I read and heard a lot of so-called “experts” attacking Tony Romo for the Dallas Cowboys disastrous performance against the Chicago Bears on Monday. One thing must be said. It wasn’t all Romo’s fault. In fact, he is the only thing that makes Dallas anywhere near a viable contender in the NFC East.
Maybe we should start pointing fingers at Dez Bryant? What about the performance of the Cowboys offensive line? Of course, as the starting quarterback Romo is going to face the most criticism, but a lot of it is unfounded.

Kevin Ogletree let a ball bounce of his hands in the red zone, ending what could have been a touchdown scoring drive. Bryant made a multitude of different mistakes, including a mistaken route that led to a pick-six for Chicago. He then let a ball bounce of his shoulder pads on a crucial third-down, leading to a field goal in what could have been another touchdown scoring drive. This doesn’t even take into account a ball that went through Bryant’s hands on a perfectly thrown pass by Romo that probably should have turned into a touchdown.

Okay, by my estimation Dallas receivers left a total of at least 15 points on the board, with a 22-point turnaround in favor of the road-tripping Bears. How the hell is that Romo’s fault?

Of course the five interceptions that the enigmatic quarterback threw is what’s going to make headlines. Why not? After all, he did throw FIVE INTERCEPTIONS!! In fact, Romo is the only active quarterback with multiple five-interception games. Where is JaMarcus Russell when you need him? Oh wait, he never did either.

It comes to a point when you just look at a football team and realize they don’t have the “it” factor. Right now, Dallas would be a perfect representation of that. They have all the talent in the world, probably more than three quarters of the teams in the National Football League.

So what is the issue?

Their talent just doesn’t know how to play together. Romo is continually out of sync with Bryant and other Cowboys’ receivers.  They just don’t seem to have that relationship that quarterbacks and receivers need to have in order to be successful on the football field. The drive doesn’t seem to be there either. Once things start to go wrong for Dallas during a game it seems that they check out mentally. In order to be successful in the NFL a team must be able to overcome issues mid-game and become stronger for it.
What about the coaching?

This is where it gets really sticky if you ask me. I am going to start with defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, who seems to be doing more harm than good. No, I am not talking about defensive scheme. Ryan has actually been one of the best in the league in terms of utilizing the talent that he has on the defensive side of the ball.

It is more about his personality and how it harms the team. During a crucial second half pass interference call, Ryan was too busy attacking officials, which will probably get him a fine, instead of actually getting into the head of Jason Garrett and demanding that Dallas challenges that the ball was tipped prior to the PI call. How does this happen?

As a coach, Ryan is expected to actually maintain a certain balance on the sideline. Moreover, he is expected to understand the rules and not let his passion for the game affect his ability to actually make sound decisions.

This nearly cost Dallas another four points as Chicago almost got the snap off before Garrett was able to throw the challenge flag.

On that note, what about Garrett? He just doesn’t seem to have a full grasp on being a head coach in the National Football League. Now in his second full season as the head man in Dallas, Garrett cannot continue to make mistakes in terms of game management and scheme. More importantly, he needs to have control of the sidelines and every coach on the team. This obviously hasn’t happened throughout the last 20-plus games.

Instead of placing the blame directly on Romo, we need to look further at the issues in Dallas. This is a team that continues to play to a much lower standard than its talent suggests. In the process, Dallas has been nothing more than marginal over the last few seasons. The culture must change in order for the Cowboys to move forward and utilize the talent they possess to the best of their ability. If not, this is going to be a continuing theme moving forward.

While Romo is the figurehead, the issues in Dallas go much further than the enigmatic quarterback. That is the truth!!!