Brett Favre says if the Cowboys play better, Tony Romo will be less reckless

Tony Romo will be the whipping boy of the Dallas Cowboys until they win a Super Bowl or any game of consequence. The team does have talent but for some reason it hasn't came together for them.

Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre believes that Romo shouldn't be judged on his one playoff win and that if the Cowboys play better Romo wouldn't have to be reckless.


“It’s the ultimate team sport,” said Favre, the featured speaker at an SMU athletic forum luncheon in Dallas. “I think it’s misleading to say that a quarterback has wins and losses and say he was a part of one playoff victory. I think there are a lot of factors that go into the success of not only Tony Romo but any player. Just what little bit I’ve watched the last couple of years, it seems like they were a little bit in disarray offensively. I thought he did a good job, from what I saw, of managing and making plays.

“Does that get you in trouble sometimes when you try to do too much? Sure it does. But I think I’d rather have a guy who’s willing to take those chances.”

“I like the way he plays,” Favre said. “I think there’s times that he’s made plays or decisions that were bad. But I think based on how the team has played or the way that the game has gone, for the most part, has kind of dictated the way his decision-making has played into it.

“I guess the way for me to explain it would be that if the Cowboys offense is going according to plan, say you’re up by 14, or you’re never out of it and your running game is OK, and you know where everyone is going to line up and you know what you’re going to get out of your defense, then I think he would probably play less recklessly. I think it just kind of falls in line with how maybe the season or the game goes.”

Romo had his finest statistical season in 2011, and Dallas finished 8-8. His worst season came last year, and, again, Dallas was 8-8. I've watched Cowboys games where the team was rolling and bad Romo decisions blew it for them (2011 vs. Lions). So while you can't pin the blame on Romo, Favre's claims aren't dead on.

While we shouldn't blame Tony for his reckless playing style.  We need to blame whoever's responsible for the team falling far enough behind that desperate play becomes needed -- i.e. the defense, who gives up points.  Oh, and the offense, who doesn't score enough to keep up, including (and especially) the leader of the offense... uh, oh yeah -- that'd be Romo, himself.

Which means that Romo will always get the blame no matter how you spin it.