Amani Toomer favors Tony Romo

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Former New York Giants wide receiver Amani Toomer says Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is better than Giants quarterback Eli Manning.

“

If I wanted a guy that is going to throw less interceptions and be more productive, higher completion percentage, I'm going to go with Tony Romo.

” -- Ex-wide receiver Amani Toomer

What makes this interesting is that Toomer played with Manning for five seasons in New York.

"Tony Romo is probably, if you look at it, statistically, he's probably the best quarterback in the NFC East," Toomer said on the "Movin' the Chains" show on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "You look at Eli Manning and what he does in the fourth quarter, but you talk about consistency, talking about 31 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions, that guy (Romo) can play."

Romo is 18-19 in his career against the NFC East and 5-7 against the Giants, including three losses at Cowboys Stadium.

Manning, fresh off his second Super Bowl title, is 26-20 versus the NFC East and 9-6 against the Cowboys. He never has lost at Cowboys Stadium.

"I'm talking about for me, if I wanted a guy that is going to throw less interceptions and be more productive, higher completion percentage, I'm going to go with Tony Romo," Toomer said.

Yet, the receiver backtracked slightly when told of Romo's late-game struggles.

Manning has 21 fourth-quarter comebacks and 25 game-winning drives, with four of the victories coming against the Cowboys, including one this past season.

Of Romo's 13 fourth-quarter comebacks, only one has come against the Giants.

"At crunch time, he's not as good as Eli," Toomer said. "But every other time, he's pretty darn good."

Toomer did not address Manning's 2-0 edge over Romo in Super Bowls. Manning has eight playoff wins in his career, including a road victory in Dallas, compared to Romo's one.

While Manning is undefeated in NFC title games, Romo has yet to reach one. Manning also has the head-to-head edge against Romo, winning the past five starts against him.

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NFL players also would seem to disagree with Toomer.

In the NFL Network's "Top 100" list voted on by the players, Manning came in at No. 31, ranking him as the fifth-best quarterback in the league. Romo was ranked 91st, putting him as the 12th-best QB.

Giants vice president of communications Pat Hanlon, who is not shy about tweeting his thoughts, not surprisingly took the side of the Giants' quarterback. He retweeted a tweet about Toomer's comments asking whether Romo was better and added, "QB or Golfer?" at the end. Romo is known to be a good golfer.

Giants cornerback Terrell Thomas, a former teammate of Toomer, also backed his quarterback, tweeting: "Man toomer my dog and a great giant, helped me a lot as a young rook but aint no way romo better then Eli...both good QB's but... Well."

Toomer's comments could draw the ire of Giants fans, who did not react well to Tiki Barber after he criticized Manning after the running back's retirement in 2006. When Barber, perhaps the franchise's greatest running back, was inducted into the team's Ring of Honor in 2010, the crowd serenaded him with boos for his negative comments about Manning and his other rips on coach Tom Coughlin.

Defensive end Osi Umenyiora wouldn't be surprised if Toomer is treated the same way.

"They will be booing my guy Toomer at Giants Stadium," Umenyiora tweeted at ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. "That we can agree on."

Manning and the Giants will host Romo's Cowboys in the first game of the season on Sept. 5.

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Calvin Watkins

ESPNDallas.com

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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.

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