fumbles.
But even in that loss to Detroit, it's hard to put total fault on a guy who throws for 321 yards and two touchdowns, leads his team to 24 points (don't forget Terence Newman returned a punt for a touchdown). Let's be real. If Peyton Manning's team gives up 39 points at home to the Lions, he's probably not going to win either.
OK, sorry. Enough with the Manning and Romo comparisons.
One is an established quarterback who is trying to prove critics wrong that suggest he can't win the big game. The other is just trying to prove to his team he is the answer at quarterback.
Now, maybe he's not the answer as the holder. But who are we kidding? He shouldn't have been holding in the first place.
Before I get slammed with more e-mails, that last statement is not an indictment on the coaching staff. I know why Romo was the holder before and it probably made no sense to change in the middle of the season just because he was promoted to the starter.
But just how many starting quarterbacks in the NFL hold for extra points and field goals anyways? Jake Plummer did it in Denver before he was benched as the quarterback.
But let's face it, whether Romo drops the snap for the most critical field goal attempt the Cowboys have had this decade, or he handles every snap with perfection for the entire season, it's likely Romo's days as the holder were up anyway.
So as the Cowboys get ready for next year, sure there will be some changes at quarterback.
Even Jerry Jones isn't expecting Drew Bledsoe to return next year. The veteran is due a $1 million roster bonus this spring and it's rather unlikely he will get that.
So behind Romo, the Cowboys will probably acquire another veteran free agent. Someone who has a few skins on the wall, has won some big games, but no one that will create any major controversy. Someone who will compete? Definitely, but not someone who doesn't know his role and why he's here.
Even after the veteran, there needs to be another young guy. Is it Matt Baker, the rookie from North Carolina who spent the year on the practice squad? Possibly, but it also could also be another rookie from next year.
However, if I'm drafting a quarterback, he's a fourth- or fifth-round pick, if that. Someone who can be a legitimate No. 3 quarterback and could use a year or two of watching and listening, just like Romo did, before he's anywhere close to being ready.
Because frankly, that's all the Cowboys need from the quarterback position out of this draft.
Regardless of what happened in the final two minutes of the Cowboys' season-ending loss in Seattle, Romo IS the answer at quarterback for this team.
