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IRVING — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and his Sunday counterpart, the Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers, are virtually identical, on paper.
Both stand 6-foot-2. Romo weighs 226 pounds; Rodgers is 220. Each has a strong right arm and legs that serve them well.Their season statistics are strikingly similar.A Wisconsin native, Romo has a free-wheeling style often compared to Packers legend Brett Favre, while Rodgers has the more unenviable task of having to replace Favre. Even their golf games are close.Yet, on the field they seem so different.Rodgers, who will be 26 on Dec. 2, appears taller and brawnier in the pocket. Romo, 29, seems more athletic, a superior scrambler, swashbuckling even compared to Rodgers’ more measured, yet highly effective, maneuvering. Romo celebrates touchdowns with wild leaps into the arms of his linemen. More composed, Rodgers barely cracks a smile."They look different," said former Cowboys personnel director Gil Brandt, "but they’re really the same."As two of the NFL’s best young quarterbacks converge Sunday at Lambeau Field with their teams headed in opposite directions — the surging Cowboys (6-2) have won four in a row; the desperate Packers (4-4) have dropped two in a row — the most glaring difference between the two might be the heavies who protect them.Rodgers, the NFL’s top passer until Sunday’s three-interception game at Tampa Bay dropped him behind Drew Brees, Favre and Peyton Manning, has been sacked a league-leading 37 times.Some of those are on Rodgers, who’ll hold on to the football, trusting his receivers will break free. The Packers are tied atop the league with the Cowboys and Eagles with 10 pass plays of 40 yards or more.Holding on too long, however, is a double-edged sword. Rodgers is on pace to surpass David Carr as the most sacked in a single NFL season."I’m all right," said Rodgers on a conference call three days after an unremarkable Buccaneers’ defense sacked him six times. "I was able to practice. That’s an improvement, I think, over last week."Beaten up all season, Green Bay’s offensive line has lacked continuity, although it should get a boost after last week’s return of steady left tackle Chad Clifton, whose assignment Sunday will start with Cowboys sacks leader DeMarcus Ware.Romo, conversely, has played behind a big, beefy unit that has been as durable as it has been effective. Romo has been sacked 20 fewer times than Rodgers."The physical part of it, definitely," said Packers coach Mike McCarthy, when asked if he worries about the physical and mental toll on Rodgers. "There’s no question that keeping your quarterback from getting hit is a priority week in and week out. Part of his injuries that he’s pushing through is a result of that."Romo, who still plays in the shadows of Cowboys legends Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, in some ways similar to the way Rodgers must deal with the ghost of Favre, is playing his best football of the season, arguably of his career.During the Cowboys’ winning streak, Romo has nine touchdown passes and one interception. More calculated than risk-taking as the season has progressed, he is spreading the ball around to a variety of targets.He has made a steady climb in the quarterback rankings. Connecting on 60.2 percent of his passes for 2,215 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions, Romo is eighth in the league with a 95.8 passer rating and fourth in the NFC.Rodgers ranks fourth overall and third in the NFC, completing 63.1 percent for 2,255 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions for a passer rating of 103.3. He ranks second in rushing on the team with 214 yards.The two could be duking it out for the last of three NFC Pro Bowl spots, assuming Brees and Favre are locks for two (of course, Super Bowl participation could alter that).Romo and Rodgers on Sunday go head-to-head for a third consecutive season. Rodgers relieved an injured Favre in 2007, nearly rallying Green Bay past Romo and the Cowboys at Texas Stadium. Last season, a Romo-to-Miles Austin connection cemented a 27-16 Dallas victory in Rodgers’ first season as the starter.Rodgers vs. Romo: Could it be the next generation of Manning vs. Brady?"I think they’ve got a chance to do that," Brandt said.Jeff Caplan, 817-390-7760
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