Red Zone Blues: The Tony Romo Story

Well folks, things change quickly in sports. One minute, you're on top of the world, banging Jessica Simpson and leading "America's Team" to glory. The next, you're being lambasted in the press for the same relationship and you're ending your season with a red zone bungle for the second year in a row. Tony Romo, how the mighty have fallen.

DALLAS vs. GIANTS
I like Tony Romo, or I guess I should say I don't dislike him. He's a fun player to watch, he seems like a good guy, and he throws passes to Giants. What's not to like?

The whole Jessica Simpson thing is ridiculous. She didn't cause him to lose. He lost on his own. The media likes stories like this and blew this one up to unfathomable extremes. The real story here isn't that he dates Jessica Simpson. It's that he loses when it matters. Tom Brady impregnates that girl from the movie with Colin Farrell and then dates Gisele Bunchen and it's a story for 10 minutes because he then goes out and wins three Super Bowls and goes 17-0. Romo goes on vacation with his girlfriend and it's front page news - because he then goes out and loses. In sports, there's one sure-fire way to stay above bad press: back it up on the field. For all the horrible sports stories out there (OJ, Sean Taylor, Spygate) I just can't get worked up about a guy going on vacation with his girlfriend. It's a really, really, really stupid story. And it's not the reason he choked. Tony Romo ended last season with his butt on the turf too, long before he ever met Jessica Simpson.

The Dallas/Giants game was awesome, if you were rooting for the Giants. The premier quarterback fell flat and Charlie Brown reincarnated came through. Eli Manning has now led the underdog Giants to two straight postseason wins, showing poise and skill in the process. He might not be the best quarterback in the League, but he has come through when it has mattered this season and is getting the job done. Early in his career (and later in his career, and currently) Peyton Manning played better regular season football than anyone, ever. But he could never bring that level of play into the playoffs. He would always find a way to lose. Eli seems to be the opposite. During the regular season, he has been unconfident and inconsistent. But starting with that New England game, he has looked phenomenal. He has led the Giants to a place Peyton Manning failed to lead the Colts this season, to the conference championship game.

I don't really expect Eli to go into Lambeau and outplay Brett Favre. Even if the Giants lose to the Packers (a superior team with a tremendous home field advantage), Eli's accomplishments this postseason cannot be forgotten. He has done what it took his brother much longer to do: win football games in January.

Following the game, Terrell Owens gave a press conference in which he broke down in tears defending Tony Romo. You can watch this here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=X7huZxy2QNE. A lot of people are giving him grief, and let's face it, he deserves grief, but I actually give TO credit here. For the first time in his career, his thoughts are on someone besides Terrell Owens. I also give Romo credit for being the first QB since Steve Young to command such respect from Owens.

Colts vs. Chargers
The game that upset me the most was the Colts game. Tony Dungy may well retire after this season and if he does, he will leave with 3 or 4 or 5 fewer rings than he deserves. I have written extensively about the post-season failures of Peyton Manning and I truly believe that if Tom Brady and Peyton Manning played for the opposite teams, the Colts might have won 3-5 Super Bowls instead of only one. Yesterday's loss was not Manning's fault. Despite his two interceptions, the fatal plays were Harrison's fumble and Wayne's drop (which wasn't really his fault, since he was laid out faster than Jessica Simpson in Cabo). Peyton Manning may very well be the best regular season quarterback of all time, but before he won the Super Bowl, he found a way to lose every single year despite consistently having the best team in the NFL. It's incredible when you consider that Brady won three Super Bowls with vastly inferior weapons during a time when the Colts were the best team in the NFL. I like Peyton Manning and do think that he is behind his postseason troubles, but it's almost unforgivable that he squandered all those seasons and robbed Indianapolis of the dynasty it could have had.

Speaking of Brady, he's f'ing incredible. That's all I have to say about that.

I'm bitter that Peyton Manning and Tom Brady won't be playing each other next week. I mean, is there a less likable quarterback in the NFL than Philip Rivers? First he mocks Jay Cutler after the Chargers beat the Broncos. Then he gets into a fight with the Colts fans in a game that he left and watched his backup win. Seriously, dude. Stop it. He played well yesterday before he was injured but the Chargers reached the playoffs in the first place in spite of his performance, not because of it. I watched this guy play in college when he was at NC State and really liked his game. Now he makes TO look like Cal Ripken. Even LT couldn't believe Rivers wasn't going back into that game. I can't wait for New England to beat the poop out of him next week - if he even plays.

To close, let me share with you a statement my dad made during the Packers game: "This is football the way it's meant to be played." Brett Favre at Lambeau in the snow.

Only way it could be better is if they were playing the Giants. I can't wait 'til next week.