IRVING, Texas -- When ESPN's NFL Nation handed out its midseason Most Valuable Player, quarterback Tom Brady earned 16 votes. Running back DeMarco Murray was second with seven votes, followed by quarterback Peyton Manning with five votes.
Four others received one vote.
None were named Tony Romo.
After what we have seen from the Dallas Cowboys in their past two games, Romo's name will be in the MVP race should the Cowboys make the playoffs, win the NFC East or do even better than that.
Murray's candidacy will be an uphill battle, despite his strong numbers. It is a quarterback-driven league. Brady has led the New England Patriots' resurgence. Manning set the NFL's touchdown record. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been otherworldly since he told everybody to R-E-L-A-X. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who received one of the midseason votes, had the Pittsburgh Steelers rolling until last week.
But what about Romo?
His value was never more evident than it was at Wembley Stadium. Playing with two fractures in his back, Romo threw for 246 yards and had his third three-touchdown performance of the season in the 31-17 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was a gutty performance.
Maybe Murray and Romo will end up cancelling out each other's MVP chances if the Cowboys continue to win, but Romo also will have to fight his past. No matter what he does, there is a nagging, "Well, talk to me when the games matter most" faction out there among his critics.
Never mind the comeback wins. Never mind the statistics. With Romo, it is all about what he hasn't done and, to some, will never do. He walks a balance beam each week with his detractors heckling at him from the stands or nipping at his heels on each step, and if he falls, it is to depths reserved for quarterbacks nowhere near as talented as Romo.
The Cowboys have lost winner-take-all season finales the past two seasons. Romo didn't play in last season's finale because of a herniated disk, but he put the Cowboys in position to make the playoffs with a fourth-quarter, fourth-down touchdown pass in Week 16 against the Washington Redskins. Five days later he had back surgery, and it was Kyle Orton's turn to throw a late-game interception.
In the final five regular-season games in each of the past three seasons, Romo has 32 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. But a late-game interception against the Packers last season, the three-interception game vs. the Redskins in 2012 and the season-ending loss to the New York Giants in 2011 stand out more for those who believe Romo always comes up short.
Romo leads the NFL in completion percentage (68.8 percent), is fourth in passer rating (107.2) and tied for seventh in touchdowns (18) this season. He has 2,244 passing yards, which is 12th in the league, but he missed one game. And Murray leads the NFL in rushing, so Romo's passing numbers will be low.
But where does "value" come in discussing the MVP?
Everybody saw what happened when Romo could not play against the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 2. The offense imploded. We can speculate what would happen if the Patriots lost Brady, the Broncos lost Manning, the Packers lost Rodgers and the Steelers lost Roethlisberger. We have seen the Patriots go 11-5 without Brady. We have seen the Packers stay afloat without Rodgers.
We can speculate what would happen if the Cowboys lost Murray as well, though the team does believe Joseph Randle can succeed enough to make the running game work well enough. Instead of the running game being almost all about Murray, the Cowboys would split the work with Randle and Lance Dunbar.
The Cowboys' season would be lost without Romo, and that is the definition of "most valuable." He will have six more games to prove it.