Jason Garrett says Tony Romo is not being too careful
By Mike Dyce
The Dallas Cowboys offense under the play calling of Bill Callahan has come under fire. NFL analyst Terry Bradshaw criticized it for the many short pass calls. Quarterback Tony Romo seems to be a victim of this short pass strategy and is averaging a career low per attempt (6.7 yards).
“Same old weak junk we saw in Oakland,” Bradshaw said, referring to Callahan’s days with the Raiders. “It drives me up a wall, five-yard out routes, five-yard drag routes. You have to take chances. You can’t keep running this short dinky offense.”
That led Cowboys beat writer Calvin Watkins to ask head coach Jason Garrett about the lack of the deep ball in the Cowboys offense and if Romo was being too careful.
“I don’t know that I buy that,” Garrett said, via ESPN Dallas.
“I think you can make big plays without turning the ball over,” Garrett said. “I think over Tony’s career he’s demonstrated that. He’s had a number of years where he’s had a high touchdown total and a low interception total. And that’s obviously what we’re going for. I think we’re playing better than we have in a long time on the offensive line. They have some marquee rushers on that San Diego defensive front. We did a good job of slowing those guys down. I thought he had time to throw the football and so in that kind of balance that we have, if we’re running it, if we’re protecting it, I believe you can make some of those plays. We’ve just got to do that on a more consistent basis.”
Romo not might be playing conservatively, it could be the play-calling that is holding him back. It is hard to argue Watkin’s notion given his averages per attempt and completion, both currently career lows. The Cowboys and Tony Romo need to air it out more.