The Dallas Cowboys are 8-6, but very well could be 12-2 after several late-game collapses this season. The Cowboys would undoubtedly be considered Super Bowl contenders at 12-2. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo hinted Saturday that his team might very well still be in the NFL title race.
“Hey, what were the Packers at this time last year?” Romo said.
Those words were spoken to a nearly empty visitors’ locker room in Tampa Bay following the Cowboys’ 31-15 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Romo smiled mischievously as the rhetorical question rolled off his lips.
The Green Bay Packers were 8-6 after 14 games in 2010. The Packers needed to win their last two games of the season to make the playoffs, similar to the Cowboys’ current situation. Of course, Green Bay finished the year 10-6 and went on to win Super Bowl XLV. Romo’s remark was a hint to the remaining media members not to count Dallas out of the Super Bowl race.
Romo is playing very well right now, just like Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers began to do at the end of the 2010 season. Many comparisons are beginning to be made about the two and their teams’ very similar late-season situations.
Although he’s playing well now, Romo cost the Cowboys a few wins this season, making late-game mistakes when his team had the lead. However, he’s on such a hot streak right now it’s hard to find any fault with him over the past couple of weeks. Bizarrely, that’s exactly the situation Rodgers was in a year ago.
The difference in Romo and Rodgers is the Packer was able to overcome his teammates’ mistakes and put his team on his back. Romo played phenomenally against the New York Giants, but couldn’t save the Cowboys as Dallas’ defense collapsed in the final six minutes.
Romo will literally have to play flawless football if the Cowboys’ defense continues to play as inconsistent as it has this season. Rodgers simply outscored all of his opponents during the Packers’ epic Super Bowl run. Romo very likely will have to put up 40 points each of the next two weeks for the Cowboys to beat the Eagles and Giants. It would be absurd to talk hypothetically about the Cowboys’ Super Bowl chances this early when Dallas could still technically finish third in the NFC East.
The Cowboys aren’t the Packers and Romo isn’t Rodgers. The Dallas faithful have to love Romo’s confidence in making such a remark, but the Cowboys’ win over the Buccaneers wasn’t as impressive as it’s being made out to be. Dallas easily should have won that game 41-0. The Buccaneers shouldn’t have scored that defensive touchdown and the Cowboys shouldn’t have allowed them to score their only offensive touchdown.
Romo did play well; he has elevated his game recently to a level not seen before during his NFL career. However, it’s premature to say the Cowboys could imitate the Packers’ unlikely Super Bowl run. That’s not to say it’s impossible; the Cowboys have the physical talent to win the Super Bowl this year. It’s mental setbacks that keep Dallas from being great.
Rodgers overcame that last year by playing unconsciously over the last part of the regular season and through the Super Bowl. Romo has the physical ability and talent to do the same, but he hasn’t yet. This could be a turning point in his career, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Follow Jeric Griffin on Twitter @JericGriffin
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Super Bowl contenders? You have to be kidding. I have been a Dallas fan for 40 years. These guys are the most inconsistant team in the NFL. Rookie mistakes not only on the field but on the sideline and owners box. Not only will they not make the Super Bowl they won’t win another game this year. Better get both a new coach and quarterback!
Talk about bandwagon fan.Your comment makes no sense at all. I mean, even I get mad at my Cowboys, but I never doubt what they could do. And it’s fans like you that say they’ve been a fan since ____ or they’ve been a fan for______ and say that you guys are real fans and you’re not. I understand you’re trying to be realistic, but damn, you sound like you’re an eagles fan. Instead of encouraging your team, you bash ‘em, you bash ‘em when they need their fans’ support the most. It’s fans like you that but tickets and sits in their seats the whole time and leaves the real fans at home or outside cheering their lungs out. if they beat–wait…WHEN we beat the Eagles AND the GIANTS dont bother staying a fan. You’re a bandwagon fan who doesnt believe in your team, my team, America’s Team.!!
Super Bowl? Hardly… until Al Davis Jr is gone this team will be a sub-par team. I know Romo is saying what the fans want to hear but he knows that this team would be destroyed by the Packers at this point. A D line that can’t get pressure and a secondary that couldn’t cover an 89 year old in a wheelchair…
10 Yards Newman couldn’t cover a fire if he were a wet blanket.. he’s had it. Time to move on. Jenkins can’t make a play without getting an ouchy… poor baby. It’s not Ryans scheme it’s lack of players…
Jason Garrett couldn’t coach a pee wee league team to a championship. He’s an idiot.. the biggest idiot of them all is Al Davis Jr.