One of our great national pastimes is second guessing quarterbacks. Good isn't good enough, and there is no approved learning curve. Which is why we spent the off season wondering if Tony Romo was for real and debating what sort of leader Eli Manning is.
Let's start with Manning. With no apologies to Tiki Barber (note-Tabasco Sauce is good for masking the taste of shoe leather) there should be no question after last night's 45-35 shootout loss to Dallas as to the content of Manning's on field character.
The bottom line-4 touchdowns, 1 interception, 312 yards on 28 of 41.
Time and again Manning rallied the Giants against a defense which knew he had to pass. With running back Brandon Jacobs on the sidelines, Manning burned the name of Plexico Burress into the memory of the Dallas secondary with strike after strike. If Sam Hurd hadn't turned a routine play into a 51 yard touchdown he might have brought the Giants back.
Against a Wade Phillips defense which was supposed to strike fear in NFC East hearts Manning looked as calm as a man reading the paper waiting for a bus to show up. No happy feet in the pocket, no locking in on a single receiver, no forced throws. Even granting that the Cowboy defense didn't show up it was impressive.
Romo came into the game with questions as to whether he was the All-Pro from early last season, or the quarterback who consistently misfired down the stretch.
4 touchdowns, 1 interception, 345 yards on 15 of 24.
More importantly, if you discard the last clock killing drive, Romo lead Dallas to points on the board in seven of the ten times Dallas took the field, including six touchdowns. To Cowboy fans with memories of the Drew Bledsoe era, Romo's performance was a veritable feast.
Is Romo too small or too uncontrolled to lead an NFL offense? He didn't look to have any problem seeing the passing lanes last night. There was one interception, but you can mark that down to going to the well once too often over the middle after hitting Jason Witten repeatedly there. And on two occasions, one a touchdown run, he held the ball in situations where he might have thrown it a year ago.
What will be the reaction of doubters of Romo and Manning to last night's game?
There was no defense. There was no tackling. Let's see how they do against the Redskins defense.
Valid points. The Giants and Cowboys defenses seldom got pressure on the passer. The secondaries played the game of fox and hound all night, scurrying off to catch receivers who always seemed a step faster.
But these were NFL defenses, not the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Touchdowns are touchdowns, and if they hadn't converted scoring opportunities we would be writing blogs this morning about how the two young quarterbacks were over rated. The nature of the game.
Manning ended the night with a bruised shoulder after Cowboy rookie Anthony Spencer grabbed his jersey on an attempted sack. He should be OK and spare Giant fans any more appearances by Jared Lorenzen. And Season 4 should be a positive one for Manning.
As for Romo, the great expectations game is played with intensity in Dallas. What will linger with Cowboy fans is the offensive explosion and not the possibly season ending injury to nose tackle Jason Ferguson, the continued foot woes of Terence Newman, or the lack of a pass rush. If the Cowboy defense doesn't come together, more performances like last night's won't be just desirable but a necessity.
For this one day, however, none of it matters. Tony Romo and Eli Manning are now proven NFL starting quarterbacks and certified gun slingers.
Very good Dudski/from the amount I watched they both looked very adept. Manning made jest a couple missteps, but that's okay. They both seem to come of age (but then again they were playing each other, not the Pats or San Diego). Time will tell, I liked what I saw. Fuzz
Duds-I've never been sold on Manning, but he did look like a much more mature QB last night. So did Romo. I'm a little hesitant to say no more questions, though. Simply because as the season wears on, Manning will be hard pressed to continue to be that productive without a running game, which is a very possible scenario now that Tiki's gone and Jacobs is ####ed up. And if the Giants defense doesn't improve, it's hard to imagine Manning keeping them competitive with his arm alone. But like I said, I saw much more out of him last night than I've seen his first three years. Maybe he's finally arrived. And as long as T.O. doesn't become, well, T.O., Romo should be fine.
Dud ski,
First and foremost, I am a Cowboys fan and that love has only grown in the past two years with the addtion of lTerrel Owens and the unleashing of Tony Romo. I am in no way a fan of the NY Giants, be it Eli's disappointing start of an NFL career, the total breakdown of the defense last year, or the large amount of team infighting which doomed them during a hard stretch last year. With that said, I agree wholeheartedly with your assesments of both QB's on SUnday night. Sure, there wasn't an extensive amount of pressure put on either QB, but the pressure that was there, was handled with poise and control. I also agree with the comment that if either QB would have tanked on Sunday night, there would of course been no hesitation to slam them for their failures. Thank you for giving these guys the props they deserve. Furthermore, there should be no questions on thier leadershi pability until the season is over... or at least the halfway mark.
Brownguy-I've never understood how people define leadership, beyond being vocal. I think Tiki Barber was off base slamming Manning, especially since he never really said what it was Manning should do and didn't.
Christopher Ross-You're right, it is just one game. But the same people who make that arguement also would have nailed Romo or Manning on just one game if they hadn't done well.
QB's in the NFL are given way too much criticism...many times even if they perform well. And these two play for absolute pressure cooker teams that will constantly be under the national microscope.
And I have to give both guys some credit. Especially after watching tonight's Monday night game, where coordinators didn't trust 2 second year QB's to make plays.
Romo has impressed me, and wow...he was tossed into the fire last year. He does have the weapons, and seems determined to improve with each and every game. I think he is the real deal.
Manning has the potential for big numbers. The only problem is, the current Giants team will absolutely depend on it each and every week.
"Christopher Ross-You're right, it is just one game. But the same people who make that arguement also would have nailed Romo or Manning on just one game if they hadn't done well."
Amen. I'm sick of this double standard that says that a great QB takes a full season to earn that title. But the first time he has a QB rating under 70, the naysayers jump on him saying "he's come back to earth". It's such a load of BS.
I've watched Romo enough in the past years to know that he's the real deal. He's got all the physical aspects. He's got the knowledge of the game. But more than all that he has a drive to win as much as any QB in the game, even Peyton Manning. He hates to lose and he's a charismatic guy that can get his emotion to rub off on the rest of the team. Bledsoe looked dead at times. He showed little to no emotion in press conferences, etc. Romo is getting bugs put on him during his interviews. He's made the game fun again, which is something they lacked under General Parcells. Romo is the real deal and I'd be shocked if he wasn't making a trip to the Pro Bowl again this year. And I'll do you one better. I WOULDN'T be shocked to see his name come up in the MVP race in about Week 9 or 10. He's that good.
I'm not a Cowboys fan but I've been sold on Romo since he torched the Panthers in his first NFL start. It's not going to be long before he leads the Cowboys to a Super Bowl.
As for Eli Manning, he seems to have matured. The comparisons to his brother are very unfair. They are two different QB's. They lead their respective teams in VERY different ways. Eli is quiet, but that doesn't make him any less a leader than a more expressive QB. He may still be a very good QB in the future. The Giants have a lot of holes that need to be filled.
Romo has shown the ability to walk a fine line between not forcing something to happen, and doing all he can to make something happen. He's elusive enough to flee in the pocket and survey the field under pressure, yet smart enough to #### the ball for a sack as opposed to throwing the bone-head interception.
He has proven many times that he has the skills to be a great leader at this level. Now the circumstances call for him to turn it up another notch to carry a suspect defense's inadequacies, and he has answered with raving reviews. He has definitely arrived.
Last edited by MidniteCowboy on September 17th at 6:22 PM.
