MacMahon: Is running game reason for Romo's poor playoff record?

[Cotton]

Is running game reason for Romo's poor playoff record?

August, 23, 2013

By Tim MacMahon | ESPNDallas.com


Put in the historical context of Cowboys’ championship teams, Roger Staubach’s point aboutTony Romo needing a better running game is right on.

Fact: The Cowboys have never won a Super Bowl without a top-five rushing offense.

Staubach and Troy Aikman had the luxury of working behind dominant offensive lines and sharing the backfield with fellow Hall of Famers in Tony Dorsett and Emmitt Smith. (The Cowboys didn’t have a Hall of Fame running back on their first title team, but Duane Thomas, Calvin Hill and Walt Garrison formed a heck of a committee.)

Here’s a quick look the Dallas running game’s NFL rankings during the Cowboys’ championship seasons:

1971 – 3rd
1977 – 4th
1992 – 5th
1993 – 2nd
1995 – 2nd

By contrast, Romo has never quarterbacked a team with a top-five rushing offense. The only time the Cowboys ranked among the top 10 rushing offenses during his tenure as a starter just so happens to be the lone season in which the franchise won a playoff game over the last 16 seasons.

The Cowboys’ rushing ranks in the Romo era:

2006 – 13th
2007 – 17th
2008 – 21st
2009 – 7th
2010 – 16th
2011 – 18th
2012 – 31st

So Romo has only had a running game good enough to contend for the Super Bowl once, right? Not so fast. The Cowboys’ rushing offense has ranked higher than the Super Bowl champions’ four times during Romo’s tenure. The Giants won the Super Bowl two seasons ago despite ranking dead last in the league in rushing.

The Super Bowl winners’ rushing offense rank over the last seven seasons:

2006 Indianapolis Colts – 18th
2007 New York Giants – 4th
2008 Pittsburgh Steelers – 23rd
2009 New Orleans Saints – 6th
2010 Green Bay Packers – 24th
2011 New York Giants – 32nd
2012 Baltimore Ravens – 11th

The game has changed since the Cowboys’ glory years. It certainly helps to have a good running game, but it’s far from a prerequisite for winning a Super Bowl.

Now, more than ever, the NFL is a quarterback’s league. The lack of a quality running game might be a reason (or an excuse) for Romo’s lack of playoff success, but his peers have found a way to overcome the same problem in recent years.

 

[Smitty]

Of course that is partly the problem.

 

[jester]

Of course that is partly the problem.

Hmmmm. Romo running for his life and no running game. Tough to figure out.

 

[Cotton]

Cowboys' run game still work in progress

August, 23, 2013

By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com


IRVING, Texas – Remember that feeling coming out of the Hall of Fame Game that the Cowboys made good on their quest to be more dedicated to the running game in 2013?

Turns out maybe not so much. At least not yet anyway.

After running the ball 34 times against Miami in Canton, Ohio, the Cowboys have just 36 rushes in the last two games against Oakland and Arizona, and they have picked up just 114 yards on those carries. Against the Raiders the Cowboys ran 20 times for 70 yards. Against the Cardinals, they had 44 yards on 16 carries. DeMarco Murray has 22 yards on seven carries in two games.

With Tony Romo having missed the offseason because of surgery to remove a cyst from his back, perhaps the Cowboys wanted to focus on the passing game in his first two games of work.

“You want to have balance,” coach Jason Garrett said, “There’s no design to say every time Tony is out there we’ll throw it. We want to have balance every time we break the huddle.”

It’s a little concerning that the first-team offensive line has not been able to get much push despite more playing time than their first-team skill players.

On Saturday, the Cowboys could trot out their fourth different starting line in four preseason games if Doug Free lines up at right guard, Jermey Parnell at right tackle andMackenzy Bernadeau moved to left guard.

There have been run plays called that were turned into passing plays by Romo because of the fronts that the Raiders and Cardinals showed before the snap. Garrett acknowledged it could be possible the Cowboys stick with the running calls more even if it would face an uphill battle based on the defensive design.

“I think sometimes you do that,” Garrett said. “Sometimes you do that in the regular season. If you’re trying to get something accomplished within a game, you might kind of abandon some of those implementation ideas you have in a typical game. But I don’t that that’s unique to the preseason. Sometimes you just want to run the football, and you can handle the front even though the numbers might not be great. We have to do some of that. We’ve done that before. We got to keep doing that.”

 

[Cotton]

Interesting how he had one of his best years when the defense was top notch.

 

[jester]

Interesting how he had one of his best years when the defense was top notch.

It's simple. A good defense gives the offense more opportunities, allows the offense to be more aggressive, and at times a shorter field.

 

[boozeman]

I honestly think this year's defense gives Romo a better chance, if...if...this Ratliff/Spencer gambit pays off...which I have grave doubts that it does.

He's going to be the Good Tony/Bad Tony we always know though. He's not going to change with a better running game or defense. He's still going to be reckless at times.

 

[jester]

Controlling the Jekyll/Hyde Romo is where I am hoping Callahan's influence comes into play. A consistently productive running game along with a Oline with the bar set to Federick's standard which prevents Romo from having to be in a situation where he feels he's forced to make plays.


Romo needs to be turned into a bus driver.

 

[Clay_Allison]

Controlling the Jekyll/Hyde Romo is where I am hoping Callahan's influence comes into play. A consistently productive running game along with a Oline with the bar set to Federick's standard which prevents Romo from having to be in a situation where he feels he's forced to make plays.


Romo needs to be turned into a bus driver.

Romo will never be a bus driver, but putting him through defensive driving class wouldn't hurt.

 

[L.T. Fan]

The poor playoff record belongs to the entire team and coaching staff.. The inference that Romo is so let responsible is slanted.

 

[jester]

Agreed. Romo will never be a bus driver. His capabilities are greater than that, but the sting is, that which makes him great also is his liability.