QB Controversy Thread...

Simpleton

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My concern is what happens when we lose a game, because we aren't going 15-1, nor do I really want us to.

It would be a travesty if they throw Romo in there just because we lose a game after winning 9 or 10 in a row. If we lose 2 out of 3 and Dak really struggles, then I get it, but you run the risk of pissing off the entire locker room if Prescott is pulled after one loss and we're sitting at 11-1 or something.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I'd still play Romo as well, although the point is moot now.
So are you also in the category that you don't care what Dak does, you'd put Romo back in? I mean Dak is now doing something that Romo has never even done. I'm not sure how anyone could justify wanting Romo to play right now.
 

L.T. Fan

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I didn't say we'd make it to the SB, simply that we could make it.....and we can.

And who suggested we'd "level" everyone in the NFC?

And what is with this insistence on the backup QB situation that you keep going on about? You know who else doesn't have a good backup QB situation? Seattle, Atlanta, Philly, NYG, Arizona, etc.

Newsflash -- Every single team we'd have a chance to face in the playoffs would all be screwed if their QB went down.

This season isn't and won't be determined by our backup QB, it'll be determined by the ability to continue our current level of play into January.
If a team makes it to the Super bowl they will have to level everyone in the playoffs and that is the best of the conference. The depth problems aren't at the QB position now it with the defense.
 

Texas Ace

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If a team makes it to the Super bowl they will have to level everyone in the playoffs and that is the best of the conference. The depth problems aren't at the QB position now it with the defense.
:lol

What?

You and I must have a different understanding of what it means to "level" someone.

That to me means that you pummel them and dominate them. And the Cowboys don't need to be able to do that.

They simply need to be able to win close games against tough teams, and they've already shown us they can do that.
 

L.T. Fan

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:lol

What?

You and I must have a different understanding of what it means to "level" someone.

That to me means that you pummel them and dominate them. And the Cowboys don't need to be able to do that.

They simply need to be able to win close games against tough teams, and they've already shown us they can do that.
It's possible we have different meanings. To me it means knocking every team over to get to the championship. Like a bowling alley if you will.
 

Smitty

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So are you also in the category that you don't care what Dak does, you'd put Romo back in? I mean Dak is now doing something that Romo has never even done. I'm not sure how anyone could justify wanting Romo to play right now.
You aren't sure because you are being narrow minded.

I at least understand your perspective even if I don't agree.
 

p1_

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Sturm: With Cowboys' win in an instant classic, Dak Prescott proves his time is now

By Bob Sturm , Special contributor

That is why we follow the sport. That Cowboys-Steelers game is one of the few that will stick out when you look back at any season. To know a classic from just another Sunday, you ask yourself if you will remember this day in a decade.

Well, as far as I am concerned, I am going to go out on a limb and suggest you will remember where you were when the Cowboys, led by their rookies (again), walked into Pittsburgh, traded body-blows and haymakers for three hours, and then left with the coveted win.

This was not your typical win. This was an extraordinary back-and-forth effort that will be given the "instant classic" label and perhaps require a second viewing over watching Monday Night Football this week.

Pittsburgh threw a lot at the Cowboys and got superb efforts from many -- including their star QB Ben Roethlisberger, not to mention Le'Veon Bell and Antoino Brown who all were able to do some pretty impressive things in a home game where they needed to stop the bleeding to their season. They rallied the troops and whipped their home crowd into a frenzy. It was a late game on a November afternoon where the whole football nation would be locked in, wondering if this upstart squad from Dallas was worth all of the hype.

Indeed.

Oh, sure, there were many things the Cowboys could have done better on this day in Pittsburgh. There is no doubt that the defense has to be better and that the health of their secondary was exposed when Roethlisberger threw for over 400 yards and had the team backed up against the wall as the Steelers took the lead in the final minute. It was the first time a Cowboys opponent had passed for 400 yards in the Rod Marinelli era (since 2014). In fact, it reminded us of that Monte Kiffin year in 2013 when Dallas allowed 400 yards three different times to Matthew Stafford and both Manning brothers.

The offense found itself getting a bit frustrated because it could not put much together in the first half beyond an unbelievable 83-yard screen play where Dak Prescott timed a throw to Ezekiel Elliott, who then hit the turbo and followed a convoy of the two guards and the center who were clearing out Steelers in the path. Elliott needed one last nudge from Terrance Williams at midfield and it was over. This young talent can take any play to the end zone, and this one quickly served notice to those in attendance that this was going to be a ballgame. That pulled a 12-3 game back to 12-10, and the afternoon of intrigue was underway.

