TAMPA, Fla. – As Tony Romo made the short walk from the podium back to the locker room, a soldier holding a digital camera called out to him.

"Mr. Romo," he said, "do you have a second?"

In the dimly lit hallway inside Raymond James Stadium, the flash of the camera bounced off the walls as the soldier, who called Romo, "his all-time favorite player," and the quarterback smiled widely.

Opening the season with a 34-21 win over Tampa Bay, piling up a career-high 353 passing yards, throwing touchdown passes of 42, 66 and 80 yards and demoralizing the opposition will engender those kinds of feelings.

It was in stark contrast to the last time Romo walked out of a stadium following a regular-season game. In a win-or-out game at Philadelphia last December, Romo and the Cowboys were dismantled by the Eagles, 44-6, and Romo could barely walk to the team bus because of a rib injury so painful he could hardly breathe. He angered some with a perceived nonchalance when he said, "if this is the worst thing that happened in my life, then I'll have lived a pretty good life."

Sunday's personal milestone meant nothing to Romo.

"You're not judged off yards," said Romo, whose right ankle was wrapped in ice after the game. "You're judged off winning and losing at this position. I think our team understands it's about winning and losing. That's what we're trying to do."

On Sunday, Romo did something Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman did not do in their Hall of Fame careers – win his third straight season opener to begin his career.

"He obviously has high expectations for himself, more than anybody else," tight end Jason Witten said. "I don't think he gets caught up in what's said about him, but I do think he wants to prove he can play better than he has."

As he talked with owner and general manager Jerry Jones before Sunday's game, Romo had a feeling the outcome would be decided by the offense's ability to get the ball downfield.

Since 2006, no quarterback and wide receiver combined for more touchdowns than the 36 between Romo and Terrell Owens, but Jones cut Owens in the off-season, and Tampa Bay wanted to challenge the Cowboys.

"He said, 'They're not going to give us the short stuff. They're not going to give us the running game,' " Jones recalled. "We're going to have to do it 12 yards or deeper."

It took time, but once Romo hit Miles Austin with a 42-yard catch-and-run for a go-ahead touchdown with 46 seconds left in the first half, he came to life.

Romo completed 8-of-12 passes for 237 yards after Austin's touchdown.

On his second pass of the third quarter, Romo and Roy Williams combined for their first touchdown, covering 66 yards as Williams split cornerback Ronde Barber and safety Jermaine Phillips for a 20-7 lead. Williams did not have more than 51 receiving yards in any of his 10 games with the Cowboys in 2008.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, Romo connected with Patrick Crayton for a career-long, 80-yard touchdown just as the Buccaneers closed the gap to 20-14 with a grinding 11-play, 84-yard drive that was kept alive after a penalty wiped out an interception by Mike Jenkins.

Tampa Bay elected to blitz Romo, but safety Sabby Piscitelli and cornerback Elbert Mack followed Romo's pump fake to Witten in the flat and left Crayton to run the final 50 yards alone for the clinching touchdown with 12:43 left to play.

"It's all bang, bang, bang stuff," Romo said. "You get a feel for it and do it."

For the first time since 1997-99, the Cowboys have won three straight season openers and put more distance between themselves and the forgettable ending to last season.

"The first game of the year I think is a key every year as far as your team is concerned getting off on the right foot," coach Wade Phillips said. "If you can get one – and one on the road – I think it's a real plus for you."