Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.There aren't too many must-win football games in Week 4, but Tony Romo could have used a victory Sunday in Denver instead of coming up just a little short -- fueling the fire for Romo-haters everywhere.
Romo was 25-for-42 on Sunday for 255 yards and had zero touchdown passes in Dallas' 17-10 loss in Denver. Romo was sacked five times and turned the ball over twice and Charean Williams of the Star-Telegram spoke of Romo's plummeting statistics.
Since the season opener against Tampa Bay, when he threw for 353 yards, three touchdowns and had a 140.6 passer rating, Romo has not been nearly as efficient. The past three games, he has completed 57.7 percent of his passes for 437 yards with one touchdown, three interceptions and a lost fumble.
Williams isn't the only member of the media assaulting Romo. There's been myriad mentions of Romo's decision to throw towards Sam Hurd in the waning moments of the game while in the red zone instead of Jason Witten who remained in pass protection. And we all know the knock on Romo in the playoffs.
But, this isn't playoff football, it's barely even real -- what's important is your fantasy football team and the numbers (win or lose for Dallas) that Romo can put up for King Diggity, or whoever may own Romo in your fantasy football league.
So, let's take an honest look Romo's numbers and see what those fantasy GM's have gotten from their 5th or 6th round draft choice.
• Romo ranks 9th in the NFL with 990 passing yards -- just behind Drew Brees and ahead of Jason Campbell.
• Romo has thrown four touchdown passes which has him tied with names like Tom Brady and Kurt Warner. Unfortunately four touchdown passes has him behind 18 other passers.
• Romo's four interceptions have him tied for 9th in the league and in special company with quarterbacks named Derek Anderson and JaMarcus Russell.
As you can see, the world isn't coming to an end due to Romo's lackluster offensive numbers, but they are lackluster for sure and he's surely not performing like you'd expect a player who was drafted in the early rounds to perform. He catches a lot of grief because of the team he plays for and that big stage he's on every week. In other locale's Romo's numbers would be glanced over and never mentioned. In Big "D" he's national news, day after day.
That said, you hopefully have a QB2 that's performing well enough to use from time to time when Romo is facing a tough matchup. But don't do anything hasty and dump Romo cheap because all you hear is negativity coming from the media. Romo just isn't as bad as the bad press he's getting currently.
Other Fantasy Football Notes
• Now that Chad Henne is instilled as the Dolphins quarterback it will be a while before we know which receivers he gravitates towards most often. Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel noticed that Miami rotated their receivers more in Henne's first start, leading to a smaller role for Ted Ginn Jr. This will be something to keep an eye on.
• Should Thomas Jones be worried that Jets coach Rex Ryan gave the ball to rookie Shonn Greene late in the game instead of Jones? Dave Hutchinson of The Star Ledger says that Ryan was not sending a message to Jones -- who had 48 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.
• Everyone expected that the bye week for Philadelphia would help solve some of their injury woes. Jeff McLane and Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer sent word that both Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook practiced on Monday.
• Giants receiver Steve Smith is averaging a touchdown reception per game and is leading the NFL with 411 receiving yards. Tim Smith of the New York Daily News says that Smith's 34 catches are the most through four games of any New York Giants receiver throughout history. Smith also says a lot about the chemistry between Eli Manning and Smith -- which should lead to more of the same as long as Manning is healthy enough to throw the ball.
• After rushing for a career-high 165 yards on 29 carries it's easy to see why Scott Brown of The Tribune-Review thinks Rashard Mendenhall may have elevated himself out of Mike Tomlin's doghouse. Now it's going to be interesting to see how Tomlin handles the running back duties when Willie Parker returns from his turf toe injury.
• For those wondering if Josh Johnson will be keeping the starting quarterback job in Tampa or if he's just keeping it warm for Josh Freeman -- Rick Stroud of The St. Petersburg Times says that the Buccaneers are committed to developing Johnson as their No. 1 quarterback.
