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Rushing attack for Cowboys too strong for Packers

Sep 22, 2008 - 5:42 AM GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (Ticker) -- Led by a dominant ground game, the Dallas Cowboys showed why they still may be the class of the NFC.

Marion Barber ran for a career-high 142 yards and a touchdown and rookie Felix Jones had a 60-yard scoring run as Dallas wore down the Green Bay Packers en route to a 27-16 victory on Sunday night.

The Cowboys' (3-0) defense also slowed down quarterback Aaron Rodgers for most of the game, recording five sacks, while outgaining the Packers (2-1), 218-84, on the ground.

"It was a really big win for us," Dallas coach Wade Phillips said. "We certainly made some mistakes, but I thought our team played with a lot of heart like they have. I was proud of our defense. I thought it was pretty outstanding."

Jones' touchdown gave Dallas a 10-6 lead with 6:04 left in the first half, momentarily breaking what was a defensive struggle early. The rookie speedster ran around the left end and blew past the secondary down the sideline for his third score in as many games.

"Well, statistically, they put up big numbers," Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. "Anytime someone runs for 200 yards, that's significant. We made some mistakes, particularly the long run (by Jones). They were able to run the ball for four quarters and kind of wear our defense down."

Leading, 13-9, Dallas took the first two-possession lead of the game as it moved 80 yards in five plays - keyed by a 63-yard reception by Miles Austin. Barber capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown to push the Cowboys' advantage to 20-9 with 2:53 left in the third quarter.

It was the fifth career 100-yard performance for Barber, who carried the ball 28 times. Jones gained 76 yards on six rushes.

"Marion is the workhorse," Phillips said. "He kept hammering and hammering. He started out a little slow, but our line and Marion will wear people down. You could see that we were kind of overpowering them at the end of the game."

The running game helped overcome a slow start for Tony Romo, who tossed a 52-yard touchdown to Austin with 9:09 remaining in the contest to extend Dallas' lead to 27-9. Romo threw a first-quarter interception in the red zone but still finished with 260 yards on 17-of-30 passes.

"It was hard out there tonight," Romo said. "With some of the looks they give you, you think you'll have time to scan and go through your reads but, give them credit, they did a great job of disrupting our timing."

Austin's 115 receiving yards led the team, while Terrell Owens had just two catches for 17 yards.

Rodgers completed 22-of-39 passes for 290 yards - with nearly half of those coming after the Cowboys built a comfortable lead. He also had a 1-yard scoring run with 2:11 left to play, which provided the game's final margin.

"You've got to give Dallas credit," Rodgers said. "I think their game plan was a very good one. They left five rushers on the field for the majority of the game. They tried to single up 1-on-1 matchups, and they've got five solid guys rushing the passer."

Greg Jennings was on the receiving end of Rodgers' throws for most of the night, collecting 115 yards on a career-high eight catches.