Since the Dallas Cowboys began playing football in 1960, there have been some great Week 1 performances from some of the franchise’s best-known quarterbacks. Dandy Don Meredith, Drew Bledsoe, Danny White and Hall of Famer Troy Aikman all finished Week 1 games well above a 100.0 passer rating. Even Tony Romo has opened the season well throughout his career.
In fact, he holds the franchise record with five opening-day games at or above a 100.0 rating. That is good for sixth in NFL history, tied with the likes of Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Vinny Testaverde.
In honor of Romo’s Sunday face plant, however, this piece is dedicated to the other end of the spectrum—the worst of the worst quarterback performances in a home opener in franchise history.
We will focus only on home-opening losses. A poor individual performance in a win somewhat lessens the blow of the quarterback’s struggles. Opening the season with a loss at home is never a good thing. Doing so while quarterbacking “America’s Team”?
*GASP* Oh, the horror!
All jabs aside, let’s see where Romo’s repulsive Day of Rest lands in the ruins of forgettable Cowboys flubs.
1. Troy Aikman; Sept. 24, 1989
Opponent: Washington Redskins
Final: Redskins 30, Cowboys 7
Stats: 6-21 (28.6%), 83 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT, 4.0 rating
Nobody would have guessed on the 24th day of September 1989 that Aikman, the draft’s top overall pick that year, was a future Hall of Famer who would lead the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles just a handful of years later.
He lost his first 11 NFL starts, but perhaps none went quite as badly as his first-ever start at old Texas Stadium. He was sacked four times and threw two picks before being pulled in favor of backup—and 1989 first-round supplemental draft pick—Steve Walsh, who did no better in relief of Aikman (9-of-18 passing for 100 yards and two picks for a 27.3 rating).
Aside: With Walsh being made a supplemental first-round pick in 1989 and the Cowboys finishing with the NFL’s worst record at 1-15, the franchise spent two No. 1 overall picks on quarterbacks in the same offseason. Without its No. 1 pick in 1990, Dallas traded up with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where it would select future Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith 17th overall.
2. Quincy Carter; Sept. 9, 2001
Opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Final: Bucs 10, Cowboys 6
Stats: 9-19 (47.4%), 34 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT, 14.5 rating
It’s not like this game was a blowout. Carter had a chance to lead a game-winning drive with under two minutes left, and all he did was throw three incompletions and then a pick on fourth down.
To Carter’s credit, this Tampa Bay defense finished eighth in points allowed and fourth in takeaways during the 2001 season. Though they finished 9-7 and made the playoffs, the Bucs would peak the next season, going 12-4 and winning Super Bowl XXXVII.
Carter was sacked twice for six yards in this contest and never really looked like he had control of the offense; the unit was dysfunctional from start to finish, netting just eight first downs and 127 total yards—the six-fewest yards gained in a game in Cowboys history.
His 34 yards passing were the third-fewest ever by a Cowboys quarterback in a regular-season game.
3. Tony Romo; Sept. 20, 2009
Opponent: New York Giants
Final: Giants 33, Cowboys 31
Stats: 13-29 (44.8%), 127 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT, 29.6 rating
The first of two poor home openers for Romo, his 2009 performance was worse than Sunday’s by only a small margin. In games in which he’s attempted at least 14 passes, he has thrown for fewer than these 127 yards only twice.
If not for poor defensive play on the part of the Cowboys, this game probably would not be listed. Romo led two second-half touchdown drives to give his team the lead, including one in the fourth quarter to put Dallas up, 31-30, with under four minutes to go.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning led a 10-play, 66-yard drive taking the final 3:34 off the clock, culminating with a game-winning, 37-yard field goal from kicker Lawrence Tynes.
Where, then, does the fault lie with Romo? All three of his interceptions turned into Giants touchdowns. Dallas’ defense would not have been in position to lose it for the team on the game’s final drive if not for Romo’s three picks.
4. Don Meredith; Sept. 12, 1964
Opponent: St. Louis Cardinals
Final: Cardinals 16, Cowboys 6
Stats: 15-30 (50.0%), 159 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 49.2 rating
This bad Cowboys team was led by a bad offensive line. In 14 games, the unit allowed an NFL-high 68 sacks, and Meredith withstood 58 of those. He went down five times in this particular game.
What’s amazing about Meredith’s awful game is that it’s not anywhere near his lowest rating for a game. He had 17 games with at least 14 throws where he finished with a worse passer rating. Dallas had a 3-12-2 record in those games.
Remember, he went 48-33-4 over his nine-year Cowboys career. That means outside those horrible games—and including this game—his teams went 45-21-2; that’s an absurdly high .662 win-percentage.
5. Roger Staubach; Sept. 29, 1974
Opponent: New York Giants
Final: Giants 14, Cowboys 6
Stats: 20-37 (54.1%), 256 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT, 51.2 rating
The Dodger had many poor games wrapped around his Super Bowl titles with the Cowboys. September 29, 1974 was certainly one of them. Staubach took six sacks en route to this home-opening loss to the arch-rival Giants.
These Giants went on to win just one more game in 1974, and they allowed the fourth-most points in the league that year. So that kind of makes worse the fact that Staubach and the Cowboys were unable to do anything against this team.
6. Tony Romo; Sept. 7, 2014
Opponent: San Francisco 49ers
Final: 49ers 28, Cowboys 17
Stats: 23-37 (62.2%), 281 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT, 60.1 rating
At no point was Romo in control of the game Sunday. He turned the ball over three times in the first half, leading to two 49ers touchdowns. Although the Cowboys converted 5-of-9 third downs, three of them came on one touchdown drive in the third quarter when the game was already out of hand.
It’s by far the worst Week 1 performance of his career. Before Sunday, Romo’s average season opener looked like this: 23.9-of-34.9 (68.4%) for 316 yards, 2.3 touchdowns and 0.7 interceptions for a 110.2 rating. Dallas was 5-2 in those games.
The Cowboys needed to rely on DeMarco Murray more than they did. Romo kept making mistakes, but 12 of Murray’s 22 carries gained at least five yards (54.5%), while three went 10-plus (13.6%). Dallas’ offensive line provided Murray with plenty of space most of the afternoon, and he made the San Francisco defense pay.
The line also protected Romo well enough for the veteran to make plays. He was pressured on only 10 of his 40 dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required) and was sacked three times. But he simply did not make those plays. By the time the first half had concluded, he’d thrown all three of his picks and dug his team into a four-score hole it could not escape.
All stats provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise stated