It’s Impossible to Rely on Tony Romo

Hindsight is 20-20, but the Cowboys were foolish to wait as long as they did to take a quarterback in the draft. A quarterback they could truly groom to become the heir to Tony Romo. They have lived this problem before with no quarterback really waiting in the wings to take over from Troy Aikman, as they wandered looking until Romo came out of the blue.

While Romo has been great as a starter for the Cowboys, the team has been awful without him, posting a 1-13 record in games not started by Tony Romo over the last three years. Now, it’s looking like Dallas could play anywhere from a quarter to half the season without Romo. And it really could be longer, just look at what former NFL doctor David Chao tweeted.

And the Cowboys have nowhere to look but Dak Prescott, who was taken in the fourth round. Yes, he’s played well this preseason, but it’s the preseason. Don’t forget that. Teams don’t game plan for preseason like they do for the regular season, and really these games aren’t treated all that seriously. It’s more a way for teams and players to simply shake off the rust.

The biggest problem here for the Cowboys is that the defense is not good. This is not a unit that can carry a team while the backup quarterback finds his footing. Especially not this year as several key defensive players are suspended to start the year.

If you are a Cowboys fan, you can get excited about the best offensive line in football, but how successful with a rookie, Ezekiel Elliot, be when teams load the box to make another rookie, Dak Prescott, beat them?

It’s tough to expect a quarterback to get hurt and be unable to play for you. Especially one like Romo who has been so good for nearly a decade now. But Romo is now 36, and has had injury issues the past few years. It should not have taken until this year’s draft to take a quarterback to “groom” and it probably shouldn’t have taken until the 4th round to get one. The Cowboys knew they had a problem and didn’t address it. Tony Romo at this point in his career is not a reliable starter, and the Cowboys should have known that.