Romo, Cowboys shake playoff jinx

ARLINGTON, Texas

The trademark roadster cap was missing from Tony Romo’s head during his postgame news conference.

The same goes for the monkey that was attached to his back.

Romo will no longer have to hear about a lack of postseason success. Neither will the team he quarterbacks.

A 34-14 pasting of visiting Philadelphia marked a significant milestone for Romo and the Dallas Cowboys. No quarterback entered the playoffs under more pressure. Say what you will about Peyton Manning’s lack of postseason dominance, but at least he’s won a Super Bowl with Indianapolis. Dallas hadn’t won a playoff game in 13 seasons — since Dec. 28, 1996 — and Romo was feeling the heat after two prior failings.

Not anymore.

Romo’s 244-yard, two-touchdown performance Saturday was part of an outstanding all-around Dallas effort. With the Cowboys (12-5) having won four straight games and never trailing in any of them, Minnesota should be sweating next Sunday’s second-round matchup.

“When you have a quarterback who plays like Tony, you’ll find yourself getting into the playoffs when you had a little bit of an uphill climb to do it,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “You’ll find yourself winning the first game and you’ll find yourself thinking you’ve got a chance to win the next one.”

One win isn’t enough for Romo, but he did admit that Saturday’s victory and his turnover-free outing was “rewarding.”

“We still have loftier goals and are going to keep this in perspective,” Romo said. “But this is definitely a step.”

A big one at that.

While he didn’t receive a Pro Bowl invite for the second consecutive year, 2009 marked the best overall campaign of Romo’s seven-year NFL career. He set personal bests for passing yardage (4,483), quarterback rating (97.6) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (26-9). He stopped forcing as many passes, even though it contributed to being sacked a career-high 34 times. Romo also dispelled the notion that he couldn’t win a big late-season game. He led a Week 15 upset at New Orleans and last Sunday’s 24-0 Home shutout of Philadelphia that gave Dallas the NFC East title.

Romo, though, needed to come through on an even bigger stage to truly rank among the NFL’s elite quarterbacks. He had to exorcise the ghosts of well-documented playoff nightmares against Seattle (2006) and the New York Giants (2007).

“Every (quarterback) goes through it until they win big games,” Romo said.

The cleansing began early Saturday night when Romo paced Dallas to a 27-7 halftime lead. After a sluggish start, Romo navigated five straight scoring drives and hit eight different targets on 17-of-27 passing. Philadelphia’s secondary was so overmatched that even struggling wide receiver Roy Williams got into the act with three receptions for 37 yards.

Romo was having so much fun that he didn’t just celebrate his two touchdown throws with teammates. Romo jubilantly slapped the pigskin that the ball-boy was holding on the sideline after tossing a one-yard scoring pass to tight end John Phillips. He then gave referee Ed Hochuli a playful tap on the hamstring following a six-yard strike to wideout Miles Austin.

Austin’s emergence has given Romo an equally dangerous big-play threat as Terrell Owens but without the headaches. The Cowboys’ decision to release T.O. last February wasn’t the only major positive for Romo in 2009. His public profile changed for the better as well. Romo’s breakup with actress/singer Jessica Simpson resulted in less off-field scrutiny — remember that ill-timed trip to Cabo San Lucas? — and celebrity gawker attention toward his personal life.

Romo also learned not to wear his heart on his sleeve as much with the media. Romo came under heavy fire for sounding apathetic after the 2008 Cowboys missed the playoffs. Following a 44-6 season-ending fiasco at Philadelphia, Romo said he’s had “a lot worse things happen to me than a loss in a sporting event. If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me, then I'll have lived a pretty good life.”

Although it didn’t sound like it at the time, Romo did care about his legacy. He worked diligently to improve. And after Saturday night, a pretty good life is getting even better.

“Tony’s always had a high standard for the way he plays,” said Cowboys tight end and Romo confidant Jason Witten. “He’s always put pressure on himself to be the best he can be. I don’t think anyone in this locker room has evaluated himself top to bottom over the last couple of years like he has.

“He’s our leader. We go as he goes.”

That’s a major reason why the Cowboys are going to Minnesota — minus the primates.