Irving, Tex. ? For a three-play stretch Thursday, Tony Romo looked like a guy making only his fifth start after 31â2 years on the bench.

He threw low and inside on what could have 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 an easy 38-10 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“I thought it was Aikman out there,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden said.

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

While it’s tough to lump Romo in with those guys at this point in his career, it is no longer “ludicrous” to consider him being Pro Bowl-caliber, as coach Bill Parcells said earlier 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.

Dallas quarterback Tony romo (9) looks to pass. Romo threw five touchdown passes as the Cowboys won, 38-10, on Thursday in Irving, Texas.

He’s 4-1 as a starter, with three straight wins. In the previous two, he outplayed Peyton Manning as Dallas handed Indianapolis its first loss and he earned NFC offensive player of the week honors for his performance against Arizona.

This time, Romo was 22-of-29 for 306 yards, with a stretch of 13 straight completions. He went 9-of-10 in the second half, making him 29-of-31 after halftime over his last three games.

“The sky is the limit for the guy,” said Terrell Owens, who for all his antics knows a thing or two about quarterbacks, having played with Steve Young in San Francisco and Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia. “He’s poised back there in the pocket. He makes things happen on the run. He makes great decisions, and he’s managing the game. He’s exceeding expectations right now.”

The Buccaneers (3-8) continue living down to their expectations.

After opening the game with an 80-yard touchdown drive, Tampa Bay crossed midfield only once more to lose for the fourth time in five games. Joey Galloway caught three passes for 71 yards in his first game against the Cowboys since they traded him for Keyshawn Johnson, but two of the catches and 59 of the yards came on that opening series.