Can we now officially call Romo a choke artist?

[Schneed10]

One of the things that never gets measured in a QB's numbers, at least not the traditional ones we look at (18-36 for 201 yards, one TD, one INT), is the sacks and sack yards he takes. Romo's got a bad habit of retreating from the rush and taking huge sacks kind of like Eli has done. Romo put his team into several 2nd and 20s in the 4th quarter yesterday by failing to get rid of the ball or failing to minimize the sack yardage he lost on the play.

When you're in the heat of the moment, someone with toughness and courage stands in and says "If I'm getting sacked, I'm going to stare them in the face as they're hitting me. Bring it on." Someone without leadership, who plays anxiously and frantically (and possibly a little fearfully), will retreat from the rush at times, and make bad decisions at others.

Tom Brady is the former. Tony Romo is the latter.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

C'mon Schneed. The O-line was getting manhandled. The center kept screwing up. You can't blame him for getting frustrated with the O-line. I've seen Farve get on his guys for running the wrong routes. But it's funny when Farve does it it's leadership. Romo could have played better. No doubt about it. But it didn't seem like he was getting much help.

Can anyone around here actually give the NYG some credit?? 9 straight road wins in the NFL is just ridiculous.

Just like Schneed said, have you watched him this whole December? It wasn't just the Giants game. It was every game this December. He just hasn't played well.

When TO is out you see exactly how vital he is to making Tony look a LOT better than he is.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

C'mon Schneed. The O-line was getting manhandled. The center kept screwing up. You can't blame him for getting frustrated with the O-line. I've seen Farve get on his guys for running the wrong routes. But it's funny when Farve does it it's leadership. Romo could have played better. No doubt about it. But it didn't seem like he was getting much help.

Can anyone around here actually give the NYG some credit?? 9 straight road wins in the NFL is just ridiculous.

Yeah they were not keeping guys off Romo, true. But step up and take a 5 yard sack, don't run back and take a 10 yard one. And don't commit intentional grounding. And don't bitch at your offensive line in the middle of the game - exactly what does that accomplish?

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by coggs

"The Cowboys did not choke. The Giants choked them..."-Mike Vaccaro, NY Post

I agree with this. The Giants won this game.

Romo's not a choke artist BECAUSE of this game. But he is a choke artist because he's so lousy coming down the stretch, and he's shown a tendency to get nervous and frantic in key moments of games (dropping the snap in Seattle - nerves), intentional grounding penalties against NYG (not thinking because he's not poised).

[SouperMeister]

Originally Posted by GMScud

I think it's about time QB Romeo stops with the little shit-eating grin he's always sporting and gets serious. He had an awful second half.

I don't know if we can call him a choke artist. I mean, the botched FG hold last year was awful, but hats off to Giants DC Spagnolo for his halftime adjustments. The Cowpukes could only muster 3 second half points, and the Giants got tons of pressure of QB Romeo after he went untouched in the 1st half.

Yep, "Smiley Boy" Romo wasn't hasn't been all smiles for over a month now. Czaban called it best about a month back - Romo is a fine QB when the offense is humming - all smiles and fun. But when the offense is in crisis, we'll see whether Romo can provide true leadership. Smiley Boy showed his true colors yesterday.

[killromo]

Yeah he's a choker; flash in the pan. Hopefully the media will stop blowing him now and jessica will dump his ass. On the other hand how about TO's postgame interview? I think he needs to be put on suicide watch this offseason.

[BleedBurgundy]

Originally Posted by killromo

Yeah he's a choker; flash in the pan. Hopefully the media will stop blowing him now and jessica will dump his ass. On the other hand how about TO's postgame interview? I think he needs to be put on suicide watch this offseason.

That's hilarious.

[redskinsfanatic]

other than not throwing the ball away instead of taking a sack,i thought romo played well.his wrs played like they could'nt find their asses with both hands and a telescope though.maybe it's just me,but i hate the giants almost as bad as i do dallas,and i hope green bay just beats the shit out of them sunday!

[jdlea]

I think calling the guy a choke artist after 2 playoffs starts is a little harsh. IMO, both of the games he lost were games that are understandable. The fashion in which they lost them is up for debate, but last year, on the road, they lose to a decent Seattle team. The fumbled snap could have happened to anyone, but it was pretty much all his fault. That's a given, and I honestly can't say I remember how he played in the Seattle game, but that is what most people are going to remember. It is something that shouldn't have happened, but it did and it cost them the game.

As for yesterday, I think a lot of that loss does go on Romo for losing his cool, but that's about as far as I take it as for blaming him. If Patrick Crayton had made that catch over the middle, it changes the entire complexion of the game. If the Dallas defense makes a stop at the end of the first half, I don't think the Giants recover. If Romo got much protection at all during the second half of that game, he probably would have been able to go to work. That was very much a team loss and Dallas (the entire team) didn't look like the team they were early in the year.

