Just one playoff win in 16 years is not enough for a franchise like the Dallas Cowboys and an owner like Jerry Jones, but too much blame on recent disappointments and failures are being put on the shoulders of Tony Romo, who is actually one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL; not the main reason the Cowboys under achieve each and every year.

Like it or not, Romo’s numbers, and a quarterback’s numbers are a big part of how he is defined and looked at, are pretty good. His total quarterback rating of 70.1 was the 4th in the NFL last season, behind Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. His career completion rating (although with a relatively small sized sample) is 64.5%, 4th best among active quarterbacks.

His fourth quarter numbers aren’t nearly as bad as they’re usually let out to be, but the December thing, at least in terms of winning (10-15) is kinda true, especially when compared with Romo and the Cowboys in November: 21-3, with a 51-14 TD/INT ratio. His career TD-INT ratio is 2.07, having an even better 2011 season with 31 touchdowns and 10 interception. Still, somehow, it all gets blamed on him.

Romo is the quarterback, and like it or not, takes most of the spotlight. His fourth quarter interception passes last season against the Jets and the Lions, two games that were already in the bag, didn’t really help. But so didn’t Jason Garrett’s play calling late in some games, especially in certain kicking situations which blew the game for the Cowboys.

But there have been all of the problems with the offensive line over the last couple of years. Romo missed most of the 2010 season after the Cowboys won a playoff game in the 2009 NFL playoffs for the first time since 1996. But he’s easy to pick on because eventually, quarterbacks are usually defined by how good their team performs in the win-loss column. Romo has a better regular season W-L record than Eli Manning, but we know who has two Super Bowl rings and who hasn’t been to the postseason these last couple of years.

He’s a very mobile quarterback who keeps plays alive despite the offensive line problems (something which should be a little bit better this season); Despite the fact that the Cowboys haven’t had a running back, an actual feature-back to hold on to the job for more than a season or two; He actually makes receivers look better than they really are. He’s probably one of the top 6 quarterbacks in the NFL today, but unless he takes the Dallas Cowboys to the Super Bowl, he won’t be recognized as one.

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