Jason Witten broke Michael Irvin's all-time reception record a few weeks ago. DeMarcus Ware is closing in on Harvey Martin's sack record – needing just five to become the Cowboys' all-time leader.
Haven't heard one fan disappointed to see either record fall. Ware and Witten are easily two of the biggest fan favorites and most appreciated.
So I have to wonder how Tony Romo will be perceived when he becomes the Cowboys' all-time leader in touchdown passes, an accomplishment he'll likely reach this weekend against the Eagles.
Romo is currently tied with Troy Aikman with 165 touchdown passes. He's got 16 this year over 11 games, so it's likely he will get at least one Sunday night against the Eagles.
Hopefully, critics of Romo can put aside their frustrations and applaud the quarterback for his accomplishment, especially in such a short time.
Aikman played 12 seasons with the Cowboys, which included 165 starts. Romo is pretty much halfway there right now with 88 starts and he's about to pass him in touchdowns.
Now there are many factors involved here. Emmitt Smith is one of them. Aikman probably lost a lot of touchdown throws to Smith once the ball got inside the 5-yard line. Here, Romo and the Cowboys still throw the ball from the 1. That's a product of Smith and that offensive line which is very different than what Romo had.
Plus, the game is different. It's a more spread-out league now and passing attempts are up for everyone.
With 88 starts for Romo, I compared his numbers to Aikman after his first 88 starts. Ironically, there are some big similarities as well as big differences.
Romo has 3,024 passing attempts to just 2,443 for Aikman, who had 17,529 yards. Romo has 23,929 passing yards and nearly double the touchdown passes for Aikman, 162-86.
The similarities are surprising. Despite the more attempts, Romo has 84 interceptions and Aikman had 79. The records after 88 starts: Aikman was 53-35 and Romo is 52-36.
While Romo never had the horrible team Aikman had in 1989, Romo hasn't had the Super Bowl winning teams either, so that sort of evens out.
Any way you slice it, this should be a good accomplishment for Romo. If you think the record is tainted because it's become a passing league, then make sure you said the same thing when Witten passed Irvin and when Ware passed Martin, since he obviously got more chances to rush the quarterback.
I know the big stat that will always separate Aikman and Romo is 3-0. That's the one that counts the most so save the argument – I get it.
But Romo has done here in a short amount of time should be recognized and appreciated. With everything going on this year and his lack of overall success, it likely won't.
