Dallas Cowboys: Cowboys Must Win Without Romo

The Dallas Cowboys will be without quarterback Tony Romo services for 6-10 weeks, so they must find a way to win without Romo.

It’s factual that the Dallas Cowboys lose games without their franchise quarterback Tony Romo. In fact, the Cowboys are 7-20 without Romo since his first start in 2006. The Cowboys are 1-13 in the last 14 without Romo.

Honestly, that last statement should be a “Jeopardy” question.

Those are a lot of games to lose when your Pro Bowl quarterback is out. That is the sad truth for a team as talented as this.

It’s understandable for a team to lose games because their starting quarterback is injured, but to lose almost every single game because your field general is not playing is beyond comprehension.

In reality, a sad reality, the Cowboys are the Cleveland Browns of the NFC when Romo is not under center. This madness must stop. It’s a deadly disease that is self- destructive.

It’s time for America’s Team to learn how to win without Romo, their talented signal caller. I definitely realize what Romo means to Dallas and everything he brings to the table, like leadership, poise and late game-winning drives.

Those intangibles are not easily replaced, understandably. The good news for this team is that talented rookie quarterback Dak Prescott has a tremendous upside, including poise, leadership, pocket awareness, accuracy, and leadership.

Besides being on fire in the preseason, the only thing missing from his arsenal is a late game-winning drive.

More from Sports Dallas Fort-Worth

Prescott has definitely calmed the nerves of the Cowboys’ brass and overall coaching staff with his surprising play. Prescott’s athletic ability and football acumen give Dallas the opportunity to have a winning record in Romo’s absence.

With the awesome rookie guiding the offense, the Cowboys are in position to start winning without Romo on the field. Watching Prescott play is way better than witnessing the quarterback pretenders (Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel) lead the Cowboys to a bunch of losses.

Weeden and Cassel are one of the primary reasons Dallas went 1-13 in their last 14 starts, and the lack of coaching from head coach Jason Garrett, if you call that coaching.

In addition to Prescott starting at quarterback, the Cowboys need to lean heavily on the running game, constantly giving the ball to fellow rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott, Alfred Morris, and Darren McFadden when he’s healthy.

Running the ball will eat up the clock and rest a mediocre defense. Also, the Cowboys defense can help itself out with creating turnovers, thus giving the ball back to the offense to score more points and control time of possession.

Something else to help the Cowboys win is the defense blitzing and pressuring the quarterback. I’m fully aware of defensive coordinator’s Rod Marinelli’s Cover-2 scheme, allowing the front four to create pressure on the quarterback.

In order to do that, Dallas must have pass rushers who can get to the quarterback. The Cowboys lack in that area with the suspensions of edge rushers DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory, their primary pass rushers.

Lawrence led the defense with eight sacks last season.

Defensive linemen Cedric Thornton. Jack Crawford, Tyrone Crawford, Maliek Collins, Charles Tapper, Terrell McClain, Benson Mayowa, and David Irving are expected to register the sacks. None of the aforementioned defensive lineman are household names, but pressuring the quarterback must be Marinelli’s top priority.

More importantly, Garrett has to do a better job of coaching. Period.

There are no excuses why Dallas only won four games last year while Romo nursed his broken clavicle. Although Weeden and Cassel were pathetic as signal callers, there were a few games the Cowboys could have won if Garrett knew how to coach.

Garrett and his coaching staff must learn how to coach situational football. Being ultra-conservative and non-creative will not work in their favor.

Plus, the NFC East was up for grabs late in the 2015 season, despite the fact the Cowboys had a losing record. That alone tells you Garrett isn’t a good coach, and he must have everyone healthy to win games.

With a talented backfield, a healthy Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley, and boasting one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, their is no reason for Garrett to allow Dallas to have a losing record in Romo’s absence.

The first games are winnable. In fact, this team should have a winning record when Romo returns. As of right now, the toughest games will be against the Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals, and those pesky Washington Redskins.

The Redskins are always a tough game for the Cowboys, so are the New York Giants.

The Cowboys are 8-0 in season openers against the New York Giants. If they want to make it 9-0, they better find a way to win and fix their flaws from last season.

The last time the Cowboys started a rookie QB and RB in the same game was back in 1969 with Roger Staubach and Calvin Hill.

Those two are Cowboys’ legends.

Next: Dallas Cowboys: Points in Bunches

Maybe one day Prescott and Elliott will be legends, too.

If so, it’ll start on Sunday and it’ll be the first step in winning a meaningful game without Tony Romo,

Home/Dallas Cowboys