For the first time since 2009, quarterback Tony Romo led the Dallas Cowboys to the NFC East Division crown on Sunday and now those around the team believe his success should be noticed -- to the tune of the NFL's Most Valuable Player Award.
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Romo has had an incredible year and helped lead the Cowboys (11-4) to a 42-7 Week 16 victory over the AFC South champion Indianapolis Colts (10-5) Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium en route to the division title.
"He certainly is in my book," owner and general manager Jerry Jones told ESPN after Sunday's game about Romo being the MVP. "He is for me."
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Romo completed 18 of 20 passes in Sunday's win while throwing for 218 yards and adding four touchdowns and no interceptions.
While DeMarco Murray has rushed for an NFL-best 1,745 yards, Jones said he believes that Romo should be the one taking home some hardware after his productive season.
"Yes, he is [the MVP], because Murray has certainly carried his share, but Tony's quarterbacking this year was indispensable," Jones said. "We couldn't have had the team, and we have a team that probably right now is in the top four or five teams in the league. That's pretty good qualification of the vote."
Playing with a surgically-repaired back, Romo has paced the NFL with a 70.3 completion percentage while throwing for 3,406 yards with 32 scores and just eight picks. He also passed Troy Aikman (32,942) as the Cowboys' all-time passing yards leader (32,971) on Sunday.
While December has not been kind to the Cowboys in recent years with the team finishing 8-8 over the last three seasons and missing the playoffs over the last four campaigns, Romo led Dallas to a 3-0 record this month.
"Hell yeah, he is. He's the MVP," said receiver Dez Bryant, who leads the NFL with 14 receving touchdowns. "Look at the performance. He's giving 'em hell in December. Icing on the cake. Give it to him. He's doing a hell of a job."
Added tight end Jason Witten: "He's got to be up for it. I know there's other quarterbacks that have played well. We're a little bit biased, but if you take that first game out of the season and really the first half, he's been remarkable the way he's done it."
While the Cowboys have put Romo's name in the MVP Award conversation, the team will focus on another piece of hardware as a ticket to the playoffs means Dallas will be in search of its first Lombardi Trophy since 1995.
"I'm confident that as we go into the tournament that we're going to have as good of quarterback play as any other team in the NFL, and I think Romo is there," Jones said. "I've said this, I'm going to say it one more time: Somehow, some way, he needs to have a Super Bowl to his name. He's that good."
A quarterback has won the MVP Award in six of the last seven NFL seasons.
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