The 11 Best Dallas Cowboys of the Past Decade (2010-2019)
By Reid Hanson
No. 6 Tony Romo, QB
Dallas Cowboys: 2004-2016
From 2011 to 2014 Tony Romo was at the absolute peak of his game. He led the NFL in comebacks wins (overshadowed by the narrative that he somehow was not clutch) and knew the game like very few QBs ever approach.
Before Travis Frederick joined, it was Romo who was even making offensive line calls. He did that in addition to his normal pre-snap reads, making the appropriate audibles (always came to the line with multiple plays available to him), and the freedom to improvise post-snap. During this time only Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning had as much control of an offense.
Watching him operate in that 2014 season was a thing of beauty. His 69.9 completion percentage, 8.11 ANY/A, and his 79.7 QBR were all career bests. He was second in NFL MVP voting and the only thing that could hold the 34-year-old Romo back was the betrayal of his body.
Say what you want about Romo and his inability to find postseason success, but most of time he did his part. It was teammates that dragged him down. Many years he carried this franchise kicking and screaming into the win column and if it wasn’t for him, this franchise would be the Browns 2.0
Tony Romo wasn’t quite the vocal leader that teammates gravitate to like Dak Prescott is, but he was a leader who was confident in his own skin and understood the offense in ways even the coaches seemed to struggle.
Tony Romo’s preparation, physical ability and his processing skills were elite by almost all standards. Not finding postseason success will always be a black mark on his record but we can’t understate how much he lifted this team for roughly a decade.
The QB position gets special weight to it, so while nobody is arguing Romo was ever the best at his position during this past decade (although a case could be made for 2014), his impact at the QB position was enormous for the Dallas Cowboys.