How is it possible that the most recognizable player on the most recognizable team is underrated? To answer that, we must look into the past to help explain the present.

In 2009, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones first uttered the phrase “Romo-friendly.” This phrase has become one of the core principles that have governed the Cowboys since. Look at who they have selected since Jones said those faithful few words; Dez Bryant, Tyron Smith, Morris Claiborne, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin.

Only one of those players, Claiborne, doesn’t have a drastic effect on Romo’s play-by-play performance. Couple that, with the selections and acquisitions of DeMarco Murray, Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley, Ronald Leary  and the Cowboys totally revamped their offensive personnel.

Fast-forward to today; the Cowboys have one of the most potent and efficient offenses in the NFL. They are ranked fourth in DVOA, (a metric that measures a team’s efficiency by comparing success on every single play to a league average based on situation and opponent) per Football Outsiders, seventh in yards per game and fifth in points per game. You would think that the quarterback would get most of the credit for an offense performing at this level; however, this has not been the case for the Cowboys.

DeMarco Murray has received a ton of accolades and credit for his historic season running the ball this season. The addition of play-caller Scott Linehan has brought back the type of smash-mouth running that permeated through Dallas in the 90’s and Murray has benefited greatly. He broke the Cowboys single-season rushing record with 1,845 yards on the ground, which leads the NFL as well, to go along with 13 touchdowns.

While Murray has received his fair share of credit, the unit who has received the most credit has been the offensive line. The Cowboys’ investment in draft three offensive linemen in the first round in four years has really paid off. Tyron Smith is one of the best offensive tackles in the league. Ronald Leary is the weak leak, but even saying that he is a better than average guard. Travis Frederick has developed into an All-Pro caliber center. Zack Martin should be the Offensive Rookie of the Year and he has already developed into a top-tier guard in the NFL. Doug Free is a very good right tackle and Jermey Parnell has done an awesome job of filling in for Free.

They lead the NFL in adjusted line yards (a statistic that attempts to, even to a small extent, separate the ability of a running back from the ability of the offensive line), per Football Outsiders, and have flat out dominated opposing defenses at times.

While Murray and the offensive line have been incredible and deserve the praise they are receiving, Tony Romo is the most valuable piece on the Cowboys. Without him, the Cowboys don’t make they playoffs, they don’t beat the Detroit Lions in the Wild Card playoffs and they don’t have Super Bowl aspirations.

Now, it is easy to hide behind the whole “the quarterback is the most valuable player on every team” argument; however, if Tony Romo weren’t having a fantastic season, he wouldn’t deserve that type of label.

“Romo is playing lights out. Romo should be the MVP. Nobody’s putting the icing on the cake like Romo is right now,” Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones said about his beloved quarterback.

Despite the fact that the offensive line has been dominant times this season, they have had their struggles in pass protection. They have allowed 31 sacks and are ranked 17th in adjusted sack rate (which represents sacks divided by pass plays, which include passes, sacks, and aborted snaps) per Football Outsiders. While Murray has had a great year, his production has slowed in the past month as he has only gone for 100 yards or more in two of the last six games.

“I’m going to try and do as much as I can to take as much as I can off Tony that he was doing before for the offensive line,” Cowboys’ center Travis Frederick said. “Not necessarily because I was a rookie or this or that, but because, if I can see it better, that’s going to take one thing off his plate and that’s going to help the team as a whole.”

Romo has done a marvelous job throughout the season of being efficient, taking what the defense gives to him and not turning the ball over as much. Romo has spread the ball well and attacked a variety of areas to take advantage of defenses.

To get a sense of this, here is a chart of every pass Romo has thrown this season:

Romo has eaten up opposing teams in the short to intermediate passing games throughout the season. However, he has also been extremely efficient with his deep passing as he is sixth in the completion percentage with passes over 20 yards at 47.7 percent.

While Romo has been deadly accurate this year (led the NFL at 69.9 percent), what really makes him special is his ability to move in the pocket to manufacture more time to throw the ball.

This ability is illustrated here:

On this play, Romo is able to use his feet to manipulate the pocket and give time to Jason Witten for the completion. This play is especially impressive because Romo keeps his eyes downfield while there is chaos around. While this play is great, Romo makes it looks easy as he has made them a countless number of times throughout his career.

While he has had a great full season, to get a real sense at just how great Romo has been for the Cowboys, look at his performances down the final stretch. Since the month of December has begun, Romo leads the NFL in touchdowns (11), quarterback rating (126.9) and adjusted yards gained per attempt 10.78, while he is second in passing yards and third in yards per attempted.

This underscores the fact that when the Cowboys have needed him most, Romo has played lights out. He has been the biggest reason why the Cowboys are on a five game winning streak and he will be the reason the Cowboys do or do not get to the Super Bowl.

Back in 2009, Jerry Jones said, “Romo friendly means let’s utilize his skills to the fullest and make sure everything we do maximizes his abilities.” While Jones gets criticized for a lot of moves that he does, the Cowboys have done just that and they are reaping the benefits.

Even the “Romo friendly” philosophy has taken away some of the credit from Romo, it has allowed him to perform to his optimum ability and the Cowboys and Romo would take that trade every single time.