There seems to be an overwhelming consensus that
Tony Romo is and always will be a choke artist when it comes to big, meaningful games. It seems as if everyone from the media, fans of other teams, and some
Cowboys fans all feel this way. I'm here to play devil's advocate on this subject. While I do not think Romo is perfect, I think he takes too much blame for the struggles in December and in the playoffs. So here is my argument for why Romo is not a choke artist.
2006 season (Romo's 1st with significant playing time): Romo came in after 6 or so weeks as an unknown commodity. He played incredibly well for his 1st 6 or 7 weeks but struggled in December. Almost every QB goes through growing pains in the 1st season as a starter. D-Coordinators figure out different ways to counter a QBs strengths and exploit weakness. Young QBs struggle to overcome these different schemes and this could easily explain why Romo struggled. It took a few weeks for D-Coordinators to figure Romo out but they did and he had some struggles. Also, against Seattle in the playoffs, everyone remembers the bobbled snap that ended up costing us the game. No one ever remembers that he drove the team down to the 1 yard line on the road against the defending NFC champ in the last 2 mins in his 1st playoff game. And if Gramatica did anything to block Babineaux, Romo would have scored. Overall, in that game he did everything you want from a QB, but messed up as a holder. I don't think he choked as a QB in this season--chalk it up to growing pains.
2007 season (Romo's 1st full season as a starter): Romo played great up untill December. But by December, The Cowboys had the #1 seed essentially locked up. There was little desire to come out on fire and I think everyone grew complacent. And when it came to the playoffs, we got knocked out by eventual the Super Bowl champs. No one called out Brady for losing the Super Bowl to the
Giants despite being a 14 point favorite. Everyone blamed the Pats loss on the pressure put on Brady but the Cowboys lost because Romo choked. Romo was heavily pressured the whole game and still had the team in a position to win. Crayton had 2 drops that were potentially game changing plays if he just caught 1. Everyone points to the facts that Romo's interception ended the game but it was on 4th down with 20 seconds left and no time-outs. He had to throw it up in the endzone. It is also tough to beat a good team like the Giants 3 times in 1 season. I don't think it is horrible to lose to the eventual Super Bowl champs while playing them down to the last few seconds. Due to the pass rush, Crayton's drops, and difficulty in beating a good team 3 times in a season, I don't think Romo choked in this season--chalk December up to complacency by the whole team and the playoffs to running into an essential buzz-saw.
2008 season (Romo's 2nd full season as a starter): Romo played well but ran into problems in December, again. This time his troubles were against the
Steelers (SB champs),
Ravens (went to AFC title game),
Eagles (went to NFC title game), and the Giants (#1 seed in the NFC). Those are 3 excellent defenses. The Eagles game was inexcusable since NO ONE showed up. Romo can't be solely balmed for choking in that game since the other 52 guys didn't show up. He could have been incredible and they still would have been blown out. The Ravens game should be blamed on the defense. Those 2 80 yard runs would not have occurred if Romo wasn't driving the Cowboys' offense down the field against an excellent Ravens defense. We put up 17 points in the 4th (I believe) and if the defense gets a stop we have a great chance to win. Against the Steelers, Romo threw a critical INT but Garrett went into conservative mode and played not to lose. Then all of a sudden Romo had to turn the switch on and get the offense in gear against a tremendous defense. Overall, in this season, Romo wasn't the main reason for 2 December losses and arguably the 3rd. He wasn't the sharpest but I feel he didn't choke--chalk this season up to a brutal schedule.
Well, that was long-winded, but there is my argument for why Romo is not the huge choker everyone claims he is. Overall, Romo may not have been incredible but I did my best to explain away those struggles. Feel free to pick it apart as much as possible.