
Over the past four games, including three in December, Romo has eight touchdowns and no interceptions. He has had four consecutive games with a passer rating of 100.0 or better. And he is in the midst of a career-best streak of 156 passes without an interception.
The Cowboys have a 2-2 record during the streak. But according to coach Wade Phillips, the two losses were not Romo’s fault.
"I think he is playing at a real high level," Phillips said. "He’s played really well. We lost the game against the Giants. We don’t lose many games when he plays well. He’s playing outstanding."
Reasons abound for his improvement, including a Romo-friendly, spread-the-wealth focus on offense that began with the jettisoning of divisive receiver Terrell Owens in the off-season.
Not only has Miles Austin emerged as the go-to receiver in place of the disappointing Roy Williams, but the Cowboys have continued through the season to get more players involved in the offense.
Tight end Jason Witten leads the team with 82 receptions for 837 yards, followed by Austin with 65 catches for 1,138 yards and 11 touchdowns. In total, 12 players have caught passes for the Cowboys this season, including eight with 12 or more receptions. Consider that rookie free agent Kevin Ogletree, for example, replaced Williams for a number of snaps in the 24-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Saturday and stands to get more playing time.
Said Romo: "[Offensive coordinator] Jason Garrett does a great job as far as personnel changes that we use throughout a football game. Not a lot of teams use varying personnel grouping that we use. A lot of that has to do with why so many people catch the ball."
Romo is also more comfortable in Garrett’s system after three years. That Romo’s turnovers are down is an indication that the attention placed on improving his ball security in the off-season and during the season has taken hold. With seven of his passes intercepted this season, he is on pace for a career low. After four interceptions in the first four games, including three against the Giants in Week 2, he has been intercepted three times in the past 10 games.
Even more impressive to Phillips is that Romo is doing it while averaging more than 8 yards an attempt. His ability to continue to make plays downfield while not turning the ball over is a sure sign of his growth, Phillips said.
"It’s unrealistic to think you’re going 16 games without throwing an interception, but that’s the goal," Romo said. "The goal each week is to not give the other team an advantage with the ball in bad situations. The importance of the ball matters.
"For me, I’m seeing it, I’m doing some things a little differently that I’m not going to tell you. But they’ve helped me to minimize certain decisions that I’ve made in the past and that’s part of growing up and being experienced on the football field."
Another factor is that Romo is as healthy as he has ever been this late in the season. Credit an increased focus on conditioning in the off-season that he’s continued throughout the season. It’s certainly night and day compared to last season, when he battled a broken finger and a sore back.
"Last year, I was probably as banged up as I had [ever] been playing football," Romo said. "This year I’m physically healthy as I’ve ever been at this point of the season, so that’s exciting."
Clarence E. Hill Jr., 817-390-7760
By CLARENCE E. HILL JR.
chill@star-telegram.com
IRVING — So much for the talk of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo not playing well in the month of December.
Good-bye to the notion that he doesn’t play well in big games.
Romo is finally playing his best football when it matters most and has the Cowboys (9-5) two wins from the NFC East title and possibly a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Romo, however, has no time for reflections on how far he has come. And he wants no part of the instant evaluation.
He knows he ultimately will be judged on how he and the Cowboys do in the playoffs. With two games remaining, Sunday at the Washington Redskins (4-10) and the regular-season finale at home against the Philadelphia Eagles (10-4), Dallas easily could be left wanting again.
With the New York Giants (8-6) one game back and holding a tiebreaker advantage, the Cowboys could be sitting at home when the postseason begins if they don’t win out.
"The greatest enjoyment is improvement as a football team and obviously each individual tries to do that from season to season," Romo said. "But I don’t look back until after the season and say what did I not do as well to improve upon, and then you kind of get a season of those things. Right now it’s strictly about going forward. There’s nothing you look back on right now. That’s the only approach you can have, is to continue to try and reach your goals."
The goals for Romo and the Cowboys are to qualify for the postseason, win a playoff game for the first time in 13 years and reach — and win — the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1995 season.
It would be the culmination of a watershed season for Romo, shedding a label of America’s biggest tease to finally living up to the championship lineage as quarterback of America’s Team.
Romo certainly has taken steps in that direction over the past month as he is in the process of remaking his December legacy.
Before this year, Romo had a 14-19 touchdown-to-interception ratio in December to go with a 5-8 record since becoming the Cowboys’ full-time starter in 2006.
Over the past four games, including three in December, Romo has eight touchdowns and no interceptions. He has had four consecutive games with a passer rating of 100.0 or better. And he is in the midst of a career-best streak of 156 passes without an interception.
The Cowboys have a 2-2 record during the streak. But according to coach Wade Phillips, the two losses were not Romo’s fault.
"I think he is playing at a real high level," Phillips said. "He’s played really well. We lost the game against the Giants. We don’t lose many games when he plays well. He’s playing outstanding."
Reasons abound for his improvement, including a Romo-friendly, spread-the-wealth focus on offense that began with the jettisoning of divisive receiver Terrell Owens in the off-season.
Not only has Miles Austin emerged as the go-to receiver in place of the disappointing Roy Williams, but the Cowboys have continued through the season to get more players involved in the offense.
Tight end Jason Witten leads the team with 82 receptions for 837 yards, followed by Austin with 65 catches for 1,138 yards and 11 touchdowns. In total, 12 players have caught passes for the Cowboys this season, including eight with 12 or more receptions. Consider that rookie free agent Kevin Ogletree, for example, replaced Williams for a number of snaps in the 24-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Saturday and stands to get more playing time.
Said Romo: "[Offensive coordinator] Jason Garrett does a great job as far as personnel changes that we use throughout a football game. Not a lot of teams use varying personnel grouping that we use. A lot of that has to do with why so many people catch the ball."
Romo is also more comfortable in Garrett’s system after three years. That Romo’s turnovers are down is an indication that the attention placed on improving his ball security in the off-season and during the season has taken hold. With seven of his passes intercepted this season, he is on pace for a career low. After four interceptions in the first four games, including three against the Giants in Week 2, he has been intercepted three times in the past 10 games.
Even more impressive to Phillips is that Romo is doing it while averaging more than 8 yards an attempt. His ability to continue to make plays downfield while not turning the ball over is a sure sign of his growth, Phillips said.
"It’s unrealistic to think you’re going 16 games without throwing an interception, but that’s the goal," Romo said. "The goal each week is to not give the other team an advantage with the ball in bad situations. The importance of the ball matters.
"For me, I’m seeing it, I’m doing some things a little differently that I’m not going to tell you. But they’ve helped me to minimize certain decisions that I’ve made in the past and that’s part of growing up and being experienced on the football field."
Another factor is that Romo is as healthy as he has ever been this late in the season. Credit an increased focus on conditioning in the off-season that he’s continued throughout the season. It’s certainly night and day compared to last season, when he battled a broken finger and a sore back.
"Last year, I was probably as banged up as I had [ever] been playing football," Romo said. "This year I’m physically healthy as I’ve ever been at this point of the season, so that’s exciting."
Clarence E. Hill Jr., 817-390-7760