Published: November 09, 2009 05:17 pm      

Cowboys beat Eagles 20-16 to seize first place in NFC East

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tony Romo smiled when a reporter asked about the magnitude of a road victory that put the Cowboys in first place.

“Was this a big game?” Romo asked rhetorically.

Boy, was it.

Romo threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Miles Austin midway through the fourth quarter and Dallas beat the Philadelphia Eagles 20-16 Sunday night in the 100th meeting between the division rivals.

“It was a great team effort and team win,” Romo said.

On the final day of the 2008 regular season, the Eagles dominated Dallas 44-6 in a do-or-die game for both teams. Philadelphia earned a wild-card berth with that victory, won two playoff contests on the road and advanced to the NFC championship game, losing at Arizona.

The Cowboys (6-2) spent the whole offseason thinking about that horrendous ending. They got a measