PHILADELPHIA -- Tony Romo's toughness should never be questioned. Not when he has played with broken ribs and a punctured lung. Not when he has played with pain searing down his legs because of a ruptured disk in his back. Not when he has played with two transverse process fractures.
That's his physical toughness. There is also a mental toughness to Romo's game that has gone largely unnoticed.
Take what Romo did in the third quarter of the Dallas Cowboys' 38-27 win on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys' 21-0 lead was gone after 24 unanswered points by the Eagles. The Lincoln Financial Field crowd was as loud as it has ever been.
Despite Romo's fourth-quarter comebacks and big plays, his moments of poor play in big moments have set his narrative. It will be that way until the Romo and Cowboys experience playoff success, and it is a reality he has come to accept.
But with 5:36 to play Sunday night and the Cowboys' season crashing, Romo answered. The offense answered.
"It's just, 'Hey, put your head down and do your job,'" Romo said. "That's what it is. Nothing more or less. It's literally about execution. And if you're good enough, you'll be able to eventually execute and find a way and do things that are positive."
Romo hit Dez Bryant for 22 yards on second-and-9 and limped to the huddle after getting rolled up. On the next play he hit Jason Witten for 11 yards, getting whipped to the ground by Mychael Kendricks. Three plays later, he hit Bryant on a deep in cut for 22 yards to the Philadelphia 2.
DeMarco Murray powered his way into the end zone on the next play, giving the Cowboys the lead for good.
"In those moments you've got to be tough," Romo said. "Tough mentally and tough physically. You've got to say, 'I'm going to put it on the line right now,' and go out and do it. If that means I'm going to make a catch when I'm about to get hit, you go do it. If you want to stand in the pocket and know you're going to get hit, you do it. … That's how you win games on the road and against teams like that."
In the fourth quarter, Romo saw another chance to influence the game after J.J. Wilcox's interception gave the Cowboys the ball at the Philadelphia 42. Instead of playing it safe on third-and-4 from the Eagles 25, Romo read the defense and saw Bryant in one-on-one coverage with cornerback Bradley Fletcher.
"You get ideas pre-snap, but you never want to make pre-determined choices," Romo said. "That's when you'll lose in this league. Young guys get caught all the time. That's why you watch a lot of tape to just understand by their pre-snap alignment what they like to do out of that."
Romo's pass was weighted perfectly to Bryant, catching him in stride for the touchdown, silencing the crowd that moments earlier was as rabid as any Philadelphia crowd.
Romo pumped his fist as he looked to the Cowboys' sideline. He answered. The Cowboys answered.
Romo has been nearly flawless on the road this season. He has 18 touchdown passes and just one interception away from home on the season after his three-touchdown effort -- all to Bryant -- against the Eagles. According to Elias Sports Bureau research, he is the first player in NFL history with four straight road games with at least three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
Romo completed 22 of 31 passes for 265 yards. He missed on just three passes in the second half. He had completions to seven different players.
"Tremendous amount of poise," Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said. "Tremendous amount of composure. Tremendous amount of mental toughness."
