Sep 24, 2007 - 1:11 AM
3 shoutsBy Scot Marcotte PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
CHICAGO (Ticker) - It took 30 minutes for him to find his game, but in a battle of young quarterbacks, Dallas' Tony Romo looked ready for prime time.
Romo threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns as the Dallas Cowboys staked their claim as the best team in the NFC with a 34-10 drubbing of the Chicago Bears on Sunday night.
"To come here into this environment and play this well, we're pretty excited," Romo said. "We've got a lot of good players and I just go out there and try to get them the ball and get out of the way."
After a yawner of a first half, the Cowboys (3-0) came out strong in the second on both sides of the ball. Romo, who was 9-of-17 for 140 yards in the first half, led two third quarter touchdown drives. The Cowboy defense put the game away with a 28 yard interception return for touchdown by Anthony Henry.
"Anthony Henry made another big play for us, really sealed the game, to intercept it, then run it all the way back," Dallas coach Wade Phillips said. "He's one of our playmakers."
Henry had two of Dallas' three interceptions of Bears quarterback Rex Grossman, who turned in another sub-par performance.
The embattled Chicago signalcaller was 15-of-32 for 195 yards and was sacked three times.
"It's on my shoulders," Grossman said. "I have to take care of the football. I have to start making plays, do what I do best. Don't turn the ball over, that's the key. I definitely need to start playing better."
The Bears (1-2) defense started strong, limiting Dallas to just 139 yards of total offense in the first half, including only 18 of it on the ground. But a series of key injuries took four Bears starters, Lance Briggs, Nathan Vasher, Ruben Brown and Tommie Harris, out of the game.
"At halftime I thought we had gotten ourselves back in it, but in the end, they were able to pull away from us," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "Defensively, we hung in there for a while. The second half, they did what they wanted to against us."
It could have been even uglier, as Cowboys receiver Patrick Crayton dropped a sure touchdown from Romo on 3rd-and-10 at the 12 in the second quarter, leaving the Cowboys to settle for a 30 yard field goal by Nick Folk that tied the game, 3-3.
"We kept grinding," Phillips said. "It didn't seem like we were phased, even though bad things happened. That's a mark, I think, of a good football team."
The Cowboys were equally stingy, keeping Bears quarterback Rex Grossman from gaining any momentum. Their defense limited him to just 84 yards in the air in the first half, and 195 overall.
"It was great," Henry said. "We came in with a new defense, so we were trying to get this thing together and take some picks away today. Our focus was to outplay their defense."
Romo completed 22-of-35 passes for 329 yards. He was intercepted once in the first half but bounced back after the break. He found his primary receiver, Terrell Owens, for 145 yards.
"We came in here, mission accomplished, and I feel like a statement was made," Owens said.
Jason Witten and Marion Barber III caught TD passes from Romo in the third quarter as the Cowboys opened up a 17-10 lead.
"Jason's certainly one of the top tight ends in the league and he showed it again tonight," Phillips said.
Folk kicked a 44-yard field goal, Henry returned a pick for a TD and Barber added a one-yard TD run in the fourth as Dallas poured it on.
From the Bleachers
-
DALLAS: 34
CHICAGO: 10
Final
Sep 23 11:30 PM -
NFL
DALLAS 34
CHICAGO 10 3:15 LEFT, 4TH QTR
CHI BALL ON CHI 48 YD LINE
1ST AND 10
Sep 23 11:22 PM -
NFL
TD DAL
ANTHONY HENRY 28 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN
(NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
DALLAS 27
CHICAGO 10 11:49 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Sep 23 10:58 PM -
NFL
FG DAL
NICHOLAS FOLK 44 YD
DALLAS 20
CHICAGO 10 12:10 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Sep 23 10:53 PM -
DALLAS: 17
CHICAGO: 10
End of 3rd
Sep 23 10:45 PM -
NFL
TD DAL
MARION BARBER III 10 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO
(NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
DALLAS 17
CHICAGO 10 1:18 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Sep 23 10:37 PM -
NFL
TD CHI
CEDRIC BENSON 1 YD RUN
(ROBBIE GOULD KICK)
DALLAS 10
CHICAGO 10 7:14 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Sep 23 10:20 PM -
NFL
TD DAL
JASON WITTEN 3 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO
(NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
DALLAS 10
CHICAGO 3 10:14 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Sep 23 10:12 PM -
CubsnCards
look at all the saps on the Boys, I guess they really are America's team, well the D has been good through the half and the Offense has had its moments. Chitown's got a good vibe with the Cubs rolling hopefully Grossman will respond to the booing like Big Z did today. Go Bears sack Romo!!!
Sep 23 10:01 PM -
DALLAS: 3
CHICAGO: 3
Halftime
Sep 23 9:47 PM -
NFL
FG DAL
NICHOLAS FOLK 30 YD
DALLAS 3
CHICAGO 3 8:49 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Sep 23 9:17 PM -
DALLAS: 0
CHICAGO: 3
End of 1st
Sep 23 8:57 PM -
NFL
FG CHI
ROBBIE GOULD 20 YD
DALLAS 0
CHICAGO 3 3:09 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Sep 23 8:45 PM -
hangtime79
I'm psyched for this one. We get a good defense to face so we get to see what my Cowboys offense is made fo this week. Is Romo the second-coming of Staubach or was this just two really bad teams they played. Either way he has looked good and what seems like no hangovers from last year's playoff game.
Sep 23 3:35 PM -
