Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones is so confident in Tony Romo, there's no other quarterback he'd rather have when the team needs to get down the field for the win in the fourth quarter. When asked how he'd feel if the Cowboys had the ball with two minutes left and down four points, Jones was quick in his response.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: Tony Romo is NFL’s best QB in the 4th quarter
Jerry Jones recently applauded his quarterback’s fourth-quarter prowess and rightly so, despite the negative reputation he carries for a few mistakes.
Wesley Hitt
“I’m expecting to win it,” Jones told KRLD-FM. “I hadn’t booked it, but we had ‘em against Denver. And we’ve got a quarterback that’s the best in the business in the fourth quarter. He’s the best.
“He can make it happen when it’s not there,” Jones added. “Other than being ahead with the ball, there’s no one I’d rather have at this time than to have Romo trying to get us down the field in a short period of time.”
Romo has come under heavy fire once again this season for a perceived inability to win in the "clutch' after his fourth-quarter interception against the Denver Broncos. Despite playing the most efficient season of his career with a 70.2 completion percentage and third-best 108.6 passer rating, the same debate is once again raging over Romo's competency with the game on the line.
The numbers do back Jones up, to a point. Since 2006, when Romo became a regular NFL starter, no other quarterback has a better passer rating in the fourth quarter. His play when the score is tied or close in the fourth quarter is also right alongside the “elite” quarterbacks in the NFL, according to a study on NFL.com.
Per the same report, only Peyton Manning, Donovan Mcnabb, Matt Stafford, Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers has a better pass attempts per interception ratio than Romo. Only Manning and Rodgers, along with Romo, are among the leaders in fourth quarter comebacks.
Scott Kacsmar of Cold Hard Football Facts took a run at the debate before the season and found that Romo had just 10 turnovers in so-called clutch situations in his 27 total losses. Philip Rivers, a quarterback that Romo is frequently compared to, has 22 such turnovers in that time.
Romo is No. 6 among active quarterbacks with 18 fourth-quarter comebacks and is tied for No. 9 with 19 game-winning drives. It should be noted that Romo has only been playing since 2006.
| GWG Active Leaders | 4QC Active Leaders | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Peyton Manning | 50 | Peyton Manning | 39 |
| Tom Brady | 39 | Tom Brady | 28 |
| Drew Brees | 32 | Eli Manning | 24 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 29 | Ben Roethlisberger | 22 |
| Eli Manning | 28 | Drew Brees | 21 |
| Matt Hasselbeck | 24 | Tony Romo | 18 |
| Matt Ryan | 23 | Matt Hasselbeck | 16 |
| Carson Palmer | 22 | Matt Ryan | 16 |
| Jay Cutler | 19 | Philip Rivers | 15 |
| Tony Romo | 19 | Carson Palmer | 15 |
The simple truth is that Romo has played for a team that has just one playoff win since 2006 with the Cowboys missing the playoffs on the final game of the season each of the past two years. Romo has proven to be one of the very best with the game on the line, with his failures unfortunately getting much more attention than his successes.
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