Jay Cutler and Tony Romo. Good quarterbacks on the brink of becoming elite. Choke artists in the spotlight. Both have cannons for throwing arms. Both have disappointing offensive lines. Both are highly turnover-prone players. Both are dating or have dated Hollywood starlets.
It’s all been said. It’s all been debated. Let’s get over it already.
Indeed, the similarities are there and people can argue back and forth all they want as to who is the better quarterback. But Jay Cutler and Tony Romo, as the players they are right now, are not even worth the debate.
Here at BearGogglesOn, both Boomer and myself have made cases for Cutler not being the quarterback to lead the Bears to a championship. I would also strongly argue that Tony Romo is not the quarterback to lead the Cowboys to a championship either. He’s 32 years old now and still has a few years left in the tank, but the team surrounding him — particularly the defense — is not nearly as strong as it used to be. The same thing can be said for Cutler and the Bears defense that, while it has looked impressive so far this season, is obviously aging and has a very tiny window for success. Both team’s offensive lines have struggled so far this season and injuries have hampered several offensive weapons on both sides, including Matt Forte and Jason Witten. Even when healthy, neither team looks primed to make a serious push for a championship this season and neither quarterback looks to be emerging as an “elite” player anytime soon.
The point here is that comparing Jay Cutler and Tony Romo is like comparing the 9th place and 10th place finishers at the Olympics. They’re not the best at what they do and they’ll probably never be the best at what they do — so just accept them for who they are as players. It’s simply a waste of time and does not need to happen. Bears fans should be more concerned with comparing Cutler to Aaron Rodgers, a player they see twice a season who poses the biggest threat to the team’s success. Cowboys fans should be more concerned with comparing Romo to Eli Manning, a player whose team stands in their way almost every season around playoff time.
I understand that the Bears and Cowboys square off on Monday night, so it’s natural to compare the two players right now. I also understand the similarities between the two and the natural tendency to put them side by side. But there needs to be a higher standard here than what Cutler and Romo have played up to so far in their careers.
Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning and arguably even a few more — they’re all better quarterbacks than Cutler and Romo. Until Cutler and Romo can be mentioned in the same breath as those other quarterbacks, there’s simply no debate worth having on the topic.
Let’s just leave it at that.