The Romo or Dak QB controversy is back

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Things have been going great for the Dallas Cowboys -- especially on Nov. 14 when Tony Romo held a press conference to address the media regarding his status on the team.
Romo conceded the starting job to rookie Dak Prescott with the intent that it would end the debate on who should start once Romo was healthy.
It actually worked too (for the most part).
Then the New York Giants beat the Cowboys 10-7 on Sunday Night Football to sweep them for the season series, and the "who should start" debate was reopened just enough to stir things up again.
And owner Jerry Jones is probably most to blame when he went on a Dallas radio station to talk about the starting quarterback situation.
"I don't have a definition for it, but you'll know it when you see it," Jones said. "It's kind of like a definition I heard one time of another issue trying to define a negative topic, and they said, 'I don't know how to say it, but it's just something that when you see it, you know it's there.' We'll see it.
Only one person on earth knows what that means.
Certainly, Prescott has impressed and surprised throughout the season, but the last two weeks have led to the gossip emerging once again.
The Cowboys have scored 17 and seven points in the last two games, have failed to get 300 yards total offense and are an abysmal 2-for-24 on third down conversions. Dallas also has five turnovers during that stretch while only committing seven turnovers in the previous 11 games.
Something is wrong, but we can't define it... so let's take a look at the numbers.

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The Prescott sample size is only 13 games, but to give a more representative sample of Romo, we will use averages from 2010 (since age 30) and statistics from 2014 -- the year when former Cowboy running back DeMarco Murray was having a season very much like rookie Ezekiel Elliot's.
Prescott's yards per attempt is at 7.9, which is good for fourth among qualified quarterbacks. Romo is at 7.7 which would be tied for sixth, but in 2014 Romo was at 8.5.
Prescott's QBR is at 82.8 which is third-best in the league and trumps (sorry for the lack of a better verb) Romo's 63.9 dating back to 2010, but in 2014 Romo had a career-best 83.6.
Touchdown and interception percentage can show if a quarterback is not just scoring efficiently, but how careful he is with every pass attempt. Prescott's touchdown and interception percentages are 5.1 (ranked 9th) and 1.0 (tied for fourth), while Romo's six-season average is 5.7 and 2.5 (7.8 and 2.1 in 2014).
The numbers show that Prescott is a quality starting quarterback in the league and in comparison to Romo's. But the only thing we have for Romo is the "what if" question.

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When you look at the more commonly-used statistical categories like completion percentage, touchdown-to-interception ratio and passer rating they still tell a story, but can be misleading.
The NFL seems to be moving into a passing philosophy that has affected the dynamic plays fans love to see. More teams are using short passes and checkdowns at a higher frequency than years past.
Prescott's completion percentage (65.8), touchdown-to-interception ratio (5:1) and passer rating (102.7) would lead one to think he is ripping through opposing defenses. In reality, the Cowboys just don't dial up the risky plays they did with Romo, and perhaps we are starting to see why.
Prescott is getting a simple gameplan that can be disrupted with pressure. Romo was allowed to take shots down the field, and often could deliver gains of 20-plus yards. The time needed to let those routes develop could also lead to more sacks.
Since 2010, Romo was sacked on six percent of dropbacks (6.3 in 2014) while Prescott's is five percent. Now, if Prescott is not taking as many chances downfield why is he still getting sacked five percent of the time Dallas is throwing the ball?

It's an interesting thought, but what would you want to trade off; a dynamic offense or an efficient and careful one? It seems as if the Cowboys can't have both.
Apparently, this topic will not go away, and if the Cowboys continue to struggle offensively (or lose) the noise will get louder.
Head coach Jason Garrett will not be able to ignore them if it does happen, and Romo will be ready if need be.
And Jerry will be smiling down from his private suite.

Photo from quotesgram.com

*All stats were found using pro-football-reference.com, the Jerry Jones quote was found in a foxsports.com article (link posted below), all images were credited from the websites they were found and the ESPN First Take video was found from YoutTube.com.

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/dallas-cowboys-jerry-jones-dak-prescott-comments-radio-interview-tony-romo-quarterback-starter-121316