Tony Romo Remains Viable Fantasy Starter Despite Poor Week 1 Performance

Another one of Tony Romo's head-shaking days has fantasy football managers questioning whether he deserves a spot in their starting lineup. Despite his frustrating performance against the San Francisco 49ers, the mercurial quarterback is still a credible option.

In the Dallas Cowboys' 28-17 loss, Romo offset his 281 passing yards by surrendering three interceptions. When everyone's favorite punching bag struggles, he struggles mightily. Per Numbers Never Lie's Twitter account, only one other quarterback has thrown as many three-interception games in the past eight years, and he has the protective shield of two Super Bowl rings.

Those infuriating lows create the perception that Romo is one of the NFL's most inaccurate gunslingers. Far from it. He gave away just 10 picks last year, never coughing up more than two in a game. In 2011, he also amassed 10 interceptions, but he fired a trio of turnovers once that year.

During the past three seasons, he threw 39 interceptions. Peyton Manning threw 38. Matt Ryan gave up 43. Drew Brees relinquished 45. Eli Manning was picked off 258 times. Wait, no, just 58. 

Romo gets all of his mistakes out of his system in bunches. Over the long haul, however, he's not a turnover burden. Interceptions are unpredictable anyway, so it's a poor method for chasing fantasy stars.

Instead, let's look at his 64.6 career completion percentage, which beats Tom Brady's mark. Or the fact that he has averaged 29 touchdowns and 13 interceptions per year over his past six healthy seasons.

Also, San Francisco boasts a tough defense that ranked No. 7 against the pass last season. Rather than blame the tough matchup, the 34-year-old told ESPN.com's Todd Archer that his timing was off after a long offseason.

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It comes down to one or two throws. What I found is just in some of those that the mental process that I was going through pre-snap in a lot of ways, my checklist and stuff, it's situation and understanding leading up to that week and over the course of the game. What can happen is you lose certain subtle things that need to continually be there beforehand. I think that comes with playing.

"

But before he can fully redeem himself, another brutal batch of opponents looms ahead. His toughest litmus test comes in Weeks 4, 5 and 6, when he'll face last season's top three passing defenses consecutively.  

Week	Opponent	Pass YDs Allowed/Game (2013)	Passing Def. Rank (2013)
4	New Orleans Saints	194.1	2
5	Houston Texans	195.2	3
6	at Seattle Seahawks	172.0	1

If Matt Ryan's 446-yard outburst proves to be more about the Atlanta Falcons' resurgence than the New Orleans Saints, have a Plan B in mind. Same goes for the Houston Texans, who held Robert Griffin III out of the end zone in Week 1.

Have another quarterback ready for his trip to Seattle. If Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers couldn't deliver a worthwhile outing against the Legion of Boom, there's no reason to bank on Romo doing so. After Peyton Manning gets a second crack at the Seahawks in Week 3, no quarterback should be trusted against them.

After that, though, Romo and his fantasy owners will be rewarded for their patience. He'll play six of his final 10 games against dreadful NFC East competition. Last season, the Philadelphia Eagles ranked No. 30 in passing defense, and the Washington Redskins placed No. 20.

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

While the New York Giants continued the pattern at No. 10, they inflated that mark against Josh Freeman, Scott Tolzien, Matt Barkley and Terrelle Pryor. Their true colors showed last Monday night against Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions.

A smart gamer will pounce on a downtrodden Romo owner after Week 5, buying low once the schedule clears. He's not perfect, but few passers are. 

When exiting the tier of must-start studs, weaknesses exist within everyone. Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick frequently don't pass enough on run-first offenses. Jay Cutler is prone to maddening off days just like Romo. Nick Foles' regression began with three turnovers of his own against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Even Brady stunk last weekend.

Romo can't carry the Cowboys on his back with a horrendous defense holding them down, and he can't guide a fantasy team to a championship team on his own either. If you drafted him, however, chances are you waited to fill every skill position first.

If you're loaded with talent elsewhere, Romo is good enough on most days to function as a successful squad's starting signal-caller. Everyone has a bad day now and then. Three misguided throws are not enough to abandon Romo this season.