Jay Fiedler and Chris Chambers had a memorable Thanksgiving Day. But it was quite forgettable for Bill Parcells and Brett Favre.
Making his first start in more than a month, Fiedler passed for three touchdowns -- all to Chambers -- and ran for another score to lead the Miami Dolphins to a 40-21 rout of the Dallas Cowboys.
The National Football League schedule makers were not kind to the Dolphins, who played less than 92 hours after Fiedler came off the bench and rallied them to a 24-23 victory Sunday night over Washington.
They looked anything but tired on Thursday and enjoyed their highest-scoring game since getting 49 points against Detroit in the 2002 season opener.
"Our guys had a short week and we were still able to focus in and win on the road against a quality team," Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt said.
"It was a great time for us to come together."
Fiedler came out firing, completing 14-of-17 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns in the first half when the Dolphins built a 23-14 lead.
They increased that lead to 37-14 in the third quarter when defensive end Jason Taylor scored on a 34-yard fumble return and Chambers caught a 35-yard touchdown pass. Chambers, who had scoring receptions of 39 and 6 yards in the first half, finished with five catches for 96 yards.
The Dolphins (8-4) improved to 5-1 on the road and pulled within 1 1/2 games of first-place New England in the AFC East.
The loss dropped the Cowboys (8-4) out of a first-place tie with Philadelphia (8-3) in the NFC East.
"I'm a little embarrassed that we came out here on Thanksgiving, on a national broadcast, and played like that," said Parcells, the Cowboys coach.
Playing with a splint over his broken right thumb, Favre was intercepted twice and fumbled the ball away once in the fourth quarter as the Detroit Lions pulled off a 22-14 upset of the Green Bay Packers in a battle of long-time division rivals.
"It starts with me," said Favre, who threw three interceptions for the second straight week. "I've turned the ball over and I haven't played my best."
The loss may turn out to be especially damaging to the Packers (6-6), who trail the first-place Minnesota Vikings by 1 1/2 games in the NFC North.
Despite their last-place standing in the division, the Lions (4-8) always seem to save their best for Thanksgiving Day, improving to 10-5 since 1989 as the traditional holiday host.
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