For at least the next two games, the Cowboys offense will be guided by 40-year-old Brad Johnson while regular starter Tony Romo recovers from a broken pinky.
Johnson, now in his 17th NFL season, won a Super Bowl with this week’s opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is one of the reasons Johnson was brought in,, as Johnson is the only player on the Cowboys roster with a ring.
But, is he the Cowboys best option at backup quarterback? I say no.
Romo is one of the new breed of “mobile” quarterbacks that is coveted in football these days. When I say mobile, I don’t mean the guy who is capable of taking it to the house when the pocket breaks down but rather his ability to avoid sacks and keep the play going by using his feet. In a short time, Romo has shown he is one of the better “mobile” quarterbacks in the NFL.
Johnson, on the other hand, is your classic drop back passer at this point in his career. When he is in the game, the onus is on the offensive line to hold their blocks as long as they can so Johnson can deliver the ball. This is one of the factors that hamstrings the offense without Romo. His injury means there is less margin for error with the offensive line and that fact showed itself against the Rams last week. The line was unable to give Johnson adequate time to look down field for receivers and he was forced to check down too often. The running game also suffered and the offense went nowhere.
Johnson didn’t help himself when he did have time, as he would either under throw receivers or have bad timing with receivers. Sometimes the receiver would run a bad route or Johnson would just miss the throw.
I think the Cowboys should have a backup quarterback that has a playing style similar to Romo’s. The difference in Romo’s and Johnson’s playing styles is night and day and that creates a lot of problems for the offense and forces a bit of a change in philosophy. The Cowboys live and die with the big play, but those big plays will be few and far between if the offensive line can’t protect Johnson or if he can’t deliver the ball down field.
When the season is over, I hope the Cowboys reevaluate what they have at the backup quarterback position and make the decision to obtain someone who is closer to Romo’s ability so there won’t be as much of a change in the offense. With the amount of unpredictability in the NFL, one thing that should stay as consistent as possible is the offensive gameplan.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
In a way I do agree with you that the Dallas Cowboys should have a better choice than Brad Johnson in the event Tony Romo got hurt. Johnson is a serviceable quarterback at best. The main reason he won a Super Bowl in Tampa Bay was he had an outstanding defense so his mistakes really did not matter. In Dallas the defense is not playing well and is not as good as what Brad Johnson had in Tampa Bay when he won. The Cowboys better look to bring another quarterback in next season or this problem could happen again.
Brad Johnson is barely good enough to be a backup, so he certainly isn’t good enough to start. We need to go to third string or to the practice squad for a decent QB.
Brains don’t count nearly as much as mobility.
agreed. Johnson is not ‘the best option’, but when your defense allows a gazillion rushing yards and you kill drives with stupid penalties, no one, not even Troy, is going to look good taking the snaps. Johnson is the least of the worries. I do expect better from him than a 4 of 12 start this week, at least from a timing perspective.