Dallas Cowboys: Is Tony Romo to Blame for Dez Bryant's Second-Half Production?

Tomorrow kicks off the dreaded month of December for Dallas Cowboys fans. It is the month when the media and fans alike put a magnifying glass on America’s Team to see if it can win late in the season.

To get through this month, it will be important for the chemistry between QB Tony Romo and WR Dez Bryant to be at its highest point.

Dez has made some spectacular catches and plays thus far in 2011, but he hasn’t been consistent for four quarters in a game.

Of his 38 catches this season, 26 of them have been in the first half—that’s over 68 percent of his receptions. Dez is obviously getting hot early in games, but for some reason, he isn’t getting the targets or catches in the second half.

So, who’s to blame?

ESPN’s Bryan Broaddus believes it’s on Dez for not running the appropriate routes.

In a recent article, he writes, “If you are a receiver and you know what your responsibility is and you are carrying out that responsibility, he (Romo) will find a way to get you the ball. Run poor routes, blow assignments...he will find someone who is doing the right thing.”

I don’t think this can be emphasized enough: A receiver and quarterback MUST be on the same page.

This isn’t your Thanksgiving pickup game that you play every year with the guys. Playing quarterback in those games is easy—find the open guy, and throw to him.

But what Romo (and any NFL quarterback) needs is trust that his receiver will be on the spot that he’s suppose to be on when Romo is ready to throw the ball. If Romo has pressure, or is forced to go through his progression, he needs Dez to be exactly where the play is designed for him to be.

Could you imagine having Brian Orakpo breathing down your neck while you’re trying to locate a receiver because he decided to run the wrong route?

You’ll hear coaches say that coverages are changing, and they are playing Dez closer in the second half, but I don’t believe it.

Look at Laurent Robinson’s stats. He too has 38 catches this season. Eighteen catches in the first half and 20 in the second half.

So, why aren’t teams game-planning him? I surely would try to limit a guy who has caught a touchdown in five straight games.

It seems to me that this is another case of Romo just trusting some receivers over others.

Romo has been heard telling QB coach Wade Wilson that he had Bryant open in the loss to the Patriots, but simply decided not to throw it to him.

“He got outside, and I got off him at the last second. You see that?” Romo said to head coach Jason Garrett and quarterbacks coach Wilson on the sideline, a moment captured by NFL Films.

“He beat him outside, and I got off him," Romo said.

Unfortunately, we don’t know why Romo “got off him."

Without seeing the coach’s tape, knowing the plays or being in the offensive meetings, it is hard to know whether Dez is as open as we think he is. It’s just as hard to decide whether Romo just has better chemistry with other receivers.

One thing is for sure—Dez is a talented athlete.

Whoever is to blame for his second-half stats needs to fix it so that this team can make a deep run in the playoffs.