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Sanchez and Romo seek to redefine their careers

Mark Sanchez and Tony Romo won their first playoff games on the same night: Jan. 9, 2010. Sanchez and the New York Jets beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati. Romo and the Cowboys beat the Eagles in Dallas. A big night for both of them. A big day for both of them coming up now.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez. (AP and USA Today photos)
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez. (AP and USA Today photos)Read more

Mark Sanchez and Tony Romo won their first playoff games on the same night: Jan. 9, 2010. Sanchez and the New York Jets beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati. Romo and the Cowboys beat the Eagles in Dallas. A big night for both of them. A big day for both of them coming up now.

That night represents the intersection of the best argument for Sanchez and the best argument against Romo as viable and reliable NFL quarterbacks. These arguments, which revolve around the core question of how to evaluate those who play the most important position in sports, are particularly relevant ahead of Eagles-Cowboys on Thursday. This game will not decide the NFC East, but it will set one of these teams on an easier road to a division title, and it will act as a handy petri dish to examine Sanchez, Romo, and the narratives that have defined their careers.

Broadly drawn, each narrative is powerful, in no small measure because of where Sanchez and Romo have played - the former in two of the country's biggest media markets, the latter for "America's Team." ESPN could create another of its patented ersatz-debate TV programs and base it entirely around Sanchez and Romo, and people would probably watch it. ("First question to you, Skip: If you were homecoming queen, who would you want to be your date - Mark or Tony?") Here in Philadelphia, the only thing that matters is the game's outcome, but these are two lightning-rod players, and their backstories are part of the reason that Thursday's game is appealing to a broader audience.

First, the Sanchez narrative: Erratic and inconsistent, he turns the football over too often, even if he didn't get much help while he was with the Jets. Here's the thing, though: He won four road playoff games, and he played well in those games, beating Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady. Over his career, he has a winning record as a starter, and in the four games that he's played this season, the Eagles are 3-1. If a quarterback's job is to win games, Mark Sanchez does his job pretty well.

Actually, the Jets relied on this reasoning when they extended Sanchez's contract, for three years and $40 million, before the 2012 season. That decision didn't work out so well, as you may have heard.

"There were a lot of attributes Mark brought to the table that we liked," former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said in a phone interview Tuesday. "At the quarterback position in particular, they're evaluated on wins and losses, and I would put right below that, do they score touchdowns? I think sometimes that's why some statistics can be misleading.

"When we had our most success with Mark, we ran the ball a fair amount. We were able to control the game that way, and Mark was part of the solution in how we were going to attack teams. We weren't necessarily worried about whether his passing stats were as good as Quarterback X or Quarterback Y. We were more worried about, 'OK, this is how we built the team. Does Mark fit into that plan and can we win playoff games with him?' Mark fit the model."

Now, the Romo narrative: He's mobile. He's accurate. He's tough. He's productive. He's completed 65 percent of his passes over his career. He's thrown 30 touchdown passes or more in a season three times and thrown for 4,000 yards or more four times. He's everything a franchise would want in a quarterback . . . save for this wee little problem: That playoff victory over the Eagles? It's his only playoff victory, and the Cowboys haven't been back to the postseason since. Plus, twice he could have gotten the Cowboys into the postseason by winning their regular-season finales, and he lost both of those games, too. If a quarterback's job is to win big games, Tony Romo isn't necessarily your guy.

For a guy who's heard this criticism ad nauseam for years now, Romo generally handles it well. "There's a million different ways you can evaluate quarterbacks," he said Tuesday. "Ultimately, we're all judged on winning and losing. What did you accomplish? What was your achievement when you played? That's the way it should be."

It's exactly the right thing for someone in Romo's position to say, that a quarterback should be judged on his win-loss record. Of course, if you judge Romo to be a lesser quarterback than Mark Sanchez or Trent Dilfer or Jake Delhomme simply because each of those three has won more "big" games than Romo has, I would suggest, with all due deference and respect, that you don't have the first clue what you're talking about.

But then, that's the fun of sports in general and Thursday's matchup in particular. Narratives get created. Narratives get blown apart. Mark Sanchez might just play error-free football. Tony Romo might just win a big game. Either way, the debate around each of them will continue, because someone is always there to embrace it.

Romo's Career vs. Eagles

Games   15

Record   9-6

Completions   221

Attempts   364

Completion pct.   60.7

Yards   2,825

Yards/attempt   7.76

Touchdowns   17

Interceptions   13

QB rating   85.7

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@MikeSielski