The Dallas Cowboys’ 24-14 win over the Miami Dolphins in Tony Romo’s first game back from a broken clavicle looked like a typical post-2013 performance by America’s Team. But you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who would argue the phrase ‘Dallas won because Romo was back in the lineup.’

Romo’s very first pass attempt of the game looked like similar ones he’s made a thousand times before, including his signature spinout to the left under pressure. Heck, he was wrapped up in the back of his own end zone and managed to throw the ball to Darren McFadden with his left hand and came up one yard short of the line to gain on a third-and-long.

It was “vintage Romo” as they say on Twitter, and it was a bittersweet day overall for Cowboys fans who enjoyed the end of Dallas’ seven-game skid in Romo’s absence.

Even though McFadden has run well since getting the starting nod over the now unemployed Joseph Randle and the Cowboys’ defense has played at an almost championship level for a majority of the season, none of it mattered because the team kept coming up short in close contests. The worst part was they were situations in which Romo typically thrives.

Thus, the Dallas faithful looked on in joyous relief, but it came with a hint of resentment as the thought of ‘what if?’ lingered in the wet atmosphere in South Beach. Let’s be real here: The Cowboys would be 8-2 at worst following Week 11 had Romo never been hurt. The evidence of that was in the enchiladas at Miami’s expense on Sunday.

The Dallas defense held the Dolphins to just nine first downs and 210 yards of offense. Take away the boneheaded squib kick before the end of the first half that gave Miami a short field for its first score and the Cowboys’ defense would have turned in one of the best performances of the year for the entire NFL.

The funny thing is Rod Marinelli’s unit has played like this all season, but it’s been wasted by a pathetic offense without Romo and that high level of play has gone unnoticed a majority of the time. Through nine games, Dallas was the ninth-best in the league in yards allowed and tied for 14th-best in points allowed. Again, it’s a safe assumption this unit would be top-10 in both categories had Romo been there to keep it off the field a reasonable amount of the time.

That last statement is arguably the best example of #TheRomoEffect (or #RomoEffect), which became a common hashtag on social media Sunday afternoon. Respected Cowboys scout man Bryan Broaddus said before the game the defense would benefit from Romo’s return more than anyone else on the team, and it’s hard to argue that fact now.

In order. Defense Beasley McFadden. Williams. https://t.co/l4CBBU1hn3

— Bryan Broaddus (@BryanBroaddus) November 20, 2015

Broaddus also hit on other important points, including McFadden and Terrence Williams really coming into their own with No. 9 back under center. Both players had statistically their second-best games of the season, primarily because Miami’s defense had to remain honest throughout the game; McFadden finally saw a box with less than eight defenders in it and Williams once again saw single coverage on almost every snap, which resulted in his first touchdown since Week 4.

And of course, a franchise record was broken in this game that couldn’t happen until Romo’s return: Dez Bryant caught his 50th touchdown from the Cowboys’ all-time leading passer, which gave the duo the most touchdowns of any passing combo in team history, passing Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin’s 49.

That happened not only because Romo is an infinitely better passer than Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel, but also because his return allowed Scott Linehan to open up the playbook and be aggressive with his play-calling once again, and it showed.

We saw during the Cowboys’ losing streak just how valuable Romo is to this team, but the rest of the world saw it too (again) on Sunday. It’s a safe bet that value won’t be questioned again.

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