Hot hand or old reliable?
Every once in a while, a franchise faces the dilemma of sticking with their veteran franchise quarterback or moving on to a younger and more promising prospect. It happened with Brett Favre and Peyton Manning. The same is happening to Tony Romo.
Riddled with injuries the past few years, Romo has struggled to stay on the field. Each year they try and replace him with a new quarterback and it always ends up failing. This year they have a different situation on their hands. Dak Prescott, out of Mississippi State, is off to a fantastic start. He set the record for most completions to start a career without an interception. He also has led the Cowboys to a 5-1 record, which is one of the best starts to a rookie year ever. He is making a case for rookie of the year, along with his fellow teammate Ezekiel Elliot, as well as MVP. It seems as though he has run this system for years. That just makes it more difficult to sit him once Romo is eligible to return.
Many people believe that Tony Romo has lost his game. They are dead wrong. Comparing the statistics from Romo's last six games to Dak Prescott's, they are almost identical. The only difference is the interceptions, Romo has a lot more. Besides that, they have both played extremely well and have led their team to great records. Right now it is toss up to whether who should start. They both would be great leaders for this talented team. For the answer to this dilemma, I thought it would be best to base the decision off last years Denver Broncos.
Peyton Manning was not playing all too well last year, but he still led his team to a good record. Then he got injured and the team turned to Brock Osweiler. He then ran the team for the time that Manning was gone, and did a good job at it. The big question remained what the Broncos would do once Manning returned from injury. They decided to go with the hot hand in Osweiler, but they kept him on a short leash. He played all the way until week 17 when the team desperately needed a win. Brock had been struggling for the past few games and was heading towards a loss. That is when the team put Manning back into the starting role. He picked up right where he left off and led his team to a win. Then he led them all the way to Super Bowl champs.
I am certainly not saying that the Cowboys will have the exact same luck, nor make it to the Super Bowl, but they do have a shot at the playoffs. For now, they should stick with the hot hand in Prescott, and if he struggles then bring in Romo. It is not disrespecting what the veteran has done, but this league is about wins, and that is exactly what Prescott is doing right now. I do not believe he will be able to sustain his play through out the whole season. Once he starts to decline, then making Romo a starter would be the best call.
Hopefully you enjoyed this perspective for the Cowboys dilemma. Let me know what you think they should do!
