The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles 20-16 in their divisional showdown on Sunday to claim the NFC East lead.
The Cowboys stopped the Eagles on downs early in the fourth quarter and cashed in with a 49-yard touchdown connection between quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Miles Austin to break a 13-13 tie.
Dallas, winners of their last four games, improved to 6-2, while the Eagles fell to 5-3.
PHOTO: AFP
Earlier, NFC East contenders the New York Giants allowed a last-minute touchdown drive by the San Diego Chargers to fall 21-20 for their fourth straight loss to drop to 5-4.
Dallas coach Wade Phillips said his team had not doubted themselves despite a bumpy start to the season.
“The two games we lost, we barely lost,” he said about defeats by the New York Giants and Denver Broncos. “I didn’t think we lost confidence, but I think we’re getting better.”
PHOTO: AFP
With the Eagles bottling up the Cowboys running attack, Romo took to the air, completing 21 of 34 passes for 307 yards, including a 64-yard toss to Patrick Crayton, while Jason Witten and Roy Williams both caught eight passes.
The turning point at Lincoln Financial Field came when Philadelphia failed on a fourth-and-one from their 44-yard-line with about 11 minutes left in the final quarter.
Donovan McNabb came up short of the first-down marker on a quarterback sneak and Dallas took possession of the ball.
A holding penalty pushed the Cowboys back, but on a third-and-14, Romo found Austin wide open down the left side and the receiver raced into the end zone for a touchdown that put the Cowboys ahead 20-13 with 8:04 to play.
Philadelphia countered with a 52-yard field goal by David Akers with 4:27 left to cut the deficit to 20-16 but Dallas held the ball the rest of the way to clinch victory.
“I thought we could hold them with four minutes left, get the ball back and win the game,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said about his decision to kick the late field goal rather than go for a fourth-and-11 from the Dallas 34.
“It didn’t work out that way.”
Philadelphia, who trailed 10-6 at intermission, had an apparent touchdown return by Ellis Hobbs on the opening kickoff of the second half called back for holding.
The Eagles flew down the field anyway for a go-ahead touchdown drive covering 77 yards in six plays, capped off when McNabb scrambled out of trouble and floated an 11-yard TD pass to tight end Brent Celek to put the Eagles on top 13-10.
Dallas turned a third-quarter interception by Mike Jenkins into a game-tying 33-yard field goal by Nick Folk on the second play of the fourth quarter that made it 13-13.
“We knew it was going to be two heavyweights swinging at each other all game,” Eagles coach Reid said. “They just got the better of us today.”
BUCCANEERS 38, PACKERS 28
At Tampa, Florida, Rookie Josh Freeman passed for 205 yards and three touchdowns to lead the previously winless home team to a 38-28 victory over Green Bay.
In his first pro start, Freeman completed 14 of 31 passes with just one interception.
A critical second pick was wiped out by a Green Bay penalty during the go-ahead drive.
The Bucs were the last team in the NFL to win this season. It was also the first victory for the league’s youngest head coach, 33-year-old Raheem Morris, who replaced Jon Gruden after Tampa Bay went 0-4 in December and missed the playoffs last year.
Aaron Rodgers threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns for the Packers, who have won four and lost four. He also threw three interceptions and had one returned for a TD that put the game out of reach in the final minute.
COLTS 20, TEXANS 17
At Indianapolis, Indiana, running back Joseph Addai scored the go-ahead touchdown with 7:11 left and Houston’s Kris Brown missed a 42-yard field goal as time expired, keeping Indianapolis undefeated.
Indy is the fourth team in league history with 17 straight wins.
New England has done it twice and Chicago did it in 1933-34. Jim Caldwell became the first rookie coach to go 8-0 since Potsy Clark in 1930.
Indianapolis blew a 13-0 first-half lead and trailed 17-13 when Steve Slaton opened the fourth quarter with a 1-yard TD run. But Addai answered with a 2-yard TD run to rally the Colts.
Peyton Manning also became the first quarterback in league history to throw for 40,000 yards within a decade.
SAINTS 30, PANTHERS 20
At New Orleans, the Saints won their first eight matches for the first time in club history when Drew Brees overcame two early turnovers to pass for 330 yards and a touchdown.
DeAngelo Williams rushed for 149 yards and two TDs and Carolina gained 182 on the ground. However, it was Williams’ fumble at his 1 with just more than 2 minutes left that led to New Orleans’ clinching TD after coming back from 17-3 down.
CHARGERS 21, GIANTS 20
At East Rutherford, Philip Rivers capped an 80-yard drive with an 18-yard pass to Vincent Jackson with 21 seconds to play as the Chargers handed New York its fourth straight loss.
Rivers was 24 of 36 for 209 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Jackson, in helping San Diego win its third straight.
TITANS 34, 49ERS 27
At San Francisco, six plays after his 81-yard touchdown run was overturned, Chris Johnson took a pitch from Vince Young and ran 2 yards for a go-ahead score.
Johnson was able to convert on fourth-and-inches for his TD, making up for those six points negated only a few minutes earlier after video replay determined he stepped out of bounds on the long run. Johnson ran for 135 yards and has 959 halfway through the season.
In other NFL action, it was:
• Patriots 27, Dolphins 17
• Bengals 17, Ravens 7
• Cardinals 41, Bears 21
• Falcons 31, Redskins 17
• Jaguars 24, Chiefs 21
• Seahawks 32, Lions 20
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