Should Tony Romo replace Dak Prescott as Cowboys' QB?



… Steeler defense will face third-ranked offense 

The age-old question in the NFL is this? Should a QB replacement who is doing well ever permanently replace a star?

Bill Bellichick rewrote that classic when he benched Drew Bledsoe in favor of Tom Brady in the 2002 Super Bowl.

Yet, that is the question in Dallas as rookie phenom Dak Prescott has put together a phenomenal first half of the season for the Cowboys. He took over for Tony Romo, the successful QB who has yet to lead the Cowboys to the big dance -- in NFL parlance, the Super Bowl.

Prescott has not put up big numbers for one reason: He is not being asked to do so. The Cowboys have an outstanding rushing attack with an offensive line that is reputed to be the best in the NFL.

The Steelers will find out how good on Sunday as their beleaguered defense will try to stop the Cowboys' attack.

Last year, after Romo was hurt, the Cowboys went 1-11, 4-12 overall.

This year, Prescott has led the team to a 7-1 record and first place in the NFC-East after Romo had back surgery in August.

In fact, some are listing him as an MVP choice, competing with others having great seasons like Matt Ryan and Derek Carr and even Tom Brady, who missed four games because of Deflategate.

The impressive number for Prescott is turnovers: Just four, two Ints and two fumbles.

Romo is now 36 with a bad back, and maybe he will never return if Prescott continues his level of play. Even the greatest Cowboys' QB ever, Roger Staubach, says that Prescott is the new leader of the locker room.

Just for analysis, Prescott has throw for 2,020 yards and 12 touchdowns against just two interceptions. That gives him a 104.2 rating, impressive from any standpoint.

His QB rating is fourth behind Tom Brady (133.9), Matt Ryan (119), and Drew Brees (106.6). For comparison, Ben Roethlisberger is 19th (93.9).

The Steeler defense may shock everyone and do a great job with Prescott and bring down that 104 rating, but we will have to wait and see. That is a pretty good offense that he leads.

The Cowboys average 411.5 yards per game, third in the league (Steelers 12th) and are averaging 34 points per game. Those totals include 246 yards through the air and 165 on the ground.

Romo will probably not dress tomorrow against the Steelers, and he may never return if Prescott continues to be the league's top rookie.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the toughest loss I ever experienced in approximately a quarter-century of coaching football. George Pasierb was a great coaching adversary.

Image
R.I.P. George Pasierb, 1946-2020 Shade-Central City High School football coach Photo: Tribune-Democrat No high school football fan could ask for anything better than this. On a beautiful sunny, warm afternoon on Saturday, October 30, 1982, in Nanty Glory, Pa., the battle featured a clash of two undefeated titans of the Appalachian Conference.  One was the preseason unanimous favorite to win the title, the other a veritable surprise that season, one that had built an 8-0 record entering that game.  This battle lived up to the pre-game hype, ending in a one-point decision that was not certain until the final play of the game.  I thought of this because the coach of the powerful Shade-Central City High School Panthers, George Pasierb, passed away earlier this week. He coached the Panthers for 20 years, but his best team was arguably that 1982 team that battled the Blacklick Valley Vikings on that Saturday afternoon before more than 3,000 ebullient fans.  And, the one-point loss was the to
Read more

Why did Tennessee-Chattanooga hire trainer Tim Bream despite his role in the alcohol-induced death of Tim Piazza at a Penn State frat?

Image
… was a live-in advisor at the fraternity On paper, Tim Bream has an impressive resume. Actually, very impressive — up to a point. That seems to be when Bream’s life appears to careen out of control. Bream, who resigned as Penn State trainer in Feb.,  was a graduate of Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in physical education, specializing in athletic training. He then attended West Virginia as a grad assistant trainer, where he received a master’s degree in Physical Education with an emphasis on Sports Science. All of this information is from his bio on the Penn State athletic site. He then worked his way up the ladder impressively, working at Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and finally at the University of Richmond, where he was the Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer. Then he received his big break, being name as Assistant Athletic Trainer for the Chicago Bears in 1993, and four years later, Head Athletic Trainer. He was with the Bears for 19 years when inexplicably, he
Read more

Why did Mike Tomlin start hiring black coaches after 15 years?

Image
Brian Flores … hiring Flores probably rankled Goodell To place this into context, understand that the only reason that the Steelers hired Mike Tomlin 15 years ago is because he was black.  Why? He had never even been a coordinator anywhere, never in the NFL. The only reason that he was interviewed was because of the “Rooney Rule.” That rule is one named after the late Dan Rooney who led the effort to force every NFL team to interview at least one black coach when it had head coaching openings.  The Steelers had focused their coaching search after Bill Cowher left on Ron Rivera, then a defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears. Their interview with Tomlin was a peremptory one, something to satisfy the smell test.  After all, why interview a guy who was just a defensive coach? Coordinators are the people who are hired for the big gig.  Tomlin, though, is a great talker, and he wooed Dan Rooney so much that he was hired for the position.  Which begs the question: Why after all o
Read more