Tony Romo's last game as the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys was in 2015. A year later Dak Prescott took over for his predecessor. Romo was banged up pretty badly in 2015 and only started and played in 4 games due to fracturing his left clavicle. Back-up Matt Cassel became the starter and now Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore stepped in as the back-up. Dallas went 4 - 12 that season!
Courtesy of NFL.com
Knowing that Romo was all but done and the current quarterback room was more like a Division III film study class, Jerry Jones had to take a chance on a QB at some point in the draft. Although he didn't know that the 135th selection in the 4th round out of Mississippi State was going to be that guy. Dak Prescott stepped right in as a rookie for the injured Romo and lit up the league immediately throwing for 3,667 yards, 23 touchdown passes and only 4 interceptions. That was it for #9 as the #4 era was to begin in big D.
Things started out pretty well for Dak and the Cowboys as the media once again took notice of "America's Team." Dak led Dallas to a 13 - 3 record in his rookie year, winning the NFC East and booking them a ticket to the NFL tournament. This story sounds familiar. There's some paradox between Romo and Precott's careers because the way they came out of the gate are near mirror images of each other.
When Tony Romo took over for an older, often injured Drew Bledsoe in 2006, he led Dallas to a 6-4 record helping the Cowboys reach the post season as a wild card team. Romo took the Cowboys to the playoffs four times in his career as their starting quarterback going 2 - 4 in those games.
Romo was putting up Pro Bowl numbers when his career started taking off. He threw for over 4,000 four times and led the NFL in completion percentage in 2014. He threw over 30 TD's four times in his career as well. In three seasons he had single digit picks which is hard to do for a QB who dropped back to pass as much as Romo did.
As hot as Romo was to start his career with the star on his helmet, Dak was even better. Dak has had a fantastic TD - INT ratio in his short yet thrilling career. Prescott has thrown 143 touchdown passes and only 50 interceptions. He's thrown for over 4,000 yards twice and has led Dallas to the post season three times since taking over for Romo. His record is 1 - 3 in those contests.
Romo finished his career with a 65.3 completion percentage. Dak currently has a 66.6 rate. Now I can go on and on with the numbers and statistics to back up this claim. This isn't a slight on either quarterback. It's an interesting comparison to how they both started their careers and if Dak is on the same path as Romo was until he retired. When you're the QB in Big D then a lot is expected from you and it's never enough. Just ask Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach.
Dak took a noticeable step backwards in the 2021 season, especially as the playoffs approached. Then in the Wild Card game Dak and the offense simply didn't show up. Dak Prescott got paid a lot of money and it's not to pay for a post season berth. That money was spent for post season wins and a Lombardi Trophy in the near future. Like it or not, that's the world Dak lives in when it comes to football. Can he do what Romo didn't and no Cowboy quarterback has done since Troy?