who can he deal with?
Right? That's what we have going here?
Now look, this is not a defense for Bledsoe. He made two bad mistakes on Sunday in that 38-24 loss to Philadelphia. One, he never should have fired that ball into the end zone for Witten at the end. Two, he just can't short-arm what should have been a 33-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Owens.
But if I remember correctly, didn't Bledsoe go 24-of-35 for 289 yards and three touchdowns beating Philly last year, 33-10? Didn't he beat Carolina and Kansas City last year? Wouldn't he have beaten Washington and Denver with a little help from a field-goal kicker? Was it not him who threw those winning touchdown passes in the final minutes against San Diego and San Francisco? Did he not throw the touchdown pass to Terry Glenn with just more than 3 minutes left to give the Cowboys a chance to beat the Eagles that second time last year?
Did he not just last year throw for 3,639 yards, second most in Dallas Cowboys history?
Or have I dreamed all this?
To just summarily dismiss Bledsoe's significance to this team would seem rash to me.
Let's move on, and this is not a speech for solidarity. Not my job. But it is a plea for patience, for further evidence to support your claims. If what happened against Philadelphia continues on through Houston and the Giants and Carolina, then yeah, it's time for a change.
As I've said, these next five games are vitally important to the Cowboys' 2006 season, because if they do not get through them with their head above water, than the five home games among the final seven will never serve as a life raft. Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm just too pragmatic because my folks didn't hand me down that necessary gambling gene. But you want to stake these five games to the unknown, because regardless of what you think you know about Romo, you don't know. You just don't.
Heck you don't even know as much about him as you knew about the likes of Wright and Carter and Stoerner and Leaf and Hutchinson and Henson. At least those guys you had seen not only throw like one pass in a real NFL game, but also perform in games of consequence before you started clamoring for them. And you were still wrong.
But you're sure of yourselves this time?
Look, this is nothing against Romo. I too liked what I saw from him this preseason. Liked what I saw from him during training camp. And certainly liked what I heard about him from an NFL coach I respect.
But tell me, how many quarterbacks step foot into the NFL and immediately succeed? How many have been groomed for three years but don't still go through growing pains?
Please remind me, how many yards did Vince Young throw for this past Sunday, and he was the third pick in the first round? Romo, he was a no-round draft choice.
Hey, Romo just might have it; he just might be the blue moon - the unheralded quarterback coming out of college who makes it in the NFL. I like his moxie, like his spunk, like how he prepares, and best of all, like his arm and apparent accuracy.
Just don't like the percentages that go along with the unknown, especially knowing how NFL teams prepare for inexperienced quarterbacks when the games count. You think Seattle or Minnesota had game plans to stop Romo in the preseason? Come on. Don't be fooled again.
Now not sure if I've convinced you to table this discussion, or if this will be ongoing on a loss-to-loss basis. Not sure if I've convinced you to utilize a little common sense, or if those knees are going to be jerking harder and higher than the Radio City Rockettes upon every loss.
But when it comes to a quarterback looking bad against the Philly defense, please add this to your arsenal of reasoning: In 1991, the third game of the season, the Eagles defeated the Cowboys, 24-0, sacking Aikman 11 times, intercepting him three times and holding the Cowboys to 90 yards total offense. The Cowboys finished 11-5, and proceeded to win their first playoff game since 1985.
In 1992, the fourth game of the season, the Eagles defeated the Cowboys, 31-7, sacking Aikman four times and intercepting him three times. The Cowboys proceeded to win their first Super Bowl title in 15
