If Dallas Cowboys Flop in 2012, Should They Move on from Tony Romo?

This NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys will be looking to do what they haven't done since 1995: make a deep playoff run that hopefully results in another Lombardi Trophy.

If that doesn't happen for the 17th straight season, however, you can be sure questions regarding whether Tony Romo is the right quarterback for Dallas will pop up.

Being the starting quarterback of the Cowboys is easily the most glamorous and scrutinized position in all the league, and that honor/burden should continue to be Romo's regardless of how 2012 goes for his team.

The idea that Romo can't lead Dallas to a championship is absurd to say the least. Before No. 9 took over under center for America's Team, the Cowboys had zero NFC East division titles and only one playoff appearance since the late 1990s.

Since Romo won the job from Drew Bledsoe during the 2006 season, this team has won its first playoff game since the days of Troy Aikman at the helm along with two NFC East titles and four playoff appearances.

The 2003 undrafted free agent has not only brought stability to a position that saw Vinny Testaverde, Quincy Carter, Drew Henson and Bledsoe as the starting QB between 2001 and 2006, but he's also brought more production than any of those names were able to.

While Romo is not without his faults—such as the 2006 wild-card games against the Seattle Seahawks or the costly interception against the New York Jets in last year's season opener—he has still done far more good than bad for this organization.

He has just as many 4,000 passing yard seasons as two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning. He has also thrown more touchdowns than his NFC East rival in three of the past five seasons. One of those seasons where Manning finished with more TDs was 2010, where Romo missed almost the entire season due to a broken collar bone.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has publicly backed his franchise quarterback multiple times, including during the 2009 and after the 2011 seasons. Those public endorsements came off a 9-7 and 8-8 record in 2008 and 2011.

Jones knows that Romo is the guy who can bring his team back to the top of the NFL and so should everyone else by now.

Another knock against Jones' starting quarterback is his current age of 32. Michael Vick is actually the same age as his Dallas counterpart, yet that doesn't seem to have Philadelphia weary considering the organization gave him a six-year, $100 million contract just last year.

Romo might not be as highly regarded as guys like Manning, but make no mistake that he's as good if not better than most of the starters at his position and the Cowboys know that.

This is an age where many players don't spend their whole career with one team, but Romo deserves to be one of the few that do.