This season continues to be about a player who has yet to even play a snap -- Tony Romo. He helped lay the foundation for this season and so many people in these parts regard Romo as the only hero at QB they have ever known. There is nothing like your first love, and if you are a Cowboys fan of a certain age, you may only go back to the very end of Aikman, all the retreads in between, and that glorious day when they finally put Tony into the game in 2006. Since then, you have been debating people on his behalf against Eli Manning or Donovan McNabb and were certain the Cowboys had their version that, simply lacking the appropriate supporting cast to ever go as far as he deserved.

Now, just as it appears his help has come, it also appears his time is vanishing. Football isn't about fair. It is about seizing whatever moment you have, because the future is not promised. And this makes the "Romo loyalist" uncomfortable. Instead of enjoying this remarkable surprise that has been dropped in Dallas -- the dynamic duo of a rookie RB and a rookie QB who together look to be too much for opponents to deal with in their first few months together and a promise of a new exciting era that could be awfully special -- the Romo loyalist is looking for details that make a win in Pittsburgh less impressive from a QB standpoint.

They point to missed throws. They point to Zeke as an unfair advantage. They want their guy back as soon as possible because this new guy is just on a hot streak. Surely, you aren't suggesting Romo is not better than this guy, Bob.

I really don't get it.

Dak Prescott just stood tall and dueled against Roethlisberger on his turf. You may recall he just did the same with Aaron Rodgers on his turf. The last thing this guy needs is people to make excuses for him. Prescott is busy beating blitzes and staring down linebackers to make throws to move the chains. I don't think he needs to answer about the details along the way.

This sport is amazingly difficult, and the way the Cowboys executed in the second half and down the stretch of that game to pull a win out in the most hostile of circumstances was something that Aikman, Romo, or just about any QB should be proud of. A win in Pittsburgh in the Roethlisberger era is a rare treat for a road QB, let alone a rookie QB.

And let's not undersell the degree of difficulty.

Late in the third Quarter, the Cowboys faced a third-and-1, but just when you thought Elliott had moved the chains, Ron Leary was flagged for a holding that made it a third-and-11 from midfield. They were down 18-16 at the time, and they were now well out of field goal range. So, your options are to play it safe and punt or to trust your rookie to decode the blitz and find the right place to go to try to extend the drive. In other words, this is asking a rookie QB to pass a test that franchise QBs are expected to pass.

The Steelers sent their best pressure in a layered attack. Both inside linebackers and a safety head up the middle to try to get Prescott. Then, two of the front will fade back into the shallow passing lanes, because a rookie QB will dump it short and they can get an easy interception if they step in the path. Lance Dunbar was asked to step in front of the truck that is Ryan Shazier and just push him enough to let Prescott slide over.

Here is the moment. Prescott is doing the calculations in his head. He knows they can't send a safety and have anything beyond Cover 1 behind it.

That means if he spots the safety that he can throw away from it into a safe spot. He has to buy a split-second as chaos happens around him. He now knows that Dez Bryant is the best option and he lays out a pass to Bryant that flies 50 yards in the air and lands right on the stride. It couldn't have been more perfect. Touchdown.

It required pocket presence, astute reads, and the a perfect throw. There are many ways to screw that up against a big blitz on third-and-11 in a game that is on the road in a loud stadium.

Instead, it gave the Cowboys a lead. This kid is good.

Again, I think it bears pointing out another time that this isn't about Prescott alone. It is about what the coaching staff tells us about him. There seems to be no harness where they pull back and ask him not to try this throw or this situation. This conservative coaching staff appears to no longer believe in conservatism. They have crossed the aisle into aggressiveness and going for the throat. What better example than that moment late in the fourth quarter?

Down 24-23, they are squarely in field goal range. Second-and-2 turns into third-and-8 when Shazier blows up a running play. We are also one play from the two-minute warning. The Jason Garrett I know plays it safe and asks Dan Bailey to give his team the lead, even if he knows that Roethlisberger will not fear a 2-point margin with another chance at the ball.

Instead, they allow this rookie to make a throw on third-and-8 and perhaps risk the entire game on his arm and decision. How does he repay that faith?

Steelers send pressure, Cowboys put five receivers out. Easy math. Five Pitt rushers and five Dallas receivers means that the Steelers can only be in one coverage. It also means that he won't have long to get the ball out. Single-high, man under. So, Prescott waits for Jason Witten to get to the top of his stem on that Y-Option, has Shazier pinned to the inside and heads to the sideline where Prescott puts the pass right on his hands at the sticks.

That is a big-boy throw and a great catch. It likely converted the game from a loss to a win, although so much happened after that.

Roethlisberger did drive the Steelers down, but also might have scored too soon.

One last test for the two rookies was getting the ball into Bailey's range in just 42 seconds from the Dallas 25.

It might have been more complicated had the Steelers not generously grabbed two facemasks. We will never know if Bailey was going to make a long kick, because, of course, Zeke had one more absurd run left in him. Touchdown Cowboys.

