It didn’t take Sunday night’s comeback win over the Giants to convince Chip Kelly.
The Eagles coach said he’s long been an admirer of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, going so far as to declare him “elite.”
“Tony has been an elite quarterback for a long time,” Kelly said, via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “He’s as good as anybody playing right now. I’ve always been a big fan of Tony and just how he plays the game at quarterback. He has an unbelievable understanding of what they’re doing. He gets them always into the right play, always in the right protection and he can make all the throws. He’s playing as good as any quarterback in the National Football League.”
Sunday’s win over the Giants was Romo’s 24th fourth-quarter comeback in the regular season, and Kelly said it’s Romo’s poise late in games that sets him apart.
“His understanding of the game, his understanding of exactly what everybody is doing, his ability to direct traffic, whether it be protections or check to runs or knowing exactly where the defense is vulnerable, depending on the defensive call, he seems like he always gets them in the right play,” Kelly said. “And it really manifests itself at the end of games because he’s just so strong with it, to go along with the skill set of being such an accurate quarterback.
“He’s outstanding in the pocket. Obviously I don’t think he’s a run threat, he’s not Colin Kaepernick where he’s going to pull it down and go, but you can’t get to him because he’s just so nifty about moving around and extending plays. That’s a big, tall test for us this week, trying to corral him.”
Of course, that job is easier considering the Cowboys are lacking an elite wide receiver, given Dez Bryant’s injury.