Romo ready for second year in charge

WILL THIS BE THE YEAR? — Dallas quarterback Tony Romo (8) leaves the field with a smile after a recent preseason game. The Cowboys open the 2008 season Sunday in Cleveland. IRVING (AP) — This time last year, Tony Romo was the cover boy on plenty of preseason magazines. His love life was gossip page fodder. And he was hearing his name in the same breath as Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.

Same as this year, right?

Hardly. Along with the hype were the questions about whether he deserved such accolades, whether this guy who rocketed from nobody to Pro Bowler was a one-year wonder. Heck, even his bosses on the Dallas Cowboys wanted to make sure, withholding a contract extension until they were convinced he was for real.

Romo proved it, all right, setting all sorts of records last season on the way to a 13-3 record, matching the most wins in the team's proud history. Although he wound up losing in the playoffs for a second straight year, Romo secured his spot in the NFL hierarchy, just a notch below the top rung of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

Now Romo is preparing for just his second full season as a starter — and his first truly in control.

So, heading into Sunday's opener in Cleveland, he should be primed for bigger, better things. Shouldn't he?

"I don't know," Romo said Wednesday. "We'll see as the season progresses, I guess. You just have a better understanding of all the things you're trying to do. Things I had to think about are more second nature."

There's reason to believe Romo can pick up where he left off from last season. After all, little has changed.

Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton are his top receiving threats. His entire offensive line would be the same if not for an injury to left guard Kyle Kosier. Marion Barber is now the starting running back, but he got the majority of action last year anyway. Even the offensive coaching staff is mostly intact, including the ever-important jobs of coordinator Jason Garrett and quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson.

Coach Wade Phillips said Romo's experience and the consistency around him will pay off in faster, better decisions when his first or second passing option is covered. Put more simply, he has a better feel for what to do and when to do it.

"He's got amazing vision that not many quarterbacks I've ever been around have. He's learned to utilize that," Phillips said. "Just running a lot of the same plays and having the same reads is the important thing. ... He knows where to look for Witten and where T.O. is going to be on certain routes over and over now for two years. So he has a better feel for that, and for check-downs to Marion Barber, all those things."

Romo has always worked on the finer points of his game. That's among the secrets to his success, the ingredient that's carried him from lightly recruited out of high school to undrafted out of Division I-AA to the big time after three and a half seasons on the Cowboys' bench.

His latest batch of tweaks has been kept under wraps because Dallas went bland in the preseason. The arrival of the regular season means he finally gets to see whether all his extra work will pay off.

Romo carries a career quarterback rating of 96.5, which would be second-best in NFL history if he had enough attempts to qualify. Remember, he's made only 24 regular-season starts. "Those are kind of ridiculous comparisons," he said. "It's cool just the fact that Troy and Roger will talk to (me)."

He's right. Romo is 0-for-2 as a playoff starter, botching the hold of a late go-ahead field goal on the road as a wild card, then getting upset at home last season, wasting the No. 1 seed. Aikman and Staubach each won multiple Super Bowls.

Thus, he's got a ways to go to join that conversation — even if the Cowboys are being talked up as heavy preseason favorites to represent the NFC in the big game.

Extra points: As expected, WRs Miles Austin and Sam Hurd, LB Anthony Spencer and Kosier didn't practice. WR Isaiah Stanback and CB Terence Newman did, increasing the likelihood both will play Sunday. ... Special teams ace Keith Davis rejoined the club and stepped right back into the jobs he left off last season. He signed with Miami, but was released last week. "I think we need him," Phillips said. ... Asked about Cleveland's Kellen Winslow, Phillips joked, "I coached against his dad, his granddad and his great granddad. He's one of the toughest guys to cover. One-on-one he's very adept at pushing off, I mean, getting open. Hope the officials note that."