Is Kitna as Good as Romo?
By author
No. Answer is no. End of article.
This is obviously in response Roy Williams‘s comment:
"“Tony is our starter, but Jon is just as good,” said Williams, who enjoyed the best season of his professional career when Kitna started in Detroit. “We are going to work this week in practice so we can get the timing down with the receivers. But I have complete faith in him. I have played with him for three years and I know how good he is.”"
But… Kitna isn’t at the end of his career the way Brad Johnson was when he spelled Romo in 2008. Kitna has been one of the most under appreciated players of his generation. Kitna was an undrafted free agent who signed with the Seattle Seahawks in 1997. In 1999, he lead the Seattle Seahawks to the playoffs with a 9-7 record. The following season he see-sawed in and out of the lineup with Brock Huard. Who is that? Exactly!
In 2001, Kitna signs with the Cincinnati Bengals. The 2001 and 2002 seasons were mostly forgettable with the Bengals having the top pick in the draft in 2002 and choosing Carson Palmer. Kitna had a remarkable 2003 season throwing 26 touch downs and he was the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Thank you very much Jon… now take a seat on the bench. Enter Palmer and exit Kitna to Detroit.
Kitna was signed by the Lions for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. He had over 4000 yards in both seasons and even lead the Lions to a respectable 7-9 record in 2006. Keep in mind that this is the same talent free team that went 0-16 the following year with Kitna on the injured reserve.
Kitna has over 27,000 passing yards during his career, 154 passing touchdowns, and a completion percentage of just under 60%. 151 interceptions takes the shine off of his career statistics, but Kitna has the potential to play well for this Cowboys team. Look at the talent on the Seahawks, Bengals, and Lions. Kitna has never had a collection of skilled players like he does in Dallas.
Kitna has played behind porous offensive lines, and he has done remarkably well. Can we expect the Cowboys offensive line to improve their level of play? No. Does Kitna have the mobility demonstrated week in and week out by Romo? No. Should we still have playoff hopes? No. Can have faith that Kitna will be productive and the Cowboys will avoid being winless while Romo heals? YES!!!
Of all the missteps taken by the Cowboys management, signing Kitna to an extension was not one of them. The unfortunate situation for Romo is that if the Cowboys start to win, it will be presumed that it was Romo who was holding this team back. Generally when a star quarterback is taken out of the game, the remainder of the team rallies behind the backup and plays harder because they know they have a greater responsibility in the success of the game. Seemingly that concern has limited merit. When Romo was knocked out of the game, the only player who raised their level of play was Dez Bryant. The defense all but gave up, the running game was non-existent, and the offensive line still allowed pressure to reach Kitna.
Kitna may prove to be more than competent. He may lead this team to victory. He may also find himself on the sideline with Romo. Kitna isn’t as mobile or shifty as Romo. With this offensive line playing as poorly as they are (also including the fullback Gronkowski), Cowboys fans may soon find that we will be writing about Stephen McGee. Here’s a preview. McGee also isn’t as good as Romo!