GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NFL: ST LOUIS (0-3) at DALLAS (3-0)

Discussion in 'Chicago Bears' started by SportsTicker, Sep 28, 2007.

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    By John Tranchina
    Special to PA SportsTicker


    IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys didnot fall into the trap.


    Thanks to another outstanding performance by Romo, who passedfor three touchdowns and ran for another score, the Cowboysrolled to a 35-7 victory Sunday over the winless St. Louis Rams.

    Dallas (4-0) remained atop the NFC East Division and is off toits best start since 1995. Conversely, the Rams (0-4) are offto their worst start since 2002.


    Romo continued his dominant start to the season, completing21-of-33 passes for 339 yards with one interception.

    With the Rams focusing much of their defensive attention onTerrell Owens, Romo turned to Patrick Crayton, who hauled incareer highs of seven receptions for 184 yards and two TDs.

    It was just the fourth career start for Crayton, who filled inmore than admirably for the injured Terry Glenn.


    Tight end Jason Witten had six catches for 71 yards and a scorewhile Owens finished with just 33 yards on three receptions.

    With the Rams missing star running back Steven Jackson,three-fifths of their starting offensive line and withquarterback Marc Bulger fighting through two cracked ribs thateventually forced him out late in the third quarter, fewobservers gave them a chance.


    But early on, it looked like St. Louis just might have anopportunity to pull off the upset. Dallas got off to a slowstart and the Rams capitalized, forging a 7-7 tie on DanteHall's 85-yard TD off a punt return with 2:11 left in the firsthalf.


    But Dallas' high-octane offense finally got untracked andproduced touchdowns on its next four possessions, including allthree in the third quarter.


    Romo put the Cowboys gave the Cowboys the lead for good justbefore the half as he raced into the end zone from 15 yards outwith just 11 seconds to play.


    That drive was kept alive by an incredible recovery by Romo on a3rd-and-3 at midfield. The snap sailed over the head of Romo,who had to chase it back to the Dallas 15 before scooping it upand scrambling back upfield for the first down.


    Romo also connected on scoring passes to Crayton of 59 and 37yards within the first 5 1/2 minutes of the third quarter tobreak open the game and give the Cowboys a commanding 28-7 lead.

    In each of their last three victories, the Cowboys have beenslow to get started offensively, and this game followed the samescript.


    After a scoreless first quarter in which they compiled just 49total yards, the Cowboys finally broke through in the second.Julius Jones opened the scoring with his first touchdown of theseason just past the midway point of the second quarter on a2-yard run.


    The Rams, already decimated by injuries entering the contest,lost receiver Isaac Bruce with a hamstring injury as well asoffensive tackle Adam Goldberg with a knee injury and startingsafety Corey Chavous with a left shoulder strain.


    Bulger struggled through another poor performance, finishingjust 11-for-24 for 114 yards and an interception.


    Rookie Brian Leonard had a decent game in his first startreplacing the injured Jackson, who is sidelined with a torngroin muscle. Leonard carried 16 times for 58 yards.
     
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    NFL: ST LOUIS at DALLAS

    <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
    --- --- --- --- -----
    ST LOUIS 0 7 0 0 7
    DALLAS 0 14 21 0 35 FINAL

    SCORING SUMMARY

    1ST QUARTER:

    NONE

    2ND QUARTER:

    7:45 DAL - TD, JULIUS JONES 2 YD RUN (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards in 4:45.
    Key plays: Romo 12-yard pass to Owens on 3rd-and-4 to Dallas 38;
    Romo 18-yard pass to Whitten to St Louis 44; Romo 11-yard pass to J Jones
    to St. Louis 23; Romo 21-yard pass to Crayton to St Louis 2. DALLAS 7-0.
    12:49 STL - TD, DANTE' HALL 85 YD PUNT RETURN (JEFF WILKINS KICK).
    ST LOUIS 7-7.
    14:49 DAL - TD, TONY ROMO 15 YD RUN (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 12 plays, 83 yards in 2:00.
    Key plays: Romo 4-yard pass to Hurd on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 28; Romo
    15-yard pass to Barber to Dallas 43; Romo 37-yard fumble recovery on
    3rd-and-3 to St Louis 46; Romo 19-yard pass to Crayton to St Louis 27;
    Romo 12-yard pass to Witten to St Louis 15. DALLAS 14-7.

