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Is Romo a step back from Bledsoe?
Drew Bledsoe has been here
before.
Back in 2001, when the New
England Patriots were on the cusp of greatness,
Bledsoe was injured early in the season and lost
his job to Tom Brady. Now the Dallas Cowboys have
relegated Bledsoe to the bench in favor of Tony
Romo. Will the decision work out as well for the
Cowboys as it did for the Patriots?
Perhaps not in the near term.
Dallas is listed as a 6.5-point road underdog
for this Sunday night’s matchup against
the Carolina Panthers. And not because the Panthers
have been particularly good – they’re
4-3 straight up and a wallet-draining 2-4-1 against
the spread. The Cowboys, meanwhile, are 3-3 SU
and ATS. Much more was expected from both clubs,
but Carolina can at least point at the injury
that kept wide receiver Steve Smith out of the
lineup for the first two games of the season,
a pair of losses. Dallas’ problems aren’t
so easily solved.
Bledsoe is having one of
the worst seasons of his career. His 69.2 QB rating
is his lowest since 1995; Bledsoe has also been
inconsistent, playing extremely well in the Cowboys’
three victories but tossing seven of his eight
interceptions in the three defeats. Even before
Monday night’s 36-22 loss to the NFC East
rival New York Giants, Bledsoe was ranked 32nd
among 36 NFL quarterbacks (minimum 50 passes)
by Football Outsiders. He was one of 12 pivots
judged to be performing at below the level of
a replacement-level quarterback.
Based on that metric alone,
Romo only has to play nondescript, ho-hum football
to be an upgrade over Bledsoe. But that will be
difficult to achieve. The real culprit in Dallas
is the offensive line. The betting public pays
far too little attention to the men in the trenches;
the Cowboys’ O-line is doing a very good
job of opening up running lanes for Julius Jones,
but a relatively poor job of pass protection –
18 sacks allowed thus far, ranking 21st in the
league.
Parcells hopes the more mobile
Romo can avoid Panthers DE Julius Peppers (leading
the NFL with eight sacks) and the Carolina pass
rush. Fortunately for Dallas supporters, the Panthers
will be without cornerback Ken Lucas, and fellow
corners Chris Gamble and Richard Marshall have
not been playing up to snuff. That might give
Romo the extra fraction of a second he needs to
make good throwing decisions once he’s been
flushed out of the pocket. But handicappers would
be well advised to wait and see what the 2002
Walter Payton Award winner (for best offensive
player in Division I-AA) can do now that he’s
been handed the starting job.
Posted on 10/27/2006 9:59:15
AM
Is Romo a step back from Bledsoe?
by Shawn Sillinger
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