Just how much does a healthy Tony Romo mean to the Dallas Cowboys? Well, for a team that won just four games in 2015 playing much of the year without their star quarterback, they are pegged as a nine-win team by oddsmakers in 2016.
It’s not crazy to think the ‘Boys can win at least 10 games and maybe more if Romo stays upright. After all, Dallas went 12-4 in 2014 when Romo started 15 games. The only regular season game he missed that season resulted in, you guessed it, a loss.
Dallas Cowboys Regular Season Win Total Odds at BookMaker.eu
Cowboys Over 9 Wins -119
Cowboys Under 9 Wins -101
Coming off a lost season in which Romo missed 12 games to injury, the Cowboys search for redemption. Dallas finished just 4-12 straight up last year, its worst record since Jimmy Johnson's first season in town. While the Cowboys can write off last season to injuries, owner Jerry Jones expects more this season.
The Cowboys did little in free agency despite their worst record since 1989. But Romo, Dez Bryant and Orlando Scandrick – who missed a combined 35 games in 2015 – return from injuries, and the team drafted running back Ezekiel Elliott.
The real issue, though, was when Romo wasn’t playing. The backup quarterback, if it was Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel or Kellen Moore, simply didn’t do the job. Now rookie Dak Prescott gets the chance, and the former Mississippi State star hopes he stays as Romo’s backup for this season.
2016 Dallas Cowboys Schedule
Week 1: vs. New York Giants +4
Week 2: at Washington Redskins PK
Week 3: vs. Chicago Bears +6
Week 4: at San Francisco 49ers +3
Week 5: vs. Cincinnati Bengals PK
Week 6: at Green Bay Packers -6
Week 7: BYE
Week 8: vs. Philadelphia Eagles +3.5
Week 9: at Cleveland Browns +5
Week 10: at Pittsburgh Steelers -6
Week 11: vs. Baltimore Ravens +4.5
Week 12: vs. Washington Redskins +3.5
Week 13: at Minnesota Vikings -4.5
Week 14: at New York Giants -1
Week 15: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers +6
Week 16: vs. Detroit Lions +5
Week 17: at Philadelphia Eagles
If the Cowboys are going to overcome their horrendous 2015, they can do it in a hurry this season, with four winnable games out of the chute. The ‘Boys will be better as long as Romo sticks around and facing the Giants, Redskins, Bears and Niners to open the year can make Dallas forget all about last season. It’s conceivable Dallas could open with four straight wins, matching its win total from 2015 in the first month of the season.
QUICK PICK
Last season was an anomaly – all the key injuries, the inept quarterback play, the drama every week. That won’t happen again. Are the Cowboys flawed? Hell yes they are, but so is every other team in the NFL. They have no pass rush and their first two picks raised some eyebrows.
Bottom line is the Cowboys need their quarterback to stay on the field to have a chance at a rebound season. Romo played only two full games – both victories – and less than three quarters of two others, twice breaking his collarbone. Romo is now 36 years old and hasn’t played a full 16-game schedule since 2012.
The Cowboys can’t count on Romo to stay in the lineup for an entire season. Yet, they did nothing to shore up the backup spot in free agency. Prescott may be the quarterback of the future, but Moore is the primary backup right now. If Romo is lost for an extended period of time, the Cowboys will suffer once again.
But a healthy Romo and Dez Bryant is enough to shift the paradigm in the wacky NFC East yet again, and it’s hard to believe the Cowboys won’t do just that. Those two can carry a team, and Rod Marinelli will find some fits on defense. Ten wins will get it done for the Boys in 2016.
NFL Odds: Dallas Cowboys Over 9 Wins
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