    3RD QUARTER:

    2:19 DAL - TD, PATRICK CRAYTON 59 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 3 plays, 59 yards in 0:20.
    DALLAS 21-7.
    5:20 DAL - TD, PATRICK CRAYTON 37 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 3 plays, 52 yards in 1:12.
    Key plays: Romo 14-yard pass to Fasano to St Louis 37. DALLAS 28-7.
    12:38 DAL - TD, 17 YD PASS FROM JASON WITTEN (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards in 2:46.
    Key plays: Romo 24-yard pass to Crayton to Dallas 44; Barber 23-yard
    run to St Louis 33; Barber 15-yard run to St Louis 18. DALLAS 35-7.

    4TH QUARTER:

    NONE

    ST LOUIS - DALLAS Final Statistics

    TEAM STATISTICS ST LOUIS DALLAS

    FIRST DOWNS 12 28
    Rushing 2 11
    Passing 10 16
    Penalty 0 1
    THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 3-12-25% 8-13-62%
    FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 0-0-0%
    TOTAL NET YARDS 187 502
    Total offensive plays 54 67
    Average gain per play 3.5 7.5
    NET YARDS RUSHING 62 171
    Rushing attempts 21 33
    Average gain per rush 3.0 5.2
    Tackles for loss-yards 3-3 0-0
    NET YARDS PASSING 125 331
    Times sacked: Number-Yards 3-18 1-8
    Gross passing yards 143 339
    PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 30-14-1 33-21-1
    Avg gain per pass play 3.8 9.7
    KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 2-2-1 6-2-1
    PUNTS: Number and Average 8-55.3 5-51.8
    Had blocked 0 0
    Net punting average 41.4 42.8
    TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 142 45
    Number-Yards: Punt Returns 4-111 2-45
    Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 5-151 1-20
    Number-Yards: Interception Returns 1-31 1-0
    PENALTIES: Number-Yards 7-50 2-10
    FUMBLES: Number-Lost 2-0 1-0
    TOUCHDOWNS 1 5
    Rushing 0 2
    Passing 0 3
    Interceptions 0 0
    Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 1 0
    EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 1-1 5-5
    Kicking: Made-Attempts 1-1 5-5
    Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
    Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
    FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 0-1 0-0
    FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0
    RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 0-2-0% 3-3-100%
    GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 0-1-0% 1-1-100%
    SAFETIES 0 0
    TIME OF POSSESSION 27:11 32:49


    INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

    ST LOUIS DALLAS

    RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    B LEONARD 16 58 3.6 11 0 J JONES 13 52 4.0 14 1
    T MINOR 4 6 1.5 4 0 M BARBER I 8 50 6.3 23 0
    M BULGER 1 -2 -2.0 0 0 T THOMPSON 8 47 5.9 23 0
    T ROMO 3 24 8.0 15 1
    B JOHNSON 1 -2 -2.0 0 0

    PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    M BULGER 11-24-114 1 0 24 T ROMO 21-33-339 1 2 59
    G FREROTTE 3- 6- 29 0 0 12

    Sacked-Yards Lost: M BULGER 3-18. Sacked-Yards Lost: T ROMO 1-8.

    RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    T HOLT 5 52 10.4 18 0 P CRAYTON 7 184 26.3 59 2
    R MCMICHAE 3 24 8.0 13 0 J WITTEN 6 71 11.8 18 0
    D BENNETT 2 20 10.0 16 0 T OWENS 3 33 11.0 14 0
    I BRUCE 1 24 24.0 24 0 M BARBER I 2 22 11.0 15 0
    T MINOR 1 13 13.0 13 0 A FASANO 1 14 14.0 14 0
    D LOOKER 1 9 9.0 9 0 J JONES 1 11 11.0 11 0
    B LEONARD 1 1 1.0 1 0 S HURD 1 4 4.0 4 0

    INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    O ATOGWE 1 31 31.0 31 0 K HAMLIN 1 0 0.0 0 0

    PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    D JONES 8 442 55.3 2 4 66 M MCBRIAR 5 259 51.8 0 1 58

    T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20

    PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    D HALL 4 111 27.8 85 1 P CRAYTON 2 45 22.5 26 0

    KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    D HALL 5 151 30.2 39 0 T THOMPSON 1 20 20.0 20 0

    KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
    ---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
    J WILKINS 1/1 0/0 N FOLK 5/5 0/0


    O-D O-D
    FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC
    ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
    T HOLT 1 0 0 1-0 A GURODE 1 0 0 0-0
    J REEVES 0 0 1 0-0
    T ROMO 0 0 0 1-0

    DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD
    ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
    C CHAVOUS 7 6 1 1-8 J REEVES 6 5 1 0-0
    W WITHERSPOON 6 6 0 0-0 T NEWMAN 4 4 0 0-0
    O ATOGWE 5 4 1 0-0 D WARE 4 3 1 1-8
    P TINOISAMOA 5 2 3 0-0 B JAMES 4 3 1 0-0
    R BARTELL 4 4 0 0-0 A AYODELE 4 3 1 0-0
    C RYAN 4 3 1 0-0 K HAMLIN 3 3 0 0-0
    J HALL 3 3 0 0-0 R WILLIAMS 3 2 1 0-0
    J WADE 3 3 0 0-0 J HATCHER 2 2 0 0-0
    L WALLS 3 2 1 0-0 G ELLIS 2 1 11.5-8.5
    L GLOVER 2 2 0 0-0 M SPEARS 2 1 1 .5-1.5
    D VINNETT 2 2 0 0-0 C CANTY 2 0 2 0-0
    B CHILLAR 1 1 0 0-0 A HENRY 1 1 0 0-0
    J CARTER 1 1 0 0-0 A SPENCER 1 1 0 0-0
    T JOHNSON 1 1 0 0-0 R AYODELE 1 1 0 0-0
    A CARRIKER 1 1 0 0-0 J RATLIFF 1 1 0 0-0
    C DRAFT 1 0 1 0-0 N JONES 1 1 0 0-0
    T JOHNSON 1 0 1 0-0 S BOWEN 1 0 1 0-0
    V ADEYANJU 1 0 1 0-0

    Officials: Referee-Walt Anderson, Umpire-Butch Hannah, Head
    Linesman-Phil Mckinnely, Line Judge-Byron Boston, Field Judge-Terry
    Brown, Side Judge-Rick Patterson, Back Judge-Billy Smith.

    Att: 62,866 Time of Game: 3:01</div>
     
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    NFL: ST LOUIS at DALLAS

    <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
    --- --- --- --- -----
    ST LOUIS 0 7 0 0 7
    DALLAS 0 14 21 0 35 FINAL

    SCORING SUMMARY

    1ST QUARTER:

    NONE

    2ND QUARTER:

    7:45 DAL - TD, JULIUS JONES 2 YD RUN (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards in 4:45.
    Key plays: Romo 12-yard pass to Owens on 3rd-and-4 to Dallas 38;
    Romo 18-yard pass to Whitten to St Louis 44; Romo 11-yard pass to J Jones
    to St. Louis 23; Romo 21-yard pass to Crayton to St Louis 2. DALLAS 7-0.
    12:49 STL - TD, DANTE' HALL 85 YD PUNT RETURN (JEFF WILKINS KICK).
    ST LOUIS 7-7.
    14:49 DAL - TD, TONY ROMO 15 YD RUN (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 12 plays, 83 yards in 2:00.
    Key plays: Romo 4-yard pass to Hurd on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 28; Romo
    15-yard pass to Barber to Dallas 43; Romo 37-yard fumble recovery on
    3rd-and-3 to St Louis 46; Romo 19-yard pass to Crayton to St Louis 27;
    Romo 12-yard pass to Witten to St Louis 15. DALLAS 14-7.

