Tony Romo would not have saved Cowboys vs Packers
By John Buhler
The Dallas Cowboys lost in heartbreaking fashion to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, but no, Tony Romo would not have saved the day.
It stings horribly. The Dallas Cowboys suffered one of the most soul-crushing losses a team can ever sustain in the NFL Playoffs. Dallas overcame an 18-point deficit against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional Round, only to lose by a game-winning 50-yard field goal from Packers kicker Mason Crosby.
Dallas had its opportunities to win this game but didn’t do enough in all four quarters to advance to the 2016 NFC Championship. An easy scapegoat for Dallas’ loss is rookie starting quarterback Dak Prescott. This loss does not fall on Prescott and no, his backup quarterback Tony Romo wasn’t going to knock off all the rust and lead the Cowboys to victory over the Packers.
Prescott played great on Sunday, completing 24-of-38 passes for 302 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He had two carries for 13 yards and a game-tying two-point conversion. Prescott wasn’t perfect, but he was not the reason Dallas lost.
Little became big over time for Dallas. Several early miscues in all three phases set this team too far back to hold off Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The best offensive line in football had its issues with penalties. Dallas’ defense allowed Rodgers to throw for 357 yards, mostly with a lead. The substitution penalties were embarrassing. Romo would not have fixed those issues.
Could Romo have been as good as Prescott under center Saturday night? Maybe, but quarterback play wasn’t the reason Dallas lost on its home turf. The Cowboys had to go up against Rodgers playing as well as he has in his Hall of Fame career. He was able to thread the needle on the 36-yard completion to tight end Jared Cook to break the hearts across Big D. Romo isn’t fixing that.
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Dallas lost by the slimmest of margins. It hurts, but thinking Romo would have made any difference is foolish. Prescott is the present, the future, and helped lead the team back from a 21-3 deficit. The Cowboys are in good shape for 2017. They just came across a buzzsaw in Green Bay on Sunday.