Dallas Cowboys: Tony Sparano Would Save Faltering Career of Tony Romo

The Dallas Cowboys would be doing quarterback Tony Romo a huge favor if they can bring former Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano onto their staff.

At this point in his career, I dare say Romo needs all the help he can get.

Let's just be honest about Romo: He's a huge disappointment, especially if you're a Cowboys fan.

Deny it all you want, but I know deep down inside the heart of every Cowboys fan is a hopeful spring of life that is the thought of a drama-free, Romo-free season.

Statistically, he's a good NFL quarterback. In 99 career games, he's gone 1,672-of-2,592 for a completion percentage of 64.5 and a quarterback rating of 96.9. He's accumulated 20,834 yards and 149 touchdowns, but has also thrown for 72 interceptions, 10 coming this season.

He's well above average, and some believe that he hovers around great. Great may be too strong of a word to describe Romo, though.

Greatness implies something that goes beyond statistics. It implies a certain "it factor".

We all know what i'm talking about, so we also know that this "it factor" is something that cannot be explained.

For as much as we can't explain it, though, we can easily recognize when it's not there.

Romo doesn't have the "it factor".

He throws far too many untimely interceptions, seems to have mental lapses and errors in judgement and he has a horrible time staying healthy.

He also can't come up clutch when it matters the most, and that's the playoffs. This year, he couldn't even get his team in despite a horrendously weak division.

Romo doesn't fit the bill for greatness.

This doesn't mean he can't be an adequate NFL quarterback, though, as not all Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks were legendary (hello, Trent Dilfer).

This is something the Cowboys need to recognize. 

Romo isn't able to carry this team on his back, so it needs to give him all the help he can get. Personnel on the field is important, but so is the right coaching staff. 

With that in mind, Cowboys fans should be thrilled by this tweet from ESPN's Matt Mosley:

A potential offensive line coach that has experience with the Cowboys and as a head coach in the NFL?

That sounds good.

Like it or not, Romo has some injury concerns. Granted, he's an NFL quarterback, which means he gets hit for a living, but there is no doubting that he gets hurt more than you would like to see.

The Cowboys gave up 39 sacks this season, and Romo played hurt for quite a bit of it.

While Sparano may not have the best experience as a head coach, he has a ton of experience as an offensive line coach, and spent some time with the Cowboys as the tight end coach and assistant team coach, and even called the offense in 2006.

He knows the Cowboys and he knows offense. Most importantly, he understands the offensive line.

The Cowboys need to protect Romo and put him in the best position to succeed, and bringing Sparano on staff would be a big step.

Romo's not a great quarterback. It's time to accept that.

His career is far from over, but right now it's fair to say that it's faltering. Things aren't going as planned, and right now the light at the end of the tunnel is dim.

All is not lost, though, as the light gets a little bit closer if Dallas can bring in Sparano.

They need to do it for their organization and fans.

Most of all, they need to do it for Romo.