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Romo leads Cowboys past Eagles in offensive explosion
   posted 3:12 pm Tue September 16, 2008 -
(Sports Network) - Tony Romo completed 21-of-30 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns, as the Dallas Cowboys rallied to upend the Philadelphia Eagles, 41-37, in a frenzied matchup between NFC East foes.
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Terrell Owens caught three passes for 89 yards and two scores for the Cowboys (2-0), and also moved into second place on the NFL's all-time career touchdown list. He had been tied with Cris Carter, but now has 132 and trails only Jerry Rice's 197.

Jason Witten had seven catches for 110 yards, while Marion Barber tallied four catches for 51 yards and a TD. Barber also ran for 63 yards and a score on 18 attempts for Dallas, which had lost two consecutive home games to the Eagles. Felix Jones added a 98-yard kick return for a touchdown for Dallas.

ABC 7 News myTAKE - What's Your Opinion? "I mean, it's the second game of the year, so I don't know that it's going to make or break your season either way," Romo said. "But it's nice to get a leg up over a division opponent, especially one as talented as the Eagles."

The Cowboys' win was dampened by the loss of safety Roy Williams, who left the game in the third quarter with a broken right forearm.

Donovan McNabb threw for 281 yards and a touchdown on 25-for-37 passing, but had a costly fumble in the fourth quarter for the Eagles (1-1). Brian Westbrook accumulated 58 yards rushing and two scores on 18 carries, while catching six passes for 45 yards and one touchdown.

"We didn't win the game. It clearly doesn't matter. We can say that we did a great job scoring, but we didn't win the game," McNabb said.

DeSean Jackson had six catches for 110 yards for Philadelphia, which had an injury of its own. Guard Shawn Andrews left the game in the second quarter with a back injury.

"Every game is different," Philadelphia head coach Andy Reid said. "This one, the offense clicked and the defense was not that good."

In a back-and-forth game, the Cowboys drew within 37-34 after a Nick Folk 47- yard field goal with 10:29 remaining in the contest.

The Eagles then seemed primed to extend their lead after Quintin Demps returned the ensuing kickoff 47 yards to the Cowboys' 45-yard line, but a McNabb gaffe led to the winning touchdown.

McNabb completed two six-yard passes to advance the ball to the Dallas 33 and set up a first down, but on the next play he went to hand the ball off to Westbrook and instead drew the ball back slightly. As a result, Westbrook couldn't get a grip on the ball, which tumbled to the ground as Dallas' Jay Ratliff recovered.

"I think [McNabb] got the snap a little earlier than he wanted to," Westbrook said. "He put the ball in there. I've got to do a better job of trying to hang on to it, and secure it before I start to run."

The Cowboys then embarked on a seven-play, 67-yard scoring drive. On the first play, Romo connected with Patrick Crayton for a 16-yard gain to get the ball just short of midfield. A few short passes later, Romo hit Witten with a deep pass over the middle past the Philadelphia secondary. The 32-yard toss brought the ball down to the five-yard line, and several plays later, Barber pushed into the end zone to make it a 41-37 contest.

With 4:35 on the clock, the Eagles still had time to score, but went three- and-out and were forced to punt. Even after the Philadelphia defense forced Dallas to punt, and the Eagles got the ball back with 2:36 to play, the Philadelphia offense sputtered.

On 1st-and-10 from the Eagles' 49, McNabb was sacked for a three-yard loss, threw a deep incompletion, and then was sacked again with 1:10 left after scrambling but never got rid of the football.

A last-gasp hook-and-lateral attempt fell well short on 4th-and-17, and Dallas ran out the clock to seal the win.

"What a game, what a win," Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said. "Had a lot of things go against us in the first half, especially, I think, six penalties, two turnovers. Things looked bad...But the big play was the fumble, the fumble recovery and then us going in for the touchdown after that, and we played lights out after that."

Most of the game's fireworks occurred in the first half, when the teams combined for 54 points.

After David Akers put the Eagles in front with a 34-yard field goal on the game's opening possession, the Cowboys took control at their own 14-yard line. Dallas advanced the ball to the 28 before Romo aired out a deep pass for Owens, who had raced up the middle past the Eagles secondary to make the catch. The 72-yard strike put the Cowboys in front, 7-3, midway through the first quarter.

Akers booted through a 44-yarder with 2:58 remaining in the stanza, and on the ensuing kickoff, Jones -- a rookie out of Arkansas -- took the ball at the two-yard line. He burst up the middle through most of the special teams unit and out-raced everyone to the end zone to give the Cowboys a 14-6 edge.

"There was a guy who had his fingertips on me," Jones said. "But I have to give all the credit to the front line. They really did a great job tonight."

The Eagles then went three-and-out, but on the second play of the next Dallas series, Romo was pressured and his throw was picked off by Asante Samuel, who ran the ball to the Dallas 28.

Philadelphia took over and McNabb tried for the end zone to Greg Lewis. The incompletion, which came on the final play of the first quarter, still garnered a pass interference call -- despite replays showing Lewis was actually holding onto Dallas' Anthony Henry -- to bring the ball to the goal line.

A false start penalty moved the ball five yards back before McNabb found Westbrook in the left flat, and Westbrook ran it into the front left corner of the end zone.

Dallas was pinned back at its own five-yard line on the next kickoff, which resulted in more Philadelphia points. On second down, Romo lost control of the ball going for a handoff, picked the ball up of the turf of the end zone and fumbled again as he was hit by Eagles defenders. The ball bounced a few times before Chris Gocong recovered for a touchdown.

The two scores, which came in the first 19 seconds of the second quarter, put Philadelphia in front, 20-14.

But Dallas answered right back. Taking control at their own 44, the Cowboys advanced downfield on passes of 14 and 20 yards by Romo. An 11-yard run by Barber set up a 1st-and-goal from the four-yard line, and Romo connected with Owens on a slant route for a touchdown to put the Cowboys in front, 21-20.

The Eagles, though, went back in front despite a strange decision by Jackson. On the next series, McNabb tried a long pass that hit the speedy rookie in stride for an apparent touchdown. But Jackson, coasting, inexplicably dropped the ball a yard from the goal line in the way players sometimes release the ball after getting into the end zone. Jackson, though, never got into the end zone and after a Dallas challenge, the touchdown call was reversed.

"Things happen. It's one of those things where I was over-excited," Jackson said. "I'm young and trying to have fun. I'm kind of mad at myself because I could have had a touchdown."

Philadelphia ended up keeping the ball, on the one-yard line, and despite the mistake by Jackson, Westbrook dove over a pile of bodies for an Eagles touchdown. It put the Eagles up 27-21 midway through the stanza.

Dallas was then forced to punt and Philadelphia used up most of the remaining time in the half with an 11-play, 57-yard drive. It stalled out at the four- yard line, and Akers' 22-yarder gave the Eagles a nine-point edge. Folk's 51- yarder just before the half brought Dallas within 30-24 at intermission.

The game settled down from there, and Dallas scored the only points of the third quarter -- on a pass from Romo to Barber that the running back took into the end zone from 17 yards out.

Westbrook's one-yard TD run less than a minute into the final quarter capped an 11-play, 74-yard drive that put the Eagles in front, 37-31.



Game Notes

McNabb's passing touchdown was the 175th of his career, which tied him for the Philadelphia franchise record with Ron Jaworski...Eagles defensive tackle Trevor Laws left the game in the second quarter with a quadriceps injury...Dallas committed 10 penalties for 108 yards...Philadelphia was penalized five times for 44 yards.







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