Cold weather, the Bears and Monday night games have all been a problem for Tony Romo
A Monday night game changes the regular work week at Valley Ranch. Tuesday becomes a Monday and Wednesday becomes a Tuesday, the Dallas Cowboys' usual off day during the week. I know, it's confusing.
Because of this, I thought it would be a good time to look at some interesting Tony Romo statistics.
It's been well documented that the Cowboys' December record with Romo at quarterback is 11-15.
But Romo has actually been very good in December over the last few years. His quarterback rating during the final month of the year since 2009 trails only Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers.
To compare, here are some of the NFL's top quarterbacks' QB ratings during December since 2009: Rodgers 109.0, Romo 106.3, Drew Brees 106.0, Tom Brady 100.7 and Peyton Manning 99.9, according to STATS.
While overcoming the Sports Illustrated cover jinx might've received more attention, Romo's most impressive recent feat has been winning in the cold.
Before that 24-21 win over the New York Giants in 25-degree weather two weeks ago, Romo had been 0-3 in games when the temperature was 37 degrees or lower.
Those previous games:
– Dec. 7, 2008 at Pittsburgh, 22 degrees, lost 20-13. Romo's numbers: 19-of-36 for 210 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs.
– Dec. 6, 2009 at the Giants, 37 degrees, lost 31-24. Romo's numbers: 41-of-55 for 392 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs.
– Dec. 30, 2012 at Washington, 37 degrees, lost 28-18. Romo's numbers: 20-of-37 for 218 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs.
The Cowboys are looking at the possibility of playing in single-digit weather Monday night in Chicago, a game that will give Romo a chance to overcome a few other numbers that haven't been in his favor.
The Cowboys have played the Bears three times since Romo became the team's starting quarterback in 2006. They're 1-2 in those games and Romo's numbers haven't been good.
His 75.4 QB rating is the lowest he has posted against any team. On top of that, his eight interceptions against the Bears are the most he's thrown against any team not in the NFC East.
The flip-side to those stats is that the one victory came at Soldier Field (in 2007) and five of those interceptions were thrown in last season's 34-18 loss on Monday night.
That brings up the other obstacle for Romo to overcome — his struggles on Monday nights. In eight Monday night games, Romo has thrown 10 touchdowns and 17 interceptions to go along with a 69.7 QB rating. Dallas is 4-4 in those games.
Obviously, the Cowboys and their opponents have changed greatly over the years. Romo could come out and duplicate the solid performance he had two weeks ago against the Giants and the Cowboys could improve to 8-5.
But past results say it's more likely the Cowboys leave the Windy City at 7-6.
Follow Jon Machota on Twitter: @jonmachota