Game. Set. Match. 8-1.

I am really out of explanations or descriptions. All I know is this train continues to not only roll, but to accelerate. I also know that Cowboys fans are split right now on how they feel about who is playing and who is under a blanket on the bench.

But, given that this is my 19th year covering this team, I will confirm that special seasons are increasingly rare around here.

I recommend getting on board. This team is very good and looks like they will have a thing or two to say about who is holding the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the year.

It would be a shame to waste this run with bickering about who isn't playing. Trust me, the coaches clearly believe in who is on the field right now. And if they have bought in, you might as well, too.

The writing is all over the walls and the field.

The future appears to be now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

:towel
 

Genghis Khan

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Not much chance a guy who made 100 million dollars and has a young family is going to want to put in 18 hour coaching days 7 months a year.
 

Genghis Khan

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So are you also in the category that you don't care what Dak does, you'd put Romo back in? I mean Dak is now doing something that Romo has never even done. I'm not sure how anyone could justify wanting Romo to play right now.
No, I think there's a point of no return that we've probably reached or soon will. Projecting out, I think chances are greater that it was the wrong decision, but there's also a chance that it was the right decision, and there's also the chance that there's no wrong decision. We'll see.
 

mcnuttz

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Not much chance a guy who made 100 million dollars and has a young family is going to want to put in 18 hour coaching days 7 months a year.
I've always figured he'd slide right into perfecting his golf game and try to join the PGA.
 

Cowboysrock55

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You aren't sure because you are being narrow minded.

I at least understand your perspective even if I don't agree.
If your argument was, you don't lose your starting job because of injury, I can respect the opinion. I disagree with it but at least I can understand it.

But I don't think it's narrow minded to think that some opinions are so ridiculous and off the wall that they should be dismissed in entirety.
 

boozeman

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Thu Nov. 17, 2016

Inside the Dallas Decision

By Albert Breer

Last week, finally healthy, Tony Romo expressed to the Cowboys brass a desire to fight for the job he now could acknowledge wouldn’t be just handed back to him.

And then, he went out and backed it up by having as good a week as possible piloting a scout team. According to those there, 100 percent is selling it short. “He looked like [Ben] Roethlisberger,” is how one Dallas source illustrated the Steelers look that Romo gave the Dallas defense in practice.

That was as good a sign as any that there really wasn’t anything Romo could do. The job he held for 10 years isn’t his anymore. And the idea that a red-hot Dallas team could open a quarterback competition in November was never realistic.


The 2016 Cowboys are Dak Prescott’s team. Officially now, and not just for Sunday’s showdown against the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens.

And Romo isn’t the only person who finds the conclusion hard to accept.


Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his son Stephen Jones are exceptionally close to their quarterback, who has been a Cowboy for longer than Troy Aikman was. My sense all along was the exhilaration of an eight-game winning streak was tempered by the increasingly obvious call looming on the horizon. So when I told Stephen Jones, the Cowboys’ chief operating officer, I’d heard Romo privately asked for the chance to wrest the job back, Jones acknowledged that with deference.

“Tony’s smart,” Jones said from his cellphone, in the middle of his Wednesday workday. “He’s very bright. And so when he came out and said it, in the end, I don’t think it took him long to figure that wouldn’t be a great thing for the team. We’ve got a good thing, and no one wants Dak looking over his shoulder.”

Elsewhere in this week’s Game Plan, we’ll hit on the Dolphins’ revival, the NFL’s return to Mexico City, a (likely) Heisman quarterback to watch this weekend, and Tom Brady returning to San Francisco—his first time playing in the home of the team he grew up cheering. And we’ll check on the Titans, and Jared Goff, too.

And yes, Peter King and Robert Klemko capably wrote about the Romo situation this week, so we’re tripling down on the Cowboys. But to me this is more than a quarterback change; it’s a seismic shift for a franchise that’s always on the marquee. The magnitude of the call, in fact, was largely why Dallas maintained a cross-that-bridge-when-we-come-to-it approach to the QB-of-the-future question.

That is over now too, officially. The Cowboys believe they have the answer.

“We’ve got supreme confidence that Dak is our future,” Jones said. “We’ve just seen too much. And you may say, ‘Well, it’s only been nine games.’ No, it’s the full body of work. And it’s not just on the field, it’s off the field too. It’s how he handles every situation—bringing us back down two scores in San Francisco; last week, he leads the game-winning drive twice in Pittsburgh; coming back against Philly.

“He keeps checking every box.”

You know how Prescott’s play has affected all this, as does everyone with two eyeballs and a cable subscription. What you might not know is why—beyond just what Prescott had put on tape—this decision fast became academic for Dallas.

