What could be better for the talking heads of TV land than a quarterback controversy in Dallas? Not much, unless Dez Bryant goes on a locker room tirade, stabbing a reporter. Or Jerry Jones being caught on film with some cocaine and dead hookers.
The fact is that the media loves a juicy story. If the juice is the blood from a promising rookie quarterback falling off the mountain built up by the media for him, even better.
Dak Prescott has been the talk of the League this year, helping his Cowboys to a magical season. Makes for a great story right?
Yes, but…..
Stories get old with us really fast. Our attention spans are gnat-like, and we need something to stimulate us. Football fans got that stimulation when:
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Prescott led Dallas to a hot start when Romo got hurt.
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He kept leading them to an 11-game win streak.
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Tony Romo fell on the sword so Dak wouldn’t hear about QB controversy when Romo was healed.
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Dak hit a slump and looked terrible in week 14 as the Giants handled him easily.
Now the stimulation comes as people are actually talking about Tony Romo taking over Dak’s team. And it is Dak’s team. The Cowboys are not 11-2 all because of the rookie’s great play at the passer position. They are 11-2 because he fits into the team better than Romo.
And no matter what the loudmouths on ESPN and the NFL Network say, football is a team game. Forget fantasy stats for a minute. Teams win Super Bowls, not individuals.
The noise isn’t going to stop, though. This controversy will continue into the playoffs. Dak does need to play better in order to quiet the noise, but it will only take a bad couple of plays in the playoffs for the commentators to ask about Romo.
I can hear Collinsworth now…“Is it time to let Romo come in if just to let Dak see things from the sideline for a series?”
Controversy and conflict move the needle. It makes NFL fans pay attention and take their nose out of their FanDuel app for a few minutes.
Constant good news about America’s Team can’t hold fans’ interest.
Dak may be in a mini slump. But he is still in the same mode he has been in all year. Dallas has not looked for him to be Tom Brady.
Jason Garrett has just needed the kid to be steady and simply manage the offense while the O-line mashes folks and Zeke wins Rookie of the Year in the process.
Dak has done his job and of course deserves to keep it, no matter what the final outcome is. The Cowboys have seen the end result with Romo under center. It just wasn’t good enough in years past.
Prescott deserves the chance to prevail or fail after helping get his team this far. He will grow either way.
But you see, that’s the long-term story. A rookie becoming better a little at a time until he does maybe win a title.
The short term, exciting story would be Tony Romo removing his Samurai sword from his belly and rising up to lead his team to a Super Bowl win.
Not only that. Romo is getting back in as a starter in a big playoff game only to lose. That would be another ridiculous swing that would give us writers even more controversy to write about and talking heads more to vent about.
Many would ask, “Why would Garrett mess with success,” even after those same commentators mentioned Romo taking over in the first place.
And round and round we go.