A Defense For Tony Romo (Not That It Should Be Needed)

Following a heated debate at Thanksgiving and then a repeat performance a week ago with my cousin about the merits of Tony Romo vs. Jon Kitna, I decided to embark on some statistical research regarding both Cowboy quarterbacks.

I will preface this post by publicly declaring my undying fandom for Romo. I appreciate Kitna and think he was the second-best back-up quarterback in 2010, behind Michael Vick who really shouldn’t count but did technically start the season as second string. Obviously my bias for Romo is what has fueled this rant. Yet being the ex-journalist I am, I have gone into this with some objectivity and wanted to find out the true stats of each quarterback for the 2010 season.

Before we get into the meat and potatoes of this post, I want to prelude once more with some background information on each player. Romo only played five full games and part of a sixth. Kitna played the other portion of Romo’s sixth game, eight full games, and half of a game in week 16. It should also be noted that all of Romo’s statistics were attained under Wade Phillips, whereas Kitna played under both Phillips and interim coach Jason Garrett, which I think everyone can agree should be considered when comparing these two quarterbacks.

Beginning with Romo’s seasonal stats, after six games he finished the year with 1,605 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He went 148 for 213, resulting in a 69.5 completion percentage and averaging 7.5 yards per pass attempt. He was sacked seven times and rushed for 38 yards, gaining 6.3 yards per rush. Romo had a QB rating of 94.9.

In the ten games Kitna was a part of, he passed for 2,365 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. His completion percentage at the end of the season was 65.7, completing 209 of 318 passes and averaging 7.4 yards per pass attempt. Kitna was sacked 21 times, rushed for 147 yards, attained 4.7 yards per rush attempt, and rushed for one touchdown. His passer rating for the season was 88.9.

In every statistic that is averaged out for the season Romo was the favorite and where Kitna’s numbers were higher it was mostly due to playing more games than Romo and being involved in an offense that had more spark under interim coach Garrett. To get an idea of how much more effective the offense was under Garrett than Wade Phillips, who each coached eight games apiece, Garrett got the team to score an average of 29.125 points per contest while Phillips scoring average was 20.125. One might argue that Garrett was the same guying leading the offense under both regimes, but it was clear to see that the team had given up under Wade Phillips and Garrett sparked a renewed fire inside of them once Phillips had been fired.

To take things a step further and look at two individual games from each quarterback under Wade Phillips, it is clear that on Romo’s worst days he was still a better option than Kitna. Regarding the only two games Kitna started for Phillips in weeks eight and nine, the team lost both games to Jacksonville and Green Bay by 18 and 38 points respectively. Against Jacksonville, Kitna three for 379 yards, went 34 for 49, had 12 rushing yards and was sacked only once. However, hit touchdown to interception ratio is what led to the 18-point thumping by Jacksonville, as he threw only one touchdown and four picks. In Green Bay he improved slightly in one area and faltered drastically in others. His touchdown/interception ration decreased to 1:2, but he only threw 19 completions on 30 attempts, amassed a measly 183 passing yards and was sacked four times.

Of the five full games Romo played, his worst two games were against Washington in week 1 and Minnesota in week 6. The team lost by a total of nine points combined. In Washington, Romo threw for 282 yards, with 31 completions on 47 attempts. He had one passing touchdown, no interceptions, and was sacked once. In Minnesota, he went 24 for 32 with 220 passing yards, 31 rushing yards, three touchdown throws and two picks.

Like my cousin, many Romo haters are going to dismiss the numbers in this article and either state that “stats are for losers” or claim that Romo should be benched over Kitna because of the way he wears his cap backwards. It is useless to argue with such people because until Romo wins three championships for the Dallas Cowboys he will never get his due.