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Kitna passes for four TDs, Lions upset Cowboys

Jan 1, 2007 - 2:45 AM IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- Coach Bill Parcells should be very concerned with his defense heading into the playoffs.

Jon Kitna became the latest quarterback to pick apart the Dallas Cowboys, passing for 306 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Detroit Lions to a stunning 39-31 victory in the regular-season finale for both teams.

The Lions (3-13) entered with a seven-game losing streak and the NFC's worst record, but moved the ball at will against Dallas and forced four turnovers, including three by Pro Bowl quarterback Tony Romo.

The loss spoiled any chance the Cowboys (9-7) had of winning the NFC East title. They needed to win this game and have the Philadelphia Eagles lose to Atlanta for that to happen. The Eagles won later in the day over the Falcons.

Dallas is in the playoffs for the second time in Parcells' four years as coach, but has not won the division crown under him.

"I can't tell you how disappointed I am. I really can't," Parcells said. "This is the low point for me in a long time. Too many things that beat you, we did today."

The Cowboys will play at NFC West champion Seattle next week in the wild-card round.

But the Cowboys looked like anything but a playoff team in losing their last three home games.

Dallas allowed a total of 132 points in its last four games, the same amount it gave up in the previous eight games. Drew Brees of New Orleans, Michael Vick of Atlanta and Jeff Garcia of Philadelphia were the previous quarterbacks to torch the Cowboys.

"We talked about playing with emotion and I don't think we did today," said Cowboys cornerback Terrence Newman.

Newman muffed a punt that led to a field goal by Jason Hanson, but also returned a punt 56 yards for a touchdown to give Dallas a 21-20 lead early in the third quarter.

Hanson kicked a 26-yard field goal and Kitna hit Mike Furrey with a 13-yard touchdown pass later in the quarter to give Detroit a 30-21 advantage.

Martin Gramatica kicked a 39-yard field goal with four seconds left in the third quarter and Dallas took a 31-30 lead when Romo connected with Terrell Owens on a 56-yard touchdown with 8:09 remaining in the fourth quarter.

But Kitna again took advantage of the Cowboys' secondary, hitting Mike Williams with a 21-yard touchdown with 4:24 left. The two-point conversion failed.

Hanson kicked his fourth field goal of the game - a 23-yarder with 2:58 remaining - to increase the lead to 39-31.

Romo drove the Cowboys to the Detroit 6 in the final minute, but was tackled by linebacker Paris Lenon at the 2 on a 4th-and-goal play.

"We're definitely going in backwards from the way we wanted," said Romo, who was 23-of-32 for 321 yards and two touchdowns. "We may not scare anyone right now. We win a game or two and that will change."

The Lions are an NFL-worst 24-72 since 2001, when Matt Millen was named team president. They own the second overall pick in the 2007 draft.

But Detroit may not consider a quarterback. Kitna led the league with 31 turnovers, but he also set the club record for completions (372) in a season and became only the second quarterback in team history to surpass 4,000 yards (4,208). Scott Mitchell holds the club record with 4,338 yards in 1995.

"That (4,000 yards) is just the benchmark for quarterbacks, but that is not why I play the game," Kitna said. "I would give up half those yards to be 13-3. Unfortunately, that is not the case."

Roy Williams, who was a star at the University of Texas, caught touchdown passes of 20 and 15 yards and finished with six receptions for 104 yards for Detroit.

Mike Furrey had 11 catches for 102 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown for the Lions. A converted safety, Furrey finished the season with 98 receptions for 1,086 yards.

Furrey punctuated his touchdown by firing the football into a plastic Cowboys logo behind the end zone, knocking it off the wall.

"I didn't think the star would come down," Furrey said. "I didn't want to do that. But all the guys enjoyed it."

Owens, the Cowboys' controversial receiver, finished with six catches for 117 yards