September 19, 2015
Saying that Tony Romo is even a good quarterback isn’t a hot take, but it won’t make you very popular in Philadelphia. Like Tommy Lawlor over at Iggles Blitz, nothing warms my cold heart more than a soul-crushing (for Dallas) Romo fourth-quarter interception.
Like Lawlor, I will still begrudgingly admit that Romo is a good at what he does:
/ducks
Unfortunately I think people tend to judge Romo on his worst moments. “He sucks. What a choke artist.” Things like that. The truth is that Romo is a very good QB. He’s playing the best football of his career. And the Eagles should be worried heading into Sunday.
A healthy Romo has won his last 4 games against the Eagles, including 3 in a row at The Linc. He did lose last Thanksgiving, but anyone watching the game could see something was wrong. He couldn’t throw the ball well at all. Right now Romo is healthy. And the Eagles defense is coming off a tough game and playing on a short week. This is not the ideal scenario.
The offensive line and receiving threats like Dez Bryant and Jason Witten make life easier for Romo, but he has made the best of those circumstances. The Eagles are 2-2 against Dallas over the last two seasons, but those wins came when Romo missed the game (Orton!) and was pretty much immobile on Thanksgiving.
Even if the Giants pass rush had come to screeching halt late in last week’s game, the final drive that Romo orchestrated was impressive. On Friday, Peter King wrote an article centered on Romo. There is a lot of stuff you might have already heard in it, but I thought this was an interesting story about Romo’s phone (with a pointless Bruce Springsteen anecdote edited out):
Yes, Romo’s phone. In training camp this summer, I sat with him for an hour after practice one day. Romo started the conversation by showing me still photos of the throwing motions of 10 or so quarterbacks. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Blake Bortles, Ryan Tannehill, Derek Carr, Russell Wilson, Philip Rivers, Cam Newton, Joe Flacco … he studies them, analyzing the hand motion as the ball leaves the fingertips, which he feels is crucial to accuracy and a strong throw. Romo has become a technician of The Throw.
Go figure. While Tom Brady is destroying his phone, Tony Romo is taking pictures of Brady on his. Anyway, this week Romo starts life without his greatest weapon against a defense that got much better as the game moved along last week. We’ll see if the Eagles can finally figure him out at home.
1. Prediction Time: Same picks as last week, so you know who to blame if Dallas leaves Philly with a win.
2. NFL Picks: Jimmy went 11-5 picking games straight up last week, but only 3-3 against the spread. So basically, he lost you money.
3. Smoothie Report: Even though the Eagles didn’t play well at all last week, they at least have their health going into Week 2. The same can’t be said for the Cowboys.
4. Random Eagles notes: For the first time since Michael Johnson at the 1996 Summer Olympics, an athlete has donned gold shoes and blew away the competition. Also, some excellent karaoke.
Our experts' Week 2 NFL picks: Dallas Morning News
You certainly can’t call the Dallas media homers. Nine of the DMN’s ten “experts,” including my Twitter friend and Around The Horn panelist Tim Cowlishaw, picked the Birds to win straight up on Sunday. To add on, eight of those nine people also have the Eagles covering the three-point spread.
Time to Mix Things Up in the Ground Game? Ryan Sasaki, Chip Wagon
Really good read on the stunt that the Falcons used to stop Ryan Mathews’ inside zone run on that critical 3rd and 1:
While I can appreciate that when the Eagles need one yard, Chip elects to go for his bread and butter play that the Eagles have practiced all offseason long. But you dodged a major bullet on the goalline as the Falcons had the perfect defense to it. On the very next drive when you need that yard, you call the same play?
All-22: Inside the Eagles’ Secondary Struggles: Josh Paunil, Birds 24/7
This has been a film breakdown heavy links post today. Paunil asked Eagles defenders why they struggled with pass protection:
With only Jones and White running routes—and Coleman carrying out the play-action—Atlanta had seven blockers in against four pass rushers.
"You have to try to find seams in the gaps," Bennie Logan said. "A lot of times they did max-protection, they slid protection so you just have to work backside and fill a back open seam. It’s hard."
So what's the best way to get pressure?
“Just send more people," Brandon Graham said. "That’s it, unless you can beat double- and triple-teams.”
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
