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Sports Interaction betting analyst Frank Doyle wonders if Tony Romo is turning over a new leaf in Dallas.
Tony Romo's honeymoon is most definitely over in Dallas. Romo has been the Dallas quarterback for the past three years, and the fans of America's Team have been so taken by Romo's swashbuckling style and star quality that they've been willing to overlook the fact that Dallas still hasn't won in the playoffs since 1996. Thirteen years ago. And counting.
But that was then and this is now. Sports Interaction has priced Dallas as third favorite to win the NFC East, behind the New York Giants and Philadelphia, and those odds are not going to do much for fans' faith in the Cowboys' ability to break that increasingly humiliating playoff embarrassment.
Romo was called out earlier this summer by the Giants' running back Brandon Jacoby, who suggested that Romo wasn't all that, and the jibes seem to have hit home. Romo hit the headlines again by ending his sometimes controversial relationship with celebrity TV star Jessica Simpson, an indication, perhaps, that he himself sees a need for change.
It's hardly fair to the woman herself, but Jessica Simpson became emblematic of where it all went wrong for Tony Romo. After the early accolades in the 2006 season and some sympathy for a slippery-ball playoff fumble against Seattle, Romo's reputation changed at the end of 2007 when he chose to holiday in Mexico with Simpson before the playoffs. A perception grew that Tom Brady knew how to separate work time and play time but that Romo didn't, and that perception has dogged Romo since.
Playing like a drain after Thanksgiving doesn't help him either. The only people who work harder than top flight professional footballers at Christmas are the elves in Santa's grotto. If you've got it you've got to bring it in December, when it's cold in Pittsburgh and it's the fourth quarter and you're down 20-14 and there's ninety seconds left and sixty yards to go and James Harrison's told you he wants to use your head as a hood ornament after the game. That's when Unitas, Montana, Elway, Favre and the rest got it done. That's when Tony Romo isn't getting it done and that's what Cowboys fans - and Jerry Jones - are getting tired of.
Sports Interaction has set the over/under on Dallas' total wins at nine and for a team that's showing more and more question marks that number looks on the high side. DeMarcus Ware and the defense can hold their end of the bargain but Tony Romo has to get it done on his side of the ball. Or else it'll be happy trails and so long, been good to know you for Tony Romo.
Frank Doyle, Gambling911.com
