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NFL: Dallas Cowboys' Romo

Tony Romo, who spent all week denying Brett Favre was his childhood hero, played a lot like a young No. 4 on Thursday to send the Dallas Cowboys past the Green Bay Packers 37-27.

Favre injured his right elbow in the second quarter and did not return, perhaps jeopardizing his run of 249 consecutive starts, a record that's about six seasons longer than the next-best by a quarterback. He has 10 days to heal before the Packers play again, Dec. 9 at home against Oakland. The injury could be similar to a banged-up nerve in his right elbow that knocked him out of a game last November.

Romo threw four touchdown passes to send the Cowboys (11-1) to their sixth straight win and into the lead for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Packers (10-2) ended a six-game winning streak and are now essentially two games behind Dallas in the chase for the conference's top spot with only four games left.

The bigger concern for Green Bay is Favre's health.

Backup Aaron Rodgers, who spent the week pretending he was Romo in Green Bay practices, provided the kind of rally Favre usually specializes in. He threw the first touchdown pass of his three-year career, but wasn't able to lead a Favre-esque rally.

The excitement of facing Favre brought out the best in Romo as he led the Cowboys to scores on their first five drives, capping the last three with touchdown passes. But once Rodgers came in, Romo lost his mojo, and so did Dallas.

A 27-10 lead frittered to 27-24 , in part because of a failed fourth-down conversion when the Cowboys could have tried a field goal to stretch their lead to 30-17 . Dallas really looked like they might blow it when Terrell Owens juggled a pass in the end zone and wound up flipping it over his head to cornerback Al Harris for an interception.

Green Bay's bid for a go-ahead tying touchdown ended quickly, then Romo drove right back for a lead-stretching touchdown -- to Patrick Crayton, not Owens.
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