That brings us back to Romo’s request, which is similar to what Drew Bledsoe wanted in 2001 when Tom Brady was seizing his spot. It was the chance to compete for the job. The truth? The idea isn’t realistic.

For the first nine game weeks of this season, Prescott has taken all the first-team reps with the exception of a half-dozen that go to Mark Sanchez, the healthy backup, at the end of each Friday practice, and even those six snaps are a concession to the ex-Jet/Eagle simply because he wasn’t with the team until September. The fact is, there’s a lot of work to do, and a finite time to do it.

In November, each snap a quarterback takes counts, and is built on what the team needs to do for the next game. It’s not a time for figuring out if that guy is the right one for the job. Jason Garrett said Wednesday he’d extend practices to get Romo a little more work than Sanchez got, but there really is only so much you can do.

“I think he understands that,” Jones said. “As a competitor, does he want it? Yes. He wouldn’t be in the NFL if he didn’t have that burning in his belly. He’s dying to get out there. And we talked all offseason, he’s never been this fired up about a team, he couldn’t wait. And now to see it work like he thought it would, and the team doing something special, and to want back in, that’s not selfish. It’s just hard. He’s tremendously unselfish, because he understands it.”

Prescott is the right fit for this group of Cowboys. He and Romo are very different types of leaders. Romo is more demonstrative. Prescott is more natural, which is one of the things Dallas loved about him in March and April, in how he handles teammates. Part of that, to be fair, is because Prescott is far closer in age to most of Dallas’s roster.

And for a franchise that went through the Greg Hardy dumpster fire in 2015, a year after a great locker-room mix was part of a 12-4 recipe, there’s an acknowledgement that a team’s chemistry can be fragile and first place is no time to upset the apple cart.

“Different people lead different ways,” said another Cowboys staffer. “Dak’s way is good now because we’re 8-1, just like Tony was the right leader for the 12-4 team. Different leadership works for different groups. Dak’s clearly right for this one.”

Now, could Romo potentially take Dallas to another level if they put him back in?

Based on how he looked last week and in camp, sure. There’s a belief internally that he could juice the downfield passing game, and the institutional knowledge of his 14 NFL seasons would help open up the team’s game-planning and make the offense more dangerous on third down and in the red zone.

But the risk of doing that far outweighs the reward, with the gap between what Romo could bring and what Prescott does bring closing by the week. All of which led to Romo, who’d been quiet around the team, baring his soul Tuesday.

After watching it, Jones explained his reaction like this: “Tremendous respect, and compassion. To me, that was the epitome of team. Everyone preaches team. That was the epitome of team first. He’s just tremendous competitor, and one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But at the same time, he respects what’s going on with the team. I can’t tell you much you respect the man.”

The cliché would be that this is, very much, a great problem to have. But Dallas saw the other side between the Romo and Aikman Eras. So the Cowboys know better.

“I wouldn’t call it a great problem. It’s a great situation,” Jones said. “It’s hard on Tony and everyone who loves Tony, and that’s this whole organization. But we’re all in on Dak. … Dak’s special as well. This is a great situation. This is the most depth we’ve ever had on a football team in the cap era. Every guy here believes it, and it’s been next man up. That started when Kellen [Moore] got hurt, and Dak went from 3 to 2.”

The Dallas COO said he hasn’t considered the possibility that Romo has thrown his last pass as a Cowboy, because he knows they may need him in the next few months as the team looks at a manageable finish to its schedule. He added, to that end, that he hasn’t thought past this year. (It’s logistically possible to keep Romo as the backup in 2017, though it’s hard to believe the 36-year-old would want that.)

What matters, for now, is the big question that’s hovered over the Cowboys for two months has clarity. And what once seemed to be a far-fetched conclusion has become the obvious one.
 

Cotton

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Great article.
 

Simpleton

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No, I think there's a point of no return that we've probably reached or soon will. Projecting out, I think chances are greater that it was the wrong decision, but there's also a chance that it was the right decision, and there's also the chance that there's no wrong decision. We'll see.
If we can flip him for a high pick or two then it's almost definitely the right decision.

Coming into this year almost all of us agreed Romo had no more than 2, maybe 3 years left at the most, but now when we decide to roll with a 23 year old QB who has us tied for the longest winning streak in Cowboys history and if we are able to get a good return for Romo it's a mistake?

I'm honestly curious to see what Romo could do, and I would definitely not release him, I'd even give him the chance to compete for the starting job in camp next season. But there is a distinct possibility that Romo is already done, I'm sure he still has the ability to make all the throws and mentally he's definitely all there, but what happens if he can't last more than 2-3 games in a row because he can't take hits?

The only risk is that he might be able to power through 2 more seasons and we are missing out on that opportunity, but if we are able to get a high pick or two for him that risk is definitely worth it.
 
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