Romo’s star keeps rising fast

For a three-play stretch Thursday, Tony Romo looked like a guy making only his fifth start after 3 1/2 years on the bench.

He threw low and inside on what could’ve been a long touchdown pass to Terry Glenn. On the next snap, he held the ball too long and got sacked. Then he came up short on a deep ball to a wide-open Terrell Owens.

He hardly misfired again.

Romo went on to throw five touchdown passes, tying a Dallas Cowboys record and leading them to a 38-10 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“I thought it was Aikman out there,” Tampa Bay Coach Jon Gruden said after his team fell to 3-8.

Well, there was one difference: Troy Aikman needed overtime for the only five-touchdown game of his career. And Roger Staubach, the other Hall of Fame quarterback for the Cowboys, never did it.

While it’s tough to compare Romo to them , it is no longer “ludicrous” to consider him Pro Bowl-caliber, as Coach Bill Parcells said this week.

The Cowboys are 7-4, with a half-game lead in the NFC East and the second-most wins in the conference behind Chicago (9-1), and Romo is a major reason for it with a 4-1 record as a starter, with three straight wins.

This time, Romo was 22-for-29 passing for 306 yards, with a stretch of 13 straight completions. He went nine for 10 in the second half, making him 29 for 31 after halftime over his last three games.

“He’s managing the game well. And that’s what he’s supposed to do,” Parcells said. “He’s a football guy and he’s interested in playing well. But we’ve got a ways to go here. So put the anointing oil away, OK?”

Glenn caught Romo’s first two touchdown passes. Marion Barber III caught two and Owens one.