Romo for MVP
(as of week 12)
Let's define the award MVP. MVP stands for
Most Valuable Player. The word value means the worth an object
possesses in relativity. In football context, the most valuable player
would be a player that the team values the most, and in turn, holds the
greatest value to a team out of all the teams. Under my interpretation,
the MVP award goes to the player that is most important to the success
of his team and has the greatest impact on his team compared to players
around the league. How does the team do with and without the player?
Although
you cannot always examine a team without a certain player if they never
leave the game, you can judge their value to a team based on the talent
and productivity around them. Of course you can judge a player off of
statistics, and many MVP winners win their award based off incredible
statistics, but it never tells the true story. In order to fully
analyze a player's ability you have to read between the stat lines and
look at the bigger picture down to their own performance.
An
obvious MVP candidate so far would be Kurt Warner, who not only leagues
the lead in passing yards and touchdown passes, but has brought his
team to 7-4 and leading the division. But if you read between the
lines, the Cardinals tell a different story. Kurt Warner throws to
arguably the best receiving tandem in the league with Anquan Boldin and
Larry Fitzgerald, both of which are top five in the league in receiving
yards per game. It might go both ways; however, does Kurt Warner make
the receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin who they are? Does he
make them the top receivers in the game?
Kurt Warner isn't doing
it by himself. Boldin, although missing games, leads the league in
yards after the catch even as a receiver. Only five of the top eleven
yards after the catch receivers are wide receivers. Why does that
matter? Yards after the catch is a stat that is mostly dominated by
running backs catching balls in the flats or with dump-off throws. Just
how good is Boldin at yards after the catch? Boldin not only leads the
league in yards after the catch, but he has missed two games in which
the gap could potentially have separated. Not only does Kurt Warner
have the leading receiver with yards after the catch, but also Larry
Fitzgerald ranks eighth for receivers in the category.
Tony Romo,
on the other hand, not only has the stats, but has showed his value as
well. At this point in the season, Romo is averaging 278 yards per
game, 40 yards less per game than Warner, but Warner attempts 7 more
passes a game. As a result, with the same amount of attempts, Romo
would average more yards a game. Touchdown wise, Kurt Warner has thrown
21 touchdowns to Romo's 18 touchdowns. However, Romo has played three
less games, and averages 2.25 touchdowns a game to Warner's 1.9
touchdowns a game.
The main focus of the award is value. After
watching Romo leave the lineup with injury, Brad Johnson, super bowl
champion quarterback, led the team to a 1-2 record. The only win came
with a defensive hold to 9 points. Even with the addition of Roy
Williams, Brad Johnson threw only two touchdown passes in three games,
and threw for five interceptions. Brad Johnson threw only two less
interceptions than Tony Romo did in five less games. During Johnson's
tenure at quarterback, the team scored a total of 41 points over three
games, the same amount of points the team scored against the Eagles in
one game with Romo at quarterback.
As Romo returned to the
lineup, the team has gone 2-0 with an important win over the division
rival Washington Redskins. A common rebuttal for Tony Romo's excelled
play was his array of weapons. Romo's weapons and the addition of Roy
Williams went silent under Brad Johnson. Terrell Owens, who previously
had a 36 yard per game average under Brad Johnson, exploded against the
San Francisco 49ers for over 200 yards receiving due to the great play
and deep ball of Tony Romo.
Through the revival of the Dallas
Cowboys since the return of Tony Romo, coupled with his statistical
output, Romo demonstrates his value and significance to the team. As
the Cowboys went from a super bowl contender with Romo, to one of the
worst teams when he left with injury, and back to playoff shape as he
returned to the team, Romo shows his ability and value to the Dallas
Cowboys.