Tony Romo can leave past behind

— -- IRVING, Texas -- For so many years, Tony Romo has been the face of failure in the NFL.

Any time the Dallas Cowboys lose, folks head to their laptops and create Internet memes that poke fun of the quarterback for America's team.

They don't mean any harm, per se, but it's clear folks still can't get over the botched snap in Seattle in 2006. Or the ill-fated trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 2007 during the playoff bye week that preceded a loss to the New York Giants.

Or the games the Cowboys lost to the Giants in 2011, and the Washington Redskins in 2012 that kept the Cowboys out of the playoffs.

Well, they should.

Experience and losing have changed Romo. Stats and ego has long since stopped motivating him. Winning is all that matters to Romo these days.

Most young players get seduced by their numbers as they try to establish their place in the NFL hierarchy. Romo, whether he chooses to admit it, was no different.

But he has evolved over the past few seasons, becoming a better, smarter player. Defenses rarely fool him anymore. The game has slowed down. He sees everything.

Romo has been among the NFL's top 10-12 quarterbacks for years. He made the Pro Bowl after the 2006 season, when he started only 10 games. This season, though, he has become a truly elite quarterback.

Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and Romo are the league's top quarterbacks this season.

And if Romo can lead the Cowboys to a win over Green Bay and Rodgers, any and all questions about him should be shelved. After all, Green Bay is undefeated at home and Rodgers is the favorite to be named league MVP after throwing 38 touchdowns with only five interceptions.

Romo has never been more equipped to do it. See, for the first time in his 12-year career, Romo actually trusts all of his teammates on offense.

No longer does Romo feel as if he has to make every play. He can let DeMarco Murray do the heavy lifting on offense, which is why Romo has only one 300-yard passing game this season and has thrown more than 30 passes in a game only five times.

Murray, of course, leads the NFL with 1,845 rushing yards.

Romo can throw the ball up to Dez Bryant and ask him to make one of the incredible catches he regularly makes, or he can throw it to  Jason Witten and Cole Beasley on third down.

Then again, he can go deep to Terrance Williams when teams pay too much attention to Witten or Bryant.

With that many options, Romo doesn't have to force the ball into coverage. He can simply take the best matchup -- and if it's not there he can throw the ball away, a tactic he used often against Detroit.

"I threw balls away and I threw a lot of balls at guys' feet because I wasn't for sure I could make the play or I was under duress and I couldn't get enough on [the throw]," Romo said. "I felt like if we didn't give them the ball, they couldn't get enough points to put it away.

"I could've squeezed a couple in, but at the same time one of those would've gone the other way. You want to move the chains, you want to score but you have to be smart."

We all know Romo used to be good for one or two passes a game that left you shaking your head because it made no sense. In the one season under Bill Parcells, the coach used to describe them as indiscriminate throws.

In his first three seasons, Romo did not throw an interception in only nine of 39 starts (23 percent). In his last six seasons, he has not thrown an interception in 44 of 84 starts (52 percent).

He tied his single season career high for the third time with nine games without an interception this season.

"If you're mentally tough enough, experience helps you," Romo said. "These games going all the way to the end just don't give them anything and at the end of the game just bear down and go do it."

Romo must protect the ball Sunday because Rodgers and Green Bay, which had only 13 turnovers this season, typically make few mistakes.

Neither can Romo if the Cowboys expect to advance to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the 1995 season.

He's a different player these days, and the Cowboys are better for it.

"Tony is a tough guy," Garrett said. "He's mentally tough and physically tough. He's been a damn good quarterback for a long time."

We're about to find out if he's good enough to make the memes go away.