    3RD QUARTER:

    2:19 DAL - TD, PATRICK CRAYTON 59 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 3 plays, 59 yards in 0:20.
    DALLAS 21-7.
    5:20 DAL - TD, PATRICK CRAYTON 37 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 3 plays, 52 yards in 1:12.
    Key plays: Romo 14-yard pass to Fasano to St Louis 37. DALLAS 28-7.
    12:38 DAL - TD, 17 YD PASS FROM JASON WITTEN (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards in 2:46.
    Key plays: Romo 24-yard pass to Crayton to Dallas 44; Barber 23-yard
    run to St Louis 33; Barber 15-yard run to St Louis 18. DALLAS 35-7.

    4TH QUARTER:

    NONE

    ST LOUIS - DALLAS Final Statistics

    TEAM STATISTICS ST LOUIS DALLAS

    FIRST DOWNS 12 28
    Rushing 2 11
    Passing 10 16
    Penalty 0 1
    THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 3-12-25% 8-13-62%
    FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 0-0-0%
    TOTAL NET YARDS 187 502
    Total offensive plays 54 67
    Average gain per play 3.5 7.5
    NET YARDS RUSHING 62 171
    Rushing attempts 21 33
    Average gain per rush 3.0 5.2
    Tackles for loss-yards 3-3 0-0
    NET YARDS PASSING 125 331
    Times sacked: Number-Yards 3-18 1-8
    Gross passing yards 143 339
    PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 30-14-1 33-21-1
    Avg gain per pass play 3.8 9.7
    KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 2-2-1 6-2-1
    PUNTS: Number and Average 8-55.3 5-51.8
    Had blocked 0 0
    Net punting average 41.4 42.8
    TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 142 45
    Number-Yards: Punt Returns 4-111 2-45
    Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 5-151 1-20
    Number-Yards: Interception Returns 1-31 1-0
    PENALTIES: Number-Yards 7-50 2-10
    FUMBLES: Number-Lost 2-0 1-0
    TOUCHDOWNS 1 5
    Rushing 0 2
    Passing 0 3
    Interceptions 0 0
    Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 1 0
    EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 1-1 5-5
    Kicking: Made-Attempts 1-1 5-5
    Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
    Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
    FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 0-1 0-0
    FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0
    RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 0-2-0% 3-3-100%
    GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 0-1-0% 1-1-100%
    SAFETIES 0 0
    TIME OF POSSESSION 27:11 32:49


    INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

    ST LOUIS DALLAS

    RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    B LEONARD 16 58 3.6 11 0 J JONES 13 52 4.0 14 1
    T MINOR 4 6 1.5 4 0 M BARBER I 8 50 6.3 23 0
    M BULGER 1 -2 -2.0 0 0 T THOMPSON 8 47 5.9 23 0
    T ROMO 3 24 8.0 15 1
    B JOHNSON 1 -2 -2.0 0 0

    PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    M BULGER 11-24-114 1 0 24 T ROMO 21-33-339 1 2 59
    G FREROTTE 3- 6- 29 0 0 12

    Sacked-Yards Lost: M BULGER 3-18. Sacked-Yards Lost: T ROMO 1-8.

    RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    T HOLT 5 52 10.4 18 0 P CRAYTON 7 184 26.3 59 2
    R MCMICHAE 3 24 8.0 13 0 J WITTEN 6 71 11.8 18 0
    D BENNETT 2 20 10.0 16 0 T OWENS 3 33 11.0 14 0
    I BRUCE 1 24 24.0 24 0 M BARBER I 2 22 11.0 15 0
    T MINOR 1 13 13.0 13 0 A FASANO 1 14 14.0 14 0
    D LOOKER 1 9 9.0 9 0 J JONES 1 11 11.0 11 0
    B LEONARD 1 1 1.0 1 0 S HURD 1 4 4.0 4 0

    INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    O ATOGWE 1 31 31.0 31 0 K HAMLIN 1 0 0.0 0 0

    PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    D JONES 8 442 55.3 2 4 66 M MCBRIAR 5 259 51.8 0 1 58

    T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20

    PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    D HALL 4 111 27.8 85 1 P CRAYTON 2 45 22.5 26 0

    KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    D HALL 5 151 30.2 39 0 T THOMPSON 1 20 20.0 20 0

    KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
    ---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
    J WILKINS 1/1 0/0 N FOLK 5/5 0/0


    O-D O-D
    FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC
    ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
    T HOLT 1 0 0 1-0 A GURODE 1 0 0 0-0
    J REEVES 0 0 1 0-0
    T ROMO 0 0 0 1-0

    DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD
    ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
    C CHAVOUS 7 6 1 1-8 J REEVES 6 5 1 0-0
    W WITHERSPOON 6 6 0 0-0 T NEWMAN 4 4 0 0-0
    O ATOGWE 5 4 1 0-0 D WARE 4 3 1 1-8
    P TINOISAMOA 5 2 3 0-0 B JAMES 4 3 1 0-0
    R BARTELL 4 4 0 0-0 A AYODELE 4 3 1 0-0
    C RYAN 4 3 1 0-0 K HAMLIN 3 3 0 0-0
    J HALL 3 3 0 0-0 R WILLIAMS 3 2 1 0-0
    J WADE 3 3 0 0-0 J HATCHER 2 2 0 0-0
    L WALLS 3 2 1 0-0 G ELLIS 2 1 11.5-8.5
    L GLOVER 2 2 0 0-0 M SPEARS 2 1 1 .5-1.5
    D VINNETT 2 2 0 0-0 C CANTY 2 0 2 0-0
    B CHILLAR 1 1 0 0-0 A HENRY 1 1 0 0-0
    J CARTER 1 1 0 0-0 A SPENCER 1 1 0 0-0
    T JOHNSON 1 1 0 0-0 R AYODELE 1 1 0 0-0
    A CARRIKER 1 1 0 0-0 J RATLIFF 1 1 0 0-0
    C DRAFT 1 0 1 0-0 N JONES 1 1 0 0-0
    T JOHNSON 1 0 1 0-0 S BOWEN 1 0 1 0-0
    V ADEYANJU 1 0 1 0-0

    Officials: Referee-Walt Anderson, Umpire-Butch Hannah, Head
    Linesman-Phil Mckinnely, Line Judge-Byron Boston, Field Judge-Terry
    Brown, Side Judge-Rick Patterson, Back Judge-Billy Smith.

    Att: 62,866 Time of Game: 3:01</div>
     
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    By John Tranchina
    Special to PA SportsTicker


    IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys didnot fall into the trap.


    Thanks to another outstanding performance by Romo, who passedfor three touchdowns and ran for another score, the Cowboysrolled to a 35-7 victory Sunday over the winless St. Louis Rams.

    Dallas (4-0) remained atop the NFC East Division and is off toits best start since 1995. Conversely, the Rams (0-4) are offto their worst start since 2002.


    Romo continued his dominant start to the season, completing21-of-33 passes for 339 yards with one interception. Romo, whofinished just six passing yards shy of his career high, alsogained 24 yards rushing - including a 15-yard TD run that gaveDallas a 14-7 lead late in the second quarter.


    "It's not just Tony, even though Tony is the kind of guy thatthrives on competing and enjoying what he's doing," Dallas coachWade Phillips said. "We have quite a few guys like that."

    Dallas has now scored more points (151) in the first four gamesof a season than any other Cowboys' club since 1968.

    With the Rams focusing much of their defensive attention onTerrell Owens, Romo turned to Patrick Crayton, who hauled incareer highs of seven receptions for 184 yards and two TDs.

    It was just the fourth career start for Crayton, who filled inmore than admirably for the injured Terry Glenn.


    "Patrick stepped up today," Romo said. "He has great hands."

    "The offensive scheme allows us to keep going with the ball andkeep putting up points," Crayton said. "Defensive coordinatorshave to figure out what we will do. They just have somedecisions to make in how to cover us."


    Tight end Jason Witten had six catches for 71 yards and a scorewhile Owens finished with just 33 yards on three receptions.

    "I'm learning that's going to be the case all along, anybody'sgoing to have a huge day," Owens said. "One day, it's me, thenit's Crayton, then Witten. But today was Crayton's day."

