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Dallas jumps on Philly early and rolls to victory

Nov 5, 2007 - 7:06 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) - With the season hanging in the balance, the Philadelphia Eagles had little margin for error. Unfortunately, that margin was erased in the first half.

Tony Romo completed 20-of-25 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns as the Dallas Cowboys took advantage of three turnovers by Donovan McNabb to post a 38-17 victory over the Eagles.

Dallas (7-1) moved a game ahead of the idle New York Giants in the NFC East, while Philadelphia (3-5) suffered a serious blow to its postseason hopes.

"Philadelphia is last in the division right now," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. "When a team like Philadelphia is in last place, it shows you that it's really a strong division."

"To have a game like this was really surprising," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "I think our guys were up to the challenge."

Dallas wide receiver Terrell Owens finished with 10 receptions for 174 yards and a touchdown, while running backs Julius Jones and Marion Barber combined for 19 carries and 113 yards with each scoring a TD.

"It was gratifying, but the most important thing was we came here and got a win," Owens said. "What we're doing now is what we were capable of doing last year.

"These guys look to me for some guidance. Sometimes, they look for me to create a spark here and there."

With the theme song from the movie "Rocky" being played prior to the kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles took a punch to the gut on the first play from scrimmage.

McNabb was hit by Marcus Spears and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by linebacker Bradie James at the Philadelphia 37-yard line.

"I just tried to find an open lane to run," McNabb said. "I really didn't see (Spears) behind me. He did an excellent job of tomahawking and knocking it out of my hands."

Six plays later, Jones ran it in from two yards out to give Dallas a quick 7-0 lead. During the drive, Romo found Owens for a 23-yard completion on third-and-six to set up the score.

"I thought Tony did a nice job of moving in the pocket and making plays," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "There were some plays where T.O. was the primary receiver. The more Tony moved around in the pocket, the more open (Owens) got."

Philadelphia tied it on its next possession when Brian Westbrook scored on a 3-yard TD run after McNabb completed a 45-yard pass to Reggie Brown.

Westbrook had a combined 155 yards from scrimmage. He rushed 16 times for 65 yards and caught 14 passes for an additional 90 yards.

The Cowboys answered on their ensuing possession when Romo capped a 9-play, 72-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard toss to Tony Curtis that gave Dallas a 14-7 advantage after one quarter.

Dallas was stopped late in the second quarter when Lito Sheppard intercepted a Romo pass deep in Eagles territory, but safety Ken Hamlin then intercepted McNabb and returned it 14 yards to the Philadelphia 14.

Barber followed with a 5-yard touchdown run that gave the Cowboys a 21-7 halftime advantage.

"We have to keep them out of the end zone and we did not do that," said Eagles safety Brian Dawkins, who was playing for the first time in six games. "Even if the offense does turn the ball over, it's our job to make them kick field goals and instead of 21-7, it's 9-7. We made too many mistakes and allowed them to capitalize on the mistakes we made."

Dallas put the game away in the third quarter with two touchdowns sandwiched around a David Akers' 36-yard field goal for Philadelphia, to take a commanding 35-10 lead.

"That's what you say in the dressing room - 'Let's get the ball, take it in and take control of the game'," Phillips said. "We said that, but more importantly, we went out and did it."

Romo connected with Owens on a 45-yard scoring strike just over two minutes into the period. Only happy when the attention is directed his way, Owens couldn't resist mocking his old team, flapping his arms to mimic an eagle following his TD reception.

"(The celebration) was spontaneous," Owens said. "These fans love me here."

"(If Philadelphia blitzes), there's no one on the field that can take T.O.," Romo said. "Right at the snap, I start screaming T.O.'s name and he heard me. So he kind of looks and boom, I throw him thE ball and there's no one there. (Forty-five) yards later, it was really neat."

After Akers' field goal, Romo then hooked up with Jason Witten for a 20-yard scoring strike to increase the margin to 25 points.

Dallas kicker Nick Folk added a 22-yard field goal to make it 38-10, before McNabb completed the scoring with a 10-yard TD pass to Hank Baskett.

McNabb finished 27-of-46 passing for 264 yards and a touchdown, but threw two interceptions in addition to the lost fumble.