Dallas Cowboys: Is Tony Romo This Year's Aaron Rodgers?

There's no doubt that after maybe Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback in the league today. But he didn't just get there overnight. 

Let's flashback a year ago today: 

Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers came out of Thanksgiving weekend with a loss to the Atlanta Falcons to become 7-4. Chances for them to make the playoffs were no guarantee, let alone winning the Super Bowl.

A year after dropping a playoff game to the Arizona Cardinals where he fumbled the football in overtime giving Arizona the victory, Rodgers was putting up resurgent numbers and moving his way up the quarterback ranks.

Fast-forward to today and the Packers are Super Bowl champions and haven't lost in ages. 

Many miles south of Lambeau Field, Romo and the Dallas Cowboys find themselves in a similar situation that the Packers found themselves last year. They could be 7-4 with a win against the Dolphins on Thanksgiving Day and that would equal the Packers' record from last year post-Thanksgiving.

This Cowboys team is eerily similar to the Packers team from last year. 

Like Rodgers last year,  Romo is a quarterback who doesn't have the best playoff success but has always put up outstanding regular season numbers and he's finally getting it together. He's essentially a poor man's Aaron Rodgers. But not that much poorer. If Rodgers lives in a hotel on Boardwalk, then Romo lives in a hotel in one of those yellow properties in Monopoly, say Marvin Gardens. 

Finally, like the Packers from 2010, the Cowboys have some solid skill players like Miles Austin, Dez Bryant and Jason Witten, who help elevate their quarterback's game and a defense that's getting better every week.

Essentially, Romo is the Rodgers of last year and the Dallas Cowboys could be the Green Bay Packers of last year, as well. After Week 11 last season, Rodgers had 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions. This year, Romo has 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions. And while Romo has 2,800 yards up to this point, Rodgers only had 2,601 yards. 

Romo has the skill around him to get it done in the postseason and he has the ability himself to make plays and win games. Like Rodgers, he has a rocket arm (maybe not as strong as No. 12's, but it's definitely up there). He also has the mobility to take a broken play and turn it into a first down. 

Romo has essentially outplayed Rodgers and has an arguably better team surrounding him. Last year's Packers team was so banged up that it's hard not to say that Rodgers' play alone along with their strong situational defense was the reason why the Packers won the Super Bowl.

Is it Romo's fault that he's not better than Rodgers? 

No. And he doesn't have to be. 

Just like in the famous board game Monopoly, players can win with the yellow properties. They don't necessarily need a Boardwalk. 

Romo and the Cowboys now are hoping that not only the dice rolls their way throughout the rest of the season, but he also hopes that he will be able to outduel Rodgers in the postseason.

If the Cowboys and Packers do end up meeting in January, it's going to be brutally cold at Lambeau Field. This means that both quarterbacks will likely be taken out of the game. Imagine there's a blizzard and the weather is below zero. Neither Rodgers or Romo will be throwing more than a touchdown. 

In come the defenses and the running backs. Dallas' pass defense is 13th in the league and there's no doubt Rob Ryan will have a defensive scheme to stifle Rodgers in the cold. Finally, the Packers' rushing offense is in the bottom half of the league, and DeMarco Murray has elevated Dallas' running game. The Cowboys' ground attack will become a major factor if the two tango in Lambeau.

Advantage: Cowboys.

Like the Packers did last season, the Cowboys are peaking at the right time. Romo seems to have gotten rid of his "choke artist" label this season after clutch victories against Washington (twice) and San Francisco. 

And so what if it took Romo longer to mature than Rodgers in terms of being clutch? Romo went to Eastern Illinois. He was never drafted. He was the underdog. Rodgers went to Cal, where he played USC every year and had experienced big-boy football before coming to the NFL. Obviously it will take Romo a lot longer to adjust to the spotlight, which by the way is a lot brighter in Dallas.

From their playing styles to the way this season is shaping out, Romo and his band of Cowboys seem like they're on track to replicate what Rodgers and his group of Cheeseheads did last year.

And for Romo, it's been a long time coming.