Romo Friendly Offense: Week 7 vs Atlanta

Published on 29 October 2009 by Ryan Ritter in dallas cowboys

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Well folks, it’s been an awful long time since I’ve been able to watch and break down an offensive effort that was, I dare say, impressive. Let’s take a dive into what made this week so different from the rest.

Just how “Romo Friendly” were we?

Well, 21/29 for 311 yards, 3 TDs and 31 rushing yards on six scrambles sure isn’t bad at all; in fact, it was Romo’s best game since Tampa Bay. He flat out looked like a different QB than what we have seen the majority of the season. He even made one of those “only Romo can do that for us” plays in which he somehow dodged sacks multiple times before firing a perfect strike to Crayton in the endzone near the end of the first half.

“Romo Friendly”? I’d say so.

Checking the Balance

The Cowboys ran a total of 59 plays with 28 of them on the ground. As we saw in the previous section Romo threw 29 times and the two left over plays account for Atlanta’s two sacks. Now let’s keep in mind though, Romo ran six times when a pass was called. While we ended up with a 52.5% pass on the day, it really should look more like 62.7% pass being called by Garrett.

Balance in play calling? Not so much.

In the targets department, Miles Austin led the day with 8 targets. Jason Witten followed with 7. Roy Williams was the third favorite option with 5. Martellus Bennett was thrown to 3 times. Patrick Crayton and Felix Jones both saw a pair of passes their way. Finally, rounding out the day were Marion Barber and Tashard Choice each seeing a pass come their way.

Spreading the ball around? You bet — that’s 8 different receivers that saw passes their way, plus all of them had at least one reception.

Red Zone Still the No Score Zone?

The Cowboys scored a TD only on one of their three trips inside the Atlanta 20; however, unlike previous weeks, when they were in “Goal to Go” situations inside the 10, they were a perfect 1/1 and made good on their only chance that close inside Atlanta territory.

So what happened on the other two attempts. Well, the first trip in the Red Zone, saw a 3rd and 8 on the Atlanta 15 get pushed to a 3rd and 13 thanks to a false start. The following play was then incomplete to Roy Williams.

The final trip in the Red Zone was with less than three minutes to go, in which they entered the Red Zone after a 3rd and 9 run by Barber to land the Cowboys at the 16. So really, it is hard to count this one against them.

So, in short, you have more or less a 1/2 day in the Red Zone, and the non-successful trip was shot in the foot thanks to a penalty.

So Red Zone Woes fixed? Meh, kinda, sorta, not really — pick your favorite “maybe” word for this one.

STILL Miles Ahead of Everyone

The only other note to mention is Miles Austin is very quickly becoming the number one receiver for the Cowboys. Austin caught 6 passes for 171 yards and 2 TDs.

Once is a fluke, two weeks in a row is a pattern.

With Roy Williams seeming to have issues that includes the Terrel Owens disease of dropping passes (remember the 5 targets? Yeah, he caught one), Austin is starting to have the spotlight locked on him. Even putting multiple men on Austin doesn’t seem to help either, as he was able to find a hole in double coverage, and then proceeded to break three tackles on his way to the endzone.

While I can’t say with 100% confidence that Austin has arrived, let’s just say the evidence is becoming very compelling right now.

The Verdict

So, we weren’t really balanced…the Red Zone offense still has some issues…so what exactly was the reason for the Cowboys success this week?

Maybe I should note that Romo haters should arm their arguments and prepare to fire in the comments section right now. Why? Well, the reason we won this game the way we did was simple:

Tony Romo.

It isn’t just because of his amazing Houdini act at the end of the first half, but the overall effort he put out on the field. He only had eight incomplete passes all day long, and remember some of those were drops. He spread the ball all across the field and found spaces for his new playmaker, Miles Austin, to make plays.

Let’s not forget that Garrett still attempted to go pass-happy as per usual, yet Romo turned six of those pass plays into nice runs. Romo’s 31 rushing yards ensured that the Cowboys were able to have a 100+ yard rushing day (without said yards, we have 84). Romo saw the Falcons were all over his receivers, yet left the field wide open to him and he did what he should have and that was make the obvious running play.

Now, I’m sure folks will love to say “it’s just one week” or that “he’s nothing without Austin” or even my favorite “still hasn’t won a big game.” I haven’t been one to shy away from Romo criticism myself when he has deserved it, but I just can’t do that this week at all.

The fact of the matter is, in week 7, this offense really wasn’t “Romo Friendly” at all — it was Romo Driven.

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