    "We knew they had weapons," said St. Louis defensive tackleLa'Roi Glover, a former Cowboy. "Obviously, (Owens) is one ofthem. We did what we could to contain them. It's a combinationof all those players, and they're clicking. Romo is takingcharge there."


    With the Rams missing star running back Steven Jackson,three-fifths of their starting offensive line and withquarterback Marc Bulger fighting through two cracked ribs thateventually forced him out late in the third quarter, fewobservers gave them a chance.


    But St. Louis wide receiver Isaac Bruce was confident headinginto the contest, predicting that the Rams would win.

    "We never fell into the trap, especially before the week ofpractice, we hear that guarantee," Crayton said. "All that doesis push and motivate us, and we're considering ourselves one ofthe top half teams in the league."


    But early on, it looked like St. Louis just might have anopportunity to pull off the upset. Dallas got off to a slowstart and the Rams capitalized, forging a 7-7 tie on DanteHall's 85-yard TD off a punt return with 2:11 left in the firsthalf.


    "Instead of taking it right up the field, I tried the cut," Hallsaid. "(Special teams coach) Al Roberts told me to try it. Itworked to perfection on that one, fortunately.


    "At that particular time, I thought maybe that was where wewould turn it around."


    But Dallas' high-octane offense finally got untracked andproduced touchdowns on its next four possessions, including allthree in the third quarter.


    Romo put the Cowboys gave the Cowboys the lead for good justbefore the half as he raced into the end zone from 15 yards outwith just 11 seconds to play.


    That drive was kept alive by an incredible recovery by Romo on a3rd-and-3 at midfield. The snap sailed over the head of Romo,who had to chase it back to the Dallas 15 before scooping it upand scrambling back upfield for the first down.


    "I was thinking, 'Don't give up a touchdown and don't getkilled,'" Romo said. "Once you pick up the ball, you try tomake the play."


    That seemed to energize the Cowboys, and they rolled over theRams after that.


    "It just goes to show you what kind of athlete (Romo) is,"Witten said. "I thought the whole day, he made a lot of goodplays for us, but that one especially to get that first down wasa big one on his part.


    "He just keeps plugging away and he's doing a great job, and alot of our success has to go to him. I think that was a hugeplay. I think the team rallied behind that play."

    Romo also connected on scoring passes to Crayton of 59 and 37yards within the first 5 1/2 minutes of the third quarter tobreak open the game and give the Cowboys a commanding 28-7 lead.

    "We kept plugging away, we had some big plays in the game thatturned the tide for us," Phillips said. "We finish good, thisteam finishes really well, we've done that in all four games."

    In each of their last three victories, the Cowboys have beenslow to get started offensively, and this game followed the samescript.


    After a scoreless first quarter in which they compiled just 49total yards, the Cowboys finally broke through in the second.Julius Jones opened the scoring with his first touchdown of theseason just past the midway point of the second quarter on a2-yard run.


    "For some odd reason, we're giving up stuff in the first half,but we're finding it in the second," Romo said. "It's differentlooks and that's good to see. Then we become very hard to stopsometimes."


    The Rams, already decimated by injuries entering the contest,lost Bruce with a hamstring injury as well as offensive tackleAdam Goldberg with a knee injury and starting safety CoreyChavous with a left shoulder strain.


    "Not to make excuses, but injuries are killing us right now,"Hall said. "They are taking our swagger away right now. I'venever played where every week it seems like we're losingsomeone."


    "I am sick and tired of losing," Rams coach Scott Linehan said."I think everybody else in the locker room can tell you thesame. Injuries seem to be a part of the game that we have hadour share of, but we've got to find ways to win football games."

    Bulger struggled through another poor performance, finishingjust 11-for-24 for 114 yards and an interception.


    "My health is fine," Bulger said. "If (Linehan) says we need aspark to help the team win, then that's what I want to do. It'sas frustrating as it looks. I can't speak for anyone else, butI hate to lose."


    Rookie Brian Leonard had a decent game in his first startreplacing the injured Jackson, who is sidelined with a torngroin muscle. Leonard carried 16 times for 58 yards.
     