Also, it's always tough to beat a divisional opponent, particularly in the NFC East. It's also tough to beat the same team 3 times in one season, those two things alone had me picking the Cowboys to lose the game yesterday. It was gonna be a tough game and the Giants outplayed them overall when it came to making critical plays.

As far as playing poorly down the stretch, I'm not sure what to attribute that to. However, it is consistent with last season when Romo started to look pedestrian. I think the guy is a very good QB in this league, it may take him a while to mature in the playoffs, but the kid can play. I just hope he continues this trend because I never want to see them hoist another Lombardi trophy in big D.

[SC Skins Fan]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Yeah they were not keeping guys off Romo, true. But step up and take a 5 yard sack, don't run back and take a 10 yard one. And don't commit intentional grounding. And don't bitch at your offensive line in the middle of the game - exactly what does that accomplish?

No one is happier to see Romo fail than me, but I guess you've also got to consider that his scrambling and improvising back there in the pocket has also resulted in some pretty big plays this year as well. Right now that is his game and you've got to live and die with it (for now). As he gets older (and slower) that will have to change. He almost got away a couple of times even towards the end of the Giants game, the problem at the end was that the Giants had 3 and 4 guys coming at him in waves rather than just one guy getting free. Have to give the credit to the Giants defense, they really played well, especially at the end when the stopped the Cowboys even when they had good field positions and multiple opportunities to win the game.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't call Romo a choke artist, anymore than I would call JC a choke artist. When you are playing from behind it becomes more likely that you're going to make a mistake (unless you're one of the all-time greats).

T.O.'s tearful presser notwithstanding, I would be concerned if my QB was hanging out with a pop star in Mexico rather than prepping for the game in his down time before a divisional playoff game. That's not just the media, that's an indication of how seriously you take the game. I also heard some Cowboys were at the National Championship game on Monday night. Not that they lost the game because of those things, but in a close matchup any little edge could help. You've got the offseason for those things.

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Yeah they were not keeping guys off Romo, true. But step up and take a 5 yard sack, don't run back and take a 10 yard one. And don't commit intentional grounding. And don't bitch at your offensive line in the middle of the game - exactly what does that accomplish?

I don't have a problem with him bitching at the line. I've seen alot of QB's do that. Hell, Collins was bitching out Sellers right on the field for messing up. That shit happens all the time. The other stuff is just his style of play. He's not a stand in the pocket and stare down the rush kind of guy. He's more of a street ball type of guy. He tries to run around and make plays. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

I'm not sticking up for the guy. He made his share of mistakes. No doubt about it. I just hate it when people seem to blame one guy when it's the whole team that lost the game.

All QB's do some stupid shit when they've been knocked around by 280lb strong as hell NFL DE's. Look at Collins last week? He didn't look like the same guy we'd seen the previous weeks when the line was protecting him did he?

[coggs]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

I agree. He was rattled. But I don't see many QB's in the NFL that don't get rattled when they are under pressure. No question he screwed up. But what about Dallas getting beat on special teams? Allowing two big returns that set up NYG scores? All the blame gets thrown to Romo. He should get some blame but to call him a choker is just going too far.

Agreed. Crayton dropped 2 passes, one which probably would have been a TD in the 2nd half. Owens dropped 2 passes. Then the special teams. After the cowb!tches went up 17-14, the Giants returned the kick to mid-field. Giants got a first down and Ware had the huge sack. B!tches got the ball back and the punt coverage let them down.

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

Just like Schneed said, have you watched him this whole December? It wasn't just the Giants game. It was every game this December. He just hasn't played well.

When TO is out you see exactly how vital he is to making Tony look a LOT better than he is.

TO is one of the best WR's of all time. If he misses any amount of time of course it's going to hurt the offense and the QB. If Randy Moss misses time in NE no way do they score as many points w/out him.

[QBall]

Yeah he's the worst. After that loss he said he felt comfortable in his own skin and confident in his decisions.

Then you have poor (Forest Gump) Wade Phillips with 30 seconds left and Vulture Owner Jones breathing down his neck. It reminded me off that funny schene in Goodfellas where Joe Pesci hits the guy in the head with a bottle in the restaurant after he emabarrassed Joe about owing money for the check.

Dallas has no playoff win for 12 straight years!!

[onlydarksets]

Originally Posted by coggs

Agreed. Crayton dropped 2 passes, one which probably would have been a TD in the 2nd half. Owens dropped 2 passes. Then the special teams. After the cowb!tches went up 17-14, the Giants returned the kick to mid-field. Giants got a first down and Ware had the huge sack. B!tches got the ball back and the punt coverage let them down.

Fasano let one hit him the chest in the endzone, too. At first it looked like the Gints secondary got a hand on it to break it up, but the replay clearly showed he just missed it.