Dallas Cowboys Midseason Grades: ‘The Party is Over’

QUARTERBACKS

Sep 20, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) throws a pass against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

We all know how this is going to go … without Romo under center, the quarterback position for the Cowboys has been inept and has entered the category of being some of the worst quarterback play since Troy Aikman retired and Romo arrived on the scene.

Romo was injured in Week 2, and in his six or so quarters of game time this season, he was 54-of-72 for 551 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He was sacked three times in the first two games of the season but completed 75 percent of his passes, averaging 7.7 yards per completion.

Brandon Weeden in his time as a starter for the Cowboys in relief of Romo (three starts, four games played) was 71-of-98 for 738 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s completed 72.4 percent of his passes in those games, but when he was on the field the Cowboys rarely went with a deep passing game, and the offense seemed a bit generic due to the fact there wasn’t much of a running game and receivers rarely were open.

Weeden didn’t help his cause with his overall play either, eventually leading to him being benched.

As for the current starter, Matt Cassel, he’s 55-of-90 for 623 yards, completing 61.1 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and four interceptions. At least one of those interceptions wasn’t their fault, and one of the touchdown passes was mostly due to the  athletic ability of Bryant catching the football on a miracle throw (though credit Cassel, he did avoid a sack on that throw Sunday night).

Overall, the play of the quarterbacks has been vastly disappointing, and until Romo returns, it will most likely stay that way. There was a reason why Weeden and Cassel each started this season as backups, and there is a reason why they’ve combined for zero wins as starting quarterbacks for the Cowboys this season.

The backup plan for a Romo injury really hasn’t been what you can call successful, and for that (and taking Romo out of this equation because he’s basically missed the first half of the season), the duo of Weeden and Cassel have earned a mid-season grade of …. D+.

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