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    NFL: ST LOUIS at DALLAS

    <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
    --- --- --- --- -----
    ST LOUIS 0 7 0 7
    DALLAS 0 14 21 35 FINAL

    SCORING SUMMARY

    1ST QUARTER:

    NONE

    2ND QUARTER:

    7:45 DAL - TD, JULIUS JONES 2 YD RUN (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards in 4:45.
    Key plays: Romo 12-yard pass to Owens on 3rd-and-4 to Dallas 38;
    Romo 18-yard pass to Whitten to St Louis 44; Romo 11-yard pass to J Jones
    to St. Louis 23; Romo 21-yard pass to Crayton to St Louis 2. DALLAS 7-0.
    12:49 STL - TD, DANTE' HALL 85 YD PUNT RETURN (JEFF WILKINS KICK).
    ST LOUIS 7-7.
    14:49 DAL - TD, TONY ROMO 15 YD RUN (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 12 plays, 83 yards in 2:00.
    Key plays: Romo 4-yard pass to Hurd on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 28; Romo
    15-yard pass to Barber to Dallas 43; Romo 37-yard fumble recovery on
    3rd-and-3 to St Louis 46; Romo 19-yard pass to Crayton to St Louis 27;
    Romo 12-yard pass to Witten to St Louis 15. DALLAS 14-7.

    3RD QUARTER:

    2:19 DAL - TD, PATRICK CRAYTON 59 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 3 plays, 59 yards in 0:20.
    DALLAS 21-7.
    5:20 DAL - TD, PATRICK CRAYTON 37 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 3 plays, 52 yards in 1:12.
    Key plays: Romo 14-yard pass to Fasano to St Louis 37. DALLAS 28-7.
    12:38 DAL - TD, JASON WITTEN 17 YD PASS FROM TONY ROMO (NICHOLAS FOLK KICK).
    Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards in 2:46.
    Key plays: Romo 24-yard pass to Crayton to Dallas 44; Barber 23-yard
    run to St Louis 33; Barber 15-yard run to St Louis 18. DALLAS 35-7.

    ST LOUIS - DALLAS Final Statistics

    TEAM STATISTICS ST LOUIS DALLAS

    FIRST DOWNS 12 28
    Rushing 2 11
    Passing 10 16
    Penalty 0 1
    THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 3-12-25% 8-13-62%
    FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 0-0-0%
    TOTAL NET YARDS 187 502
    Total offensive plays 54 67
    Average gain per play 3.5 7.5
    NET YARDS RUSHING 62 171
    Rushing attempts 21 33
    Average gain per rush 3.0 5.2
    Tackles for loss-yards 3-3 0-0
    NET YARDS PASSING 125 331
    Times sacked: Number-Yards 3-18 1-8
    Gross passing yards 143 339
    PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 30-14-1 33-21-1
    Avg gain per pass play 3.8 9.7
    KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 2-2-1 6-2-1
    PUNTS: Number and Average 8-55.3 5-51.8
    Had blocked 0 0
    Net punting average 41.4 42.8
    TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 142 45
    Number-Yards: Punt Returns 4-111 2-45
    Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 5-151 1-20
    Number-Yards: Interception Returns 1-31 1-0
    PENALTIES: Number-Yards 7-50 2-10
    FUMBLES: Number-Lost 1-0 1-0
    TOUCHDOWNS 1 5
    Rushing 0 2
    Passing 0 3
    Interceptions 0 0
    Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 1 0
    EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 1-1 5-5
    Kicking: Made-Attempts 1-1 5-5
    Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
    Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
    FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 0-1 0-0
    FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0
    RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 0-2-0% 3-3-100%
    GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 0-1-0% 1-1-100%
    SAFETIES 0 0
    TIME OF POSSESSION 27:11 32:49


    INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

    ST LOUIS DALLAS

    RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    B LEONARD 16 58 3.6 11 0 J JONES 13 52 4.0 14 1
    T MINOR 4 6 1.5 4 0 M BARBER I 8 50 6.3 23 0
    M BULGER 1 -2 -2.0 0 0 T THOMPSON 8 47 5.9 23 0
    T ROMO 3 24 8.0 15 1
    B JOHNSON 1 -2 -2.0 0 0

    PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    M BULGER 11-24-114 1 0 24 T ROMO 21-33-339 1 3 59
    G FREROTTE 3- 6- 29 0 0 12

    Sacked-Yards Lost: M BULGER 3-18. Sacked-Yards Lost: T ROMO 1-8.

    RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    T HOLT 5 52 10.4 18 0 P CRAYTON 7 184 26.3 59 2
    R MCMICHAE 3 24 8.0 13 0 J WITTEN 6 71 11.8 18 1
    D BENNETT 2 20 10.0 16 0 T OWENS 3 33 11.0 14 0
    I BRUCE 1 24 24.0 24 0 M BARBER I 2 22 11.0 15 0
    T MINOR 1 13 13.0 13 0 A FASANO 1 14 14.0 14 0
    D LOOKER 1 9 9.0 9 0 J JONES 1 11 11.0 11 0
    B LEONARD 1 1 1.0 1 0 S HURD 1 4 4.0 4 0

    INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    O ATOGWE 1 31 31.0 31 0 K HAMLIN 1 0 0.0 0 0

    PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    D JONES 8 442 55.3 2 4 66 M MCBRIAR 5 259 51.8 0 1 58

    T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20

    PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    D HALL 4 111 27.8 85 1 P CRAYTON 2 45 22.5 26 0

    KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
    -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
    D HALL 5 151 30.2 39 0 T THOMPSON 1 20 20.0 20 0

    KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
    ---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
    J WILKINS 1/1 0/0 N FOLK 5/5 0/0


    O-D O-D
    FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC
    ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
    T HOLT 1 0 0 1-0 A GURODE 1 0 0 0-0
    J REEVES 0 0 1 0-0
    T ROMO 0 0 0 1-0

    DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD
    ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
    C CHAVOUS 7 6 1 1-8 J REEVES 6 5 1 0-0
    W WITHERSPOON 6 6 0 0-0 T NEWMAN 4 4 0 0-0
    O ATOGWE 5 4 1 0-0 D WARE 4 3 1 1-8
    P TINOISAMOA 5 2 3 0-0 B JAMES 4 3 1 0-0
    R BARTELL 4 4 0 0-0 A AYODELE 4 3 1 0-0
    C RYAN 4 3 1 0-0 K HAMLIN 3 3 0 0-0
    J HALL 3 3 0 0-0 R WILLIAMS 3 2 1 0-0
    J WADE 3 3 0 0-0 J HATCHER 2 2 0 0-0
    L WALLS 3 2 1 0-0 G ELLIS 2 1 11.5-8.5
    L GLOVER 2 2 0 0-0 M SPEARS 2 1 1 .5-1.5
    D VINNETT 2 2 0 0-0 C CANTY 2 0 2 0-0
    B CHILLAR 1 1 0 0-0 A HENRY 1 1 0 0-0
    J CARTER 1 1 0 0-0 A SPENCER 1 1 0 0-0
    T JOHNSON 1 1 0 0-0 R AYODELE 1 1 0 0-0
    A CARRIKER 1 1 0 0-0 J RATLIFF 1 1 0 0-0
    C DRAFT 1 0 1 0-0 N JONES 1 1 0 0-0
    T JOHNSON 1 0 1 0-0 S BOWEN 1 0 1 0-0
    V ADEYANJU 1 0 1 0-0

    Officials: Referee-Walt Anderson, Umpire-Butch Hannah, Head
    Linesman-Phil Mckinnely, Line Judge-Byron Boston, Field Judge-Terry
    Brown, Side Judge-Rick Patterson, Back Judge-Billy Smith.

    Att: 62,866 Time of Game: 3:01</div>
     
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    NFL: ST LOUIS at DALLAS

    <div class="pre">NFL ST LOUIS AT DALLAS
    NOTE: RESENDING TO CORRECT SCORING PLAYS FOR DALLAS.</div>
     

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