Did 2011 Season Prove Dallas Cowboys Are Better Off Without Tony Romo?

The Dallas Cowboys did what they've grown accustomed to doing on NBC's Sunday Night Football last night, losing their fourth straight contest in prime time. That loss, coupled with a disappointing 2011 season, will have people pointing the finger at Tony Romo, when really, he's the least of this team's worries.

Due to the larger-than-life stature of the Cowboys, analysts and fans alike rarely refer to any season as a rebuilding year for this team. But as ESPN Dallas writer Todd Archer pointed out, some were thinking that's exactly what 2011 was.

Dallas entered the year with a ragtag offensive line after having to cut former center Andre Gurode and tackle Leonard Davis due to salary cap issues. The results were constant bad snaps from replacement center Phil Costa and the pocket often collapsing before Romo could look at his second receiver on a play.

The defense was also essentially left untouched from 2010, where they posted the 23rd-ranked defense. New defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was able to take this bunch from a mediocre 23rd to the 14th-ranked defense in one season, but the secondary repeatedly hurt Dallas at the worst of times.

For as much blame as Romo received for the collapses against the Jets, Lions and the first meeting with the Giants, the defense didn't exactly help the team's cause. All three teams were able to move the ball at will on offense once the momentum changed to their favor, leaving little time for Romo and company to recover.

Even with the costly interception last night against the Giants, Romo had thrown 20 touchdown passes compared to just three interceptions since the start of November. Any other quarterback in the league who does something like that would receive a little less blame for the .500 season, but because he wears a star on his helmet, No. 9 will have plenty of fingers pointed at him.

Being the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys is different than being the quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs or even the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 'Boys are held to a higher standard, just the way the New York Yankees are in the MLB. But because of that high standard, much of what Romo did with frankly a transition team will go unnoticed.

2011 was a season where the Eastern Illinois alum showed the league that he can be just as tough as Ben Roethlisberger, with Romo playing through injuries on two separate occasions. Against the San Fransisco 49ers, Romo suffered multiple broken ribs and a punctured lung, only to return to the game later on and lead Dallas to a victory over the NFC West champions.

He would play through this injury for the coming month, defeating the Washington Redskins without wide receiver Miles Austin and with Laurent Robinson still learning the ins and outs of the offense. He would then go on and have the infamous performance against the Lions, but it was still a game that the Cowboys had a chance to win at the end, in great part due to the perseverance of their quarterback.

Romo became a leader in 2011, continuously giving the Cowboys chances to win in a season filled with close games, playing his best football of the year in November and December. He just didn't receive enough help from his defense or his offensive line when he needed it most.

Even after a heartbreaking loss in a game he did everything to win, No. 9 told the media, "We obviously didn't come out and play our best football. We need to get better and improve, and we will this off-season."

It's not a situation you want your favorite football team to ever be in, but when the season ends the way it did for Dallas last night, that's exactly what you want your quarterback to say.

Owner Jerry Jones was asked by a reporter just after the loss if he still feels good about Romo's future in Dallas, to which Jones responded the way he always does: "I'm very confident in Tony, and I'm very confident in his future."

Jones realizes that Romo gives his team the best chance to win, and without him, this team would have been lucky to win half the games they did in 2011.

Romo is one of the top 10 best quarterbacks in all the NFL, and even if Peyton Manning leaves the Indianapolis Colts this offseason, I can't see the Cowboys signing a QB to replace No. 9 under center.