Assessing the Dallas Cowboys' backup quarterback situation if Tony Romo is injured and misses time.
The Cowboys don't mess around when it comes to their backup quarterback situation. The way Jon Kitna continued to run the offense in the second half of 2010 after Romo was injured proved to them the worth of a capable veteran backup. So when Kitna retired at the end of the 2011 season, one of the Cowboys' first free-agent priorities was signing Kyle Orton to a three-year, $10.5 million contract. An expensive insurance policy to say the least, but Orton has started 69 NFL games over the past seven years and is 35-34 in them. He averaged 3,476 yards, 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions from 2008-10 and is as accomplished as any backup quarterback in the league. The Cowboys feel it would be no problem for him to find a way to get the ball to Miles Austin, Dez Bryant and Jason Witten if he had to.
Confidence rating (out of 100) if Romo goes out for an extended period: 85.
Dan Graziano
NFL- ESPN NFC East Blogger
- Joined ESPN in 2011
- A New Jersey native and author of two published novels
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Calvin Watkins
Calvin Watkins joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He's covered the Cowboys since 2006 and also has covered colleges, boxing and high school sports.
Todd Archer
Todd Archer joined ESPNDallas.com in November 2010. He's covered the NFL since 1997 and the Cowboys since 2003. He covered the Bengals and Dolphins before arriving in Dallas. A Massachusetts native, Archer lives in the Dallas area with his wife and two children.
Tim MacMahon
Tim MacMahon joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. Tim covers the Cowboys and Mavericks. He has covered the local sports scene from high schools to colleges to pros during his six-year tenure at The Dallas Morning News. MacMahon is a graduate of UNT.
Jean-Jacques Taylor
Jean-Jacques Taylor joined ESPNDallas.com in August 2011. A native of Dallas, Taylor spent the past 20 years writing for The Dallas Morning News, where he covered high schools sports, the Texas Rangers and spent 11 seasons covering the Dallas Cowboys before becoming a general columnist in 2006.
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UPCOMING GAMES
| W-L | PF | PA | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
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| MIA | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 | |
| DAL | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 |
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| DAL | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 | |
| OAK | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 |
| W-L | PF | PA | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
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| DAL | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 | |
| ARI | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 |
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