Final
Owens helps Cowboys survive surge by Bengals
Oct 6, 2008 - 1:03 AM IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- The Dallas Cowboys aren't interested in appearances, which is a good thing considering their sloppy effort in getting past the lowly Cincinnati Bengals.Terrell Owens caught a 57-yard touchdown pass and helped the Cowboys survive a late surge by the Bengals in a 31-22 victory on Sunday.
Tony Romo threw the scoring strike with 11:56 remaining in the game to give the Cowboys a 24-16 advantage. With the catch, Owens tied Marshall Faulk for fourth on the all-time list for total touchdowns with 136.
"I'm sorry that I'm not sorry that we won," Romo said. "I think that's something that we have to fight around here is that if you don't win pretty it's not a positive. At the end of the year, it's going to be a W.
"You could look beautiful and pretty, but there's no guarantee it's going to stay that way. You don't get crowned champions for being the best-looking team right now."
Bengals running back Chris Perry fumbled at the Cowboys 40-yard line and Anthony Spencer recovered the ball with 12:36 left to set up Owens' score.
T.J. Houshmandzadeh recorded seven catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns - including a 10-yarder with 7:45 left to cut Cincinnati's deficit to 24-22.
Carson Palmer unleashed a fade pass toward the left corner of the end zone for a two-point conversion to forge a tie, but intended receiver Ben Utecht failed to convert.
"If you don't give up a big play, which they didn't, you're going to win the majority of the games," Houshmandzadeh said. "They didn't give up a big play and they beat us. Last week against Washington, they gave up big plays and they lost. If you eliminate big plays, you'll win games."
Romo, who completed 14-of-23 attempts for 176 yards, hit Patrick Crayton for a 15-yard TD with 1:52 left to secure the victory.
"We did a good job of not succumbing to the momentum," Romo said. "We're excited that we're finding different ways to win."
Jason Witten caught a 4-yard touchdown pass 2:48 into the second to give Dallas a 17-0 advantage, but Cincinnati then began its comeback.
"We were in a lull there in the second half," Witten said. "You want to come out and make a statement, but they didn't quit, either.
"I wouldn't say we're struggling. We still put up 17 points in the first half and ran for 180 yards. I wouldn't call that struggling."
Shayne Graham booted field goals of 41 and 31 yards and Palmer threw an 18-yard TD pass to Houshmandzadeh with 7:59 left in the third to cut the deficit to 17-13.
"I just finished telling those guys in that room that there is no consolation prize for losing," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "We kind of dug ourselves a hole and put the defense in a bad situation at the end of the football game. Some of the explosive plays today, we have to get those shut down."
Graham struck again for a 40-yard field goal just 58 seconds into the fourth to pull within 17-16.
Rookie Felix Jones broke free for a 33-yard rushing score with six minutes remaining in the first to extend the Cowboys' bulge to 10-0.
"I thought that was a real good win for us," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. "We made mistakes, but we were able to overcome them and that's part of learning to win.
"I thought our guys played as hard as they could play. The bottom line is whether you win or not. We got lots of things to work and we're going to work like crazy to correct our mistakes. You still got to learn to win. Some teams would've lost this game because things weren't going well."
- NFL
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CINCINNATI 0 6 7 9 22
DALLAS 10 7 0 14 31 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 30 YD, 1:54. Drive: 4
plays, 5 yards in 1:40. Key plays:
Ellis 11-yard interception return
to Cincinnati 17. DALLAS 3-0
DAL - TD, FELIX JONES 33 YD RUN (NICHOLAS
FOLK
Oct 5 7:22 PM
TD DAL PATRICK CRAYTON 15 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
Bengals 22, Cowboys 31 4th - 1:52Oct 5 7:13 PM
TD DAL PATRICK CRAYTON 15 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
Bengals 22, Cowboys 31 4th - 1:52Oct 5 7:13 PM
TD DAL PATRICK CRAYTON 15 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
Bengals 22, Cowboys 31 4th - 1:52Oct 5 7:13 PM- NFL
TD DAL
PATRICK CRAYTON 15 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO
(NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
CINCINNATI 22
DALLAS 31 1:52 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Bengals 22, Cowboys 31 4th - 1:52Oct 5 7:13 PM
TD CIN T.J. HOUSHMANDZADEH 10 YD PASS FROM CARSON PALMER (TWO-POINT PASS CONVERSION FAILED)
Bengals 22, Cowboys 24 4th - 7:39Oct 5 6:57 PM
TD CIN T.J. HOUSHMANDZADEH 10 YD PASS FROM CARSON PALMER (TWO-POINT PASS CONVERSION FAILED)
Bengals 22, Cowboys 24 4th - 7:39Oct 5 6:57 PM
TD CIN T.J. HOUSHMANDZADEH 10 YD PASS FROM CARSON PALMER (TWO-POINT PASS CONVERSION FAILED)
Bengals 22, Cowboys 24 4th - 7:39Oct 5 6:57 PM- NFL
TD CIN
T.J. HOUSHMANDZADEH 10 YD PASS FROM CARSON PALMER
(TWO-POINT PASS CONVERSION FAILED)
CINCINNATI 22
DALLAS 24 7:39 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Bengals 22, Cowboys 24 4th - 7:39Oct 5 6:57 PM
TD DAL TERRELL OWENS 57 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
Bengals 16, Cowboys 24 4th - 11:46Oct 5 6:46 PM
TD DAL TERRELL OWENS 57 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
Bengals 16, Cowboys 24 4th - 11:46Oct 5 6:46 PM
TD DAL TERRELL OWENS 57 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
Bengals 16, Cowboys 24 4th - 11:46Oct 5 6:46 PM- NFL
TD DAL
TERRELL OWENS 57 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO
(NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
CINCINNATI 16
DALLAS 24 11:46 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Bengals 16, Cowboys 24 4th - 11:46Oct 5 6:46 PM - NFL
FG CIN
SHAYNE GRAHAM 40 YD
CINCINNATI 16
DALLAS 17 14:02 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Bengals 16, Cowboys 17 4th - 14:02Oct 5 6:39 PM - NFL
END, 3RD QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CINCINNATI 0 6 7 13
DALLAS 10 7 0 17 END, 3RD QTR
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 30 YD, 1:54. Drive: 4
plays, 5 yards in 1:40. Key plays:
Ellis 11-yard interception return
to Cincinnati 17. DALLAS 3-0
DAL - TD, FELIX JONES 33 YD RUN (NICHOLAS
Oct 5 6:34 PM
TD CIN T.J. HOUSHMANDZADEH 18 YD PASS FROM CARSON PALMER (SHAYNE GRAHAM KICK)
Bengals 13, Cowboys 17 3rd - 7:59Oct 5 6:13 PM
TD CIN T.J. HOUSHMANDZADEH 18 YD PASS FROM CARSON PALMER (SHAYNE GRAHAM KICK)
Bengals 13, Cowboys 17 3rd - 7:59Oct 5 6:13 PM
TD CIN T.J. HOUSHMANDZADEH 18 YD PASS FROM CARSON PALMER (SHAYNE GRAHAM KICK)
Bengals 13, Cowboys 17 3rd - 7:59Oct 5 6:13 PM- NFL
TD CIN
T.J. HOUSHMANDZADEH 18 YD PASS FROM CARSON PALMER
(SHAYNE GRAHAM KICK)
CINCINNATI 13
DALLAS 17 7:59 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Bengals 13, Cowboys 17 3rd - 7:59Oct 5 6:13 PM - NFL
HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CINCINNATI 0 6 6
DALLAS 10 7 17 HALFTIME
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 30 YD, 1:54. Drive: 4
plays, 5 yards in 1:40. Key plays:
Ellis 11-yard interception return
to Cincinnati 17. DALLAS 3-0
DAL - TD, FELIX JONES 33 YD RUN (NICHOLAS
FO
Oct 5 5:46 PM - NFL
FG CIN
SHAYNE GRAHAM 31 YD
CINCINNATI 6
DALLAS 17 0:34 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Bengals 6, Cowboys 17 2nd - 0:34Oct 5 5:43 PM - NFL
FG CIN
SHAYNE GRAHAM 41 YD
CINCINNATI 3
DALLAS 17 8:15 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Bengals 3, Cowboys 17 2nd - 8:15Oct 5 5:15 PM
TD DAL JASON WITTEN 4 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
Bengals 0, Cowboys 17 2nd - 12:12Oct 5 4:58 PM
TD DAL JASON WITTEN 4 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
Bengals 0, Cowboys 17 2nd - 12:12Oct 5 4:58 PM
TD DAL JASON WITTEN 4 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
Bengals 0, Cowboys 17 2nd - 12:12Oct 5 4:58 PM- NFL
TD DAL
JASON WITTEN 4 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO
(NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
CINCINNATI 0
DALLAS 17 12:12 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Bengals 0, Cowboys 17 2nd - 12:12Oct 5 4:58 PM - NFL
END, 1ST QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CINCINNATI 0 0
DALLAS 10 10 END, 1ST QTR
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 30 YD, 1:54. Drive: 4
plays, 5 yards in 1:40. Key plays:
Ellis 11-yard interception return
to Cincinnati 17. DALLAS 3-0
DAL - TD, FELIX JONES 33 YD RUN (NICHOLAS
Oct 5 4:52 PM - NFL
TD DAL
FELIX JONES 33 YD RUN
(NICHOLAS FOLK KICK)
CINCINNATI 0
DALLAS 10 6:00 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Bengals 0, Cowboys 10 1st - 6:00Oct 5 4:36 PM - NFL
FG DAL
NICHOLAS FOLK 30 YD
CINCINNATI 0
DALLAS 3 13:06 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Bengals 0, Cowboys 3 1st - 13:06Oct 5 4:21 PM
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