Cowboys hold off Eagles

16 September 2008

0Comments | Comment on this Article

Tony Romo called it 'A good ol' fashioned Western' and Monday night's game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles was certainly action packed.

"It’s a good thing we were Clint Eastwood," he said, smiling after the 41-37 victory.

Back-to-back flubs by Romo gave Philadelphia touchdowns 14 seconds apart but he wasn't the only one making mistakes. Eagles rookie lost a touchdown after flicking the ball backward before crossing the goal line.

After Marion Barber’s second second-half touchdown and after the Dallas defense snuffed a reception followed by two laterals - the Cowboys came away with a win in their final home opener at Texas Stadium, and the highest-scoring of the 98 games between these teams.

"We know that no game is going to be perfect," Terrell Owens said. "There’s going to be interceptions, fumbles, missed assignments by everyone. But as a team, we came to play tonight. Offensively, defensively, I think everyone stepped up when they needed to."

Romo was 21-of-30 for 312 yards with three touchdowns, plus an interception and a lost fumble that came on consecutive snaps, taking Dallas from near-breakout to near-breakdown.

"We kept believing in each other," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. "Everyone said ‘Hey, hang in there, we’re going to come out on top,’ and we did!

Philadelphia, coming off an impressive romp in its opener, went from trailing 14-6 to leading 30-21 just before halftime. The Eagles were still up 37-31 after Westbrook’s third score, early in the fourth quarter, but his fumble on the next series led to the seventh and final lead change.

"These were two great teams going at it," Donovan McNabb said. "There are a lot of positives we can take from this game. But that’s not important right now. What we need to do is focus on the working on the negatives. That’s going to make us a better team."

Owens had 89 yards on three catches, including a 72-yard touchdown on Dallas’ first series that he punctuated with the kind of arm-flapping celebration he used to do for Philadelphia, and a 4-yard touchdown. His first TD moved him into second place on the NFL’s career receiving touchdown list; he finished at 132, well behind Jerry Rice’s record of 197.

0Comments | Be the first to comment!