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Cowboys open three-game homestand against Redskins

Nov 18, 2007 - 11:26 AM Washington (5-4) at Dallas (8-1) Sunday 4:15 pm EST

IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- Now in control of the NFC East, the Dallas Cowboys hope to feast on some home cooking in the coming weeks.

Coming off an impressive win over the New York Giants, the Cowboys begin a three-game homestand on Sunday, when they host the Washington Redskins.

The contest begins a stretch in which the Cowboys will play three games in 12 days.

Next week, Dallas entertains the New York Jets in their annual Thanksgiving Day game, then hosts another Thursday game the following week against the Green Bay Packers.

Last week's 31-20 victory at Giants Stadium gave Dallas a two-game edge over New York in the NFC East. The Cowboys also have the tiebreaker advantage, based on a season sweep of the Giants.

Dallas, which is seeking its first division title since 1998, needs only one victory to match its win total from each of the last two seasons.

But the Cowboys, who remained tied with the Packers for the best record in the NFC at 8-1, are far from satisfied.

"We haven't accomplished anything yet," Dallas coach Wade Phillips said. "We're not in the playoffs. We hadn't won our division. We haven't secured anything."

Still, the Cowboys' offense looks unstoppable. Last week, Tony Romo threw four touchdown passes, giving him an NFC-high 23 for the season. Only New England's Tom Brady has more with 33.

Two of Romo's TDs went to Terrell Owens, who grabbed six passes for 125 yards. Romo is the NFC's leading receiver with 50 receptions for 855 yards.

Last week, the Redskins squandered a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter and suffered a 33-25 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. To make matters worse, Washington could face the Cowboys without a pair of receivers.

Santana Moss missed last week's game with a heel injury and his replacement, James Thrash, suffered an ankle sprain after scoring two touchdowns against the Eagles.

Against the Eagles, the Redskins twice had to settle for field goals in the second half after getting the ball inside Philadelphia's 2-yard line.

"We were in the red zone on the 2-yard line, and we can't get the ball in, that's telling you something," Redskins running back Rock Cartwright said. "Two times, so what is that saying? Why can't we finish, what are we not doing? It's unexplainable, it doesn't make any sense."

The teams are meeting for the first time since the Redskins' wild 22-19 win last season in Washington in which Nick Novak kicked a 47-yard field goal as time expired.