Jean-Jacques Taylor

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IRVING – Right now, we have no idea where Tony Romo fits into the NFL's quarterback hierarchy.

Is he a franchise quarterback? A solid starter? Or is he the ultimate tease, a coach-killer who will always leave you wanting more?

Don't feel bad. No one knows exactly where to put him, including Wade Phillips and Jerry Jones, no matter how much politically correct rhetoric they spout this week.

These days, Romo is consistently inconsistent, a huge problem for a team with high expectations that hasn't won a playoff game since 1996.

Sure, Romo's 94.2 career passer rating trails only Peyton Manning's 94.9 for the highest rating among active quarterbacks, but anyone who thinks they're comparable needs professional help.

In Romo's first 23 games as a starter, he was 17-6 with 50 touchdown passes, 24 interceptions and a 101.7 passer rating. When that stretch ended in 2007, the Cowboys were 12-1 and en route to earning the NFC's top playoff seed.

Since then, Romo is 11-9 as a starter with 34 touchdowns, 23 interceptions and an 85.0 passer rating.

The guy from the first 23 starts can lead the Cowboys to a championship; the guy from the last 20 starts can't.

My theory: Romo misses former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells more than any other player on the roster.

No one challenges Romo like Parcells did. No one holds him accountable like Parcells did. Certainly, no one dog cusses him like Parcells.

When Romo screws up, there are no real ramifications – other than he feels bad. It's not like Phillips would ever bench him, even though Jon Kitna is a capable backup.

Romo's way too comfortable. He's the type of guy who's at his best when someone like Parcells is constantly on his butt while using language that would get your kids grounded for a month.

Phillips certainly doesn't employ that style. Neither does offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.

It didn't matter as much in 2007, his first season without Parcells, because Romo had been around Parcells so long and still embodied all of the coach's philosophies. Parcells has been gone nearly three years, and Romo certainly isn't adhering to Parcells' philosophy now.

All you have to do is watch him play.

Most of the expectations heaped upon Romo are based upon his first 23 starts, when he showed star potential.

That guy had 14 games with a passer rating of more than 100.0 and led the Cowboys to winning streaks of four, five and six games. That Romo made the Cowboys a Super Bowl contender.

We haven't seen that Romo in a long time. Maybe we'll never see him again. There are no guarantees.

Perhaps we should accept that Romo will always be a player who is equally capable of making the big play and the big mistake in the same game.

The final 14 games of this season will determine whether we need to lower our expectations for Romo, who is 29.

If that's the case, Jerry has made a $67 million goof. Jerry signed Romo to a lucrative deal that included $30 million in guaranteed money because he assumed he was the next great quarterback in franchise history.

We all did – unless you're into revisionist history.

Jerry made another commitment to Romo this summer by releasing T.O. so Romo wouldn't have to fight for control of the team. Then the Cowboys spent the off-season making the offense more Romo-friendly and doing whatever they could to make his job easier.

Garrett has tried to turn Romo into a game manager by relying on the running game in the first two games. Romo has yet to throw 30 passes in a game, something that happened twice all last season.

Still, Romo threw three interceptions – all on awful throws – against the Giants. Garrett can't protect Romo from himself all of the time by running the ball every play. At some point, Garrett must trust Romo not to screw up.

Surely, that's not too much to ask.

Here's a look at Tony Romo's first 23 starts compared to his last 20. There's a significant difference in his effectiveness:

The active players with the highest passer rating: