MacMahon: Jerry Jones - Only a Super Bowl win can silence Tony Romo critics

Jerry Jones: Only a Super Bowl win can silence Tony Romo critics
January, 5, 2015

By Tim MacMahon | ESPNDallas.com

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The horde of Tony Romo haters have been hushed, at least temporarily.

The Dallas Cowboys' heavily scrutinized franchise quarterback followed up his phenomenal December, when he earned the NFL’s offensive player of the month honor, by doubling his career playoff victory total.

Despite taking six sacks, Romo completed 19 of 31 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in Sunday’s 24-20 win against the Detroit Lions. Romo had a passer rating of 114.0, a bit higher than his league-leading rating from the regular season.

Is that enough to get the critics off his back?

“I hope they see that he’s made some pretty impressive plays and had big games,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. “The only thing that will ever get them off his back totally would be to get that Super Bowl win. And I can tell him firsthand you can have Super Bowl wins and they’ll still get back on your back.”

With a laugh, Jones added, “So I don’t know that they ever permanently get off your back.”

Yes, Jones has been on the receiving end of a lot of wrath despite the fact that Dallas won three Super Bowl titles early in his tenure. Of course, that tends to happen if you’re the one constant during a span of one playoff win in 17 years.

That won’t be an issue for Romo.

“We know that for sure, don’t we?” Jones said.

Yup, he's right.

Only way his harshest critics will ever give him credit is if he wins a SB.

I really really hope he does it too.

Even if he did win a SB, it wouldn't go away.

It would be a lot like Flacco.

They would look at it like one amazing year, and then the next crucial interception that he threw is when the haters would come back.

I don't care about any of that, though. Just fucking win. I don't care if Romo throws 4 picks. Just win.

As an aside.. I don't understand how Eli Manning can still have that reputation of being so clutch and sure-fire HOF'er.


He throws worse picks than Romo and is way way way more unreliable and inconsistent.

Two SB wins or not, he's mediocre compared to Romo.

Along these lines...I think a guy like Peyton Manning, who has been great, does not have the legacy he once looked like he would have. Losing 2 SBs and previous failings don't put him up as high as Montana, Brady, Elway, etc...in my eyes.

Jwooten15 said:

As an aside.. I don't understand how Eli Manning can still have that reputation of being so clutch and sure-fire HOF'er.


He throws worse picks than Romo and is way way way more unreliable and inconsistent.

Two SB wins or not, he's mediocre compared to Romo.

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If you could pick Eli or Romo (this seasons Romo) in a one game or go home setup...I take Romo.

Not only does Eli look fucking retarded, he also has steadily regressed at the position since the SB wins.

UncleMilti said:

If you could pick Eli or Romo (this seasons Romo) in a one game or go home setup...I take Romo.

Not only does Eli look fucking retarded, he also has steadily regressed at the position since the SB wins.

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Agreed.

And while he looked good in his 2nd SB win, no one will ever convince me that he was a great HOF'er for the 1st. He rode a great defense and threw up a prayer that got answered when Tyree pinned a ball to his helmet.

He doesn't even stand that strong in the pocket. I distinctly remember a game against the Saints when the camera caught him flinching and throwing the ball with his eyes shut. I realize he's about to get whacked but a good QB has his eyes down field instead of on the pass rush.

Jwooten15 said:

Even if he did win a SB, it wouldn't go away.

It would be a lot like Flacco.

They would look at it like one amazing year, and then the next crucial interception that he threw is when the haters would come back.

I don't care about any of that, though. Just fucking win. I don't care if Romo throws 4 picks. Just win.

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I don't agree. He's already better than Flacco. Winning a Super Bowl vaults Romo up a couple notches.

mschmidt64 said:

I don't agree. He's already better than Flacco. Winning a Super Bowl vaults Romo up a couple notches.

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Not sure I agree with this...I think Flacco is underrated and asked to do things differently than Romo. Very different players, very effective in their scheme.

Carp said:

Not sure I agree with this...I think Flacco is underrated and asked to do things differently than Romo. Very different players, very effective in their scheme.

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Flacco is god-awful. He ran hot during one playoff run, outside of that he's a very average starting QB and the most overpaid player in the league not named Jay Cutler. I'd take Romo over Flacco in a heartbeat.

22cowboysfan22 said:

Flacco is god-awful. He ran hot during one playoff run, outside of that he's a very average starting QB and the most overpaid player in the league not named Jay Cutler. I'd take Romo over Flacco in a heartbeat.

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You are simply exaggerating. He is not god awful, just asked to do different things. He is paid what QBs are paid nowadays and has a track record of getting his team in the playoffs. That team is not exactly loaded with offensive talent and has not been for awhile. Propping another player is not cutting down Romo, so go ahead and untwist your panties.

I think Flacco's a poor man's Eli Manning. Durable, performs well in the clutch, prone to turnovers. Good enough, but not elite.
Ranking NFL quarterbacks at this moment, I think it goes:
Rodgers
Brady
Romo
Peyton
Brees
Luck
Roethlisberger
Flacco

townsend said:

I think Flacco's a poor man's Eli Manning. Durable, performs well in the clutch, prone to turnovers. Good enough, but not elite.
Ranking NFL quarterbacks at this moment, I think it goes:
Rodgers
Brady
Romo
Peyton
Brees
Luck
Roethlisberger
Flacco

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He is better than Eli...in his last 5 playoff starts he is 5-0, 13 TDs no ints, averaging 279 yards per game. Those are great numbers.

Carp said:

He is better than Eli...in his last 5 playoff starts he is 5-0, 13 TDs no ints, averaging 279 yards per game. Those are great numbers.

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eli had good numbers on his Super Bowl runs (though I doubt he had 0 ints).

Flacco is not god-awful. If the Ravens manage to make another run to the Super Bowl he'll have one more playoff win than Peyton Manning for his career and he'll be at minimum even with Peyton on Super Bowls.

I think fans and analysts severely overrate regular season performance for Quarterbacks. It's great to put up nasty numbers in October, but if the wheels fall off in the elimination games, it's all for naught.

Carp said:

Not sure I agree with this...I think Flacco is underrated and asked to do things differently than Romo. Very different players, very effective in their scheme.

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I respectfully disagree.

Thorn said:

Flacco is not god-awful. If the Ravens manage to make another run to the Super Bowl he'll have one more playoff win than Peyton Manning for his career and he'll be at minimum even with Peyton on Super Bowls.

I think fans and analysts severely overrate regular season performance for Quarterbacks. It's great to put up nasty numbers in October, but if the wheels fall off in the elimination games, it's all for naught.

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The thing about Flacco that bothers me is that he is capable of putting together some really bad performances. I'm not talking about Romo throwing 5 picks bad, I'm talking about not even being able to complete 40% of his passes bad. I'm talking about as bad of a QB rating as you can physically get bad. Flacco has some epically bad performances that you just don't see other top teir QBs really do.

I can't believe Jerry felt the need to spin a question about Romo's legacy into, "How'd ya like those 3 rings..."

On second thought, yeah I do believe it.

Jwooten15 said:

Even if he did win a SB, it wouldn't go away.

It would be a lot like Flacco.

They would look at it like one amazing year, and then the next crucial interception that he threw is when the haters would come back.

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Not really. Romo has the gaudy numbers and just needs the SB and he's in the Hall of Fame. Flacco, like Manning, has been average to good in the regular season, which offsets the postseason, but never both.

If the Cowboys win I'd even be willing to get off teh J's back - at least for a litle while