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Get Dallas Cowboys news on your cellThe balance between gunslinger and bus driver
6:41 PM Fri, Aug 17, 2007 | Permalink
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February 2008
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Movers and Shakers Pre-season Texas Stadium dallasnews.com
Sports Blogs |
 VERNON BRYANT/ DMN Tony Romo grew up as a fan of John Elway and Brett Favre, the two best gunslingers of that QB generation. He's seen as the Cowboys' first franchise QB since Troy Aikman, maybe the best bus driver in the history of the game. Romo's trying to find the right balance between the two styles. He has a strong arm, but not the rifle Elway and Favre had in their prime that let them get away with so many risks. The Cowboys have a solid running game, but it's not like the Emmitt and the Bulldozers Bunch that allowed Aikman to focus on managing the game instead of making plays. Bill Parcells, who introduced us to the term bus driver in regards to QBs, tried to beat the "impulse plays" out of Romo. After a storybook start, Romo struggled with turnovers as the Cowboys went kaput down the stretch. Several of those can be attributed to Romo trying to make a play when the X's and O's didn't go as planned. "You don’t want to take that away, because that’s part of what makes him who he is," tight end Jason Witten said. "But there comes a time – the Detroit game last year pops out – that he tried to make things happen so much that he got himself in trouble." That probably had a lot to do with Romo playing so conservatively in the playoff loss the next week. The Seahawks secondary was so depleted that they pulled Pete Hunter out of a Dallas loan office to play nickel back, but the Cowboys didn't attack. Point the finger at the coach if you want, but Marshall Faulk made some interesting points during the NFL Network's replay of the game. He broke down two plays where Romo had a receiver open downfield but threw a short, safe pass. Same thing happened with Anthony Fasano open in the end zone on third down in the preseason opener. You can't judge Romo's tendencies too much in the preseason. He's getting a feel for Jason Garrett's passing scheme, and the blood isn't pumping like it does during the regular season. There's no urgency in a meaningless game, and he might not want to show much big-play stuff. I haven't had a chance to discuss this issue with Romo, but Witten and T.O. certainly aren't worried about him turning into a close-to-the-vest kind of QB. They're confident he'll take calculated risks. "I think he’s got a great understanding now of when to pull the trigger," Witten said, "instead of acting on impulse." |
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Comments
Posted by Saint Jimmy @ 7:14 PM Fri, Aug 17, 2007
OMG 2 plays??? Oooh 2 plays out of an average of 60-70 in a game. And whose to say Parcells didn't beat "play safe for the playoffs" into Romo's head. Just look at Bill's previous playoff apperance where Quincy Carter didn't throw the ball 5 yards past the line of scrimmage. 2 QB's, 1 coach, exact same gameplan. Hmmmm, looks like the coach to me.
Posted by vaquero @ 7:19 PM Fri, Aug 17, 2007
Tony is not going to shy away from taking a risk. That's just the way he plays. But, with last years experience, he will know when it's time to pull the trigger. We certaintly don't want a qb without any cojones back there. I'm tired if seeing qb's like Bledsoe on ou team who are afraid and shy of taking chances. All the great ones believe they can win when they gamble. Go Cowboys!
Posted by scott @ 9:13 PM Fri, Aug 17, 2007
That's what Garrett is there for, to show Tony what he was missing or not missing. I guess they will also "game plan" for games like last year against bad secondarures. I know it used to be a bad word around here but that headache is gone, so lets get it on!!!
Posted by Robert @ 9:49 PM Fri, Aug 17, 2007
Still blaming Parcells for the fact Romo was wildly inaccurate and could not hold the ball in Seattle?
Can't wait for this year's excuse when the players screw up.
Posted by Mike @ 10:14 PM Fri, Aug 17, 2007
Troy Aikman bus driver? I haven't seen may bus drivers hang in the pocket and throw such spicy passes. I believe Michael Irvin had some different things to say a couple weeks ago.
And before we start throwing Parcells under the bus again, he's committed to running the ball. In those playoff games we couldn't run the ball, so why do you people think that passing is going to work when you haven't made them fear the run at all in any way? Oh I know how you can think that, you don't know anything about football. You think, "Hey, if you can't run passing must work".
If you saw that passing was the only option we had, don't you think the other team full of guys paid to know knew it also? LMAO
Posted by Wade @ 10:35 PM Fri, Aug 17, 2007
16 10 220 337 65.3 2903 8.6 19 13 21 124 95.1
Do these numbers look like Romo was wildly inaccurate? Parcells stunk it up, and the Cowboys and their fans are a lot better off now that he's gone.
Posted by Not So Crazy Ray @ 10:54 PM Fri, Aug 17, 2007
I'm prone to being a bit of a homer when it comes to my beloved Cowboys, but I can still usually call it like it really is. That being said, I drink the Kool-aid when it comes to Romo. I have complete and utter faith that he is the real deal. His talent and demeanor tell me that he will be a good to very good QB for years to come. Say whatever you want about Parcells. I will agree with some of it. But, he left the Boys in much better shape than when he came and, if Romo pans out, that will be Parcells' legacy in Dallas.
Posted by Timothy @ 11:07 PM Fri, Aug 17, 2007
MacMahon:
Do you really, I mean really, believe Troy Aikman was a bus driver?
A Hall-Of-Fame quarterback and 3-time Super Bowl champion.
I am going to chalk this up as simply you trying to generate buzz with this particular posting. Which is good, I enjoy a little toungue-in-cheek humor.
Because if you are serious about Aikman, then you truly know nothing about the NFL and continuing to read this blog would be an utter waste of my time.
Posted by Mike Stevens @ 12:04 AM Sat, Aug 18, 2007
Troy Aikman was the ultimate Bus Driver because he was on a team that would allow him to play it that way. His team had a #1 ranked defense under Dave Wannstadt and pretty close to it under Butch Davis. His offensive line was a bunch of pro-bowlers. His RB was a future hall of fame all time rushing yardage leader.
The couple of you taking offense to the term Bus Driver should not confuse it with anyone saying Troy Aikman couldn't be a Gun Slinger if he had to be. The 94 NFC Championship is the best example of a game that Troy showed he could be a Gun Slinger if he had to be. I am sure Troy himself would say he prefferred a chance to be a bus driver over gun slinger any day.
Posted by Saint Jimmy @ 4:27 AM Sat, Aug 18, 2007
Mike, before you start talking you should first educate yourself fool. Dallas couldn't run the ball? What is 116 net yards rushing and a 4.5 yard per carry then? Sounds like a day at the office for an Emmitt Smith.
Further evidence that it was Bill Parcells and not Tony Romo. Tony Romo had a very impressive 8.6 yards per attempt for the season. In Seattle it was a meager 5.4. To put that in perspective for everyone...not even David Carr has had a yards per attempt that low before and Carr only has 1 season where he averaged over 200 yards a game.
Posted by dave j @ 5:58 AM Sat, Aug 18, 2007
I am really ticked off at howe you are dismissing Aikman's willingness to put his ego aside. Wake up and realize that it takes something special to do that.
I am almost to the point of thinking that the DMN hired you from clown college Tim. I can understand wanting to have posts and discussions be fun, but this is getting to the point of not knowing what you are talking about.
This one really bugs me because what you are doing is glorifying players who weren't willing to trust their teammates and coaches and disregarding Aikman's willingness to put team ahead of personal stats and glory. You call that a bus driver.
Troy was not a gunslinger as you put it, but it wasn't because of a weak arm. GO WATCH SOME OLD TAPE!!! His throws were precise and tight with a lot of zip on the ball. One of the reasons why Troy had so few comeback wins and unimpressive stats are that the team was rarely in a position where it had to come back. They routinely had two touchdown leads by halftime.
During the Super Bowl years, his stats at haltime would typically be something like 13 of 17 for 180 yards or 11 of 14 for 135 yards. At that point, the team just went into cruise control for the second half and fed Emmitt.
While he may not have the stats or glory of an Elway, Favre, or Marino, he also didn't have their ego. That's one reason why even when Jimmy Johnson went to Miami, Marino couldn't win - he wasn't willing to put his ego aside for the benefit of the team. He wasn't willing to let the running game develop - which takes some time - and he wasn't willing to reduce his passes. Same with Elway - he didn't win a championship until he got a running game with Terrell Davis and stopped trying to do it all by himself. Gunslingers put up impressive stats, but how much do they win? In the end, it is still a team sport.
Posted by Scott @ 7:47 AM Sat, Aug 18, 2007
Robert, what do think constant negative criticism and badgering to an athlete does?? It kills confidence and Parcells was one of the best at it. Did you ever hear him say anything positive about any player while he was here that didn't play for him somewhere else? How did all that workout while Parcells was here, yeah thought so!
Posted by Black and Blue @ 10:56 AM Sat, Aug 18, 2007
Right on Robert. Amen!!!
Posted by Sam @ 2:17 PM Sat, Aug 18, 2007
Hey Dave, maybe it wasn't Marino's ego that didn't allow for a running game. I'm thinking more along the lines of, oh I dunno, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bernie Parmalee, Sammie Smith, and Mark Higgs were running backs during his time. Now, before you go look them up (let me save you the time) I'll tell you, they were no good.
I love Aikman, but to say that Marino lost because he wouldn't let the running game develop is just plain stupid. The running backs he had sucked. I'd throw the ball too.