Who Is To Blame for Dallas' Choking?

By Derek Lofland

The lopsided loss to the Eagles on Sunday, in a crucial showdown, was probably the most embarrassing football game I have ever seen.

If I were part of the Dallas Cowboy community; whether that be as a player, coach, owner, secretary, or fan, I would be absolutely embarrassed by what happened on Sunday.

For those of you that didn’t stick around to see the slaughter, the Cowboys lost the Eagles, 44-6. As a result, the Eagles made the playoffs as the No. 6 seed and the Cowboys finished at 9-7, one-half game out of the playoffs.

There is so much blame to go around I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s start with Tony Romo.

The quarterback gets the credit when things go well, and he gets the blame when things go badly. Tony Romo is in the prime of his career. This isn’t a rookie or a 39-year-old player.

He led the Cowboys to a 1-3 record in December. In those three losses, he didn’t have a rating over 70.0. In December, Romo went 84 for 150 with a 56.0 completion percentage, 889 passing yards, five touchdown passes, six interceptions, and a 67.9 QB rating.

In addition to those numbers, he had three lost fumbles. In Week 16 and 17, all they had to do was win a game to get in the playoffs. They did not deliver and that falls on Romo.

The initial reaction is going to be to get rid of Tony Romo. Trade him for a draft pick, take a first rounder like Atlanta and Baltimore did, and make a playoff run. That’s easier said than done.

Romo has a huge cap number and cutting him would be catastrophic. Also, at the end of the day Romo has a career QB rating of 94.7. While he has his faults, there is still time for him to turn this around and the Cowboys would be well served to give him another chance, despite the fact that he came up short in December for a third consecutive year.

They could do a lot worse without Tony Romo.

The person that has to go is the person that deserves the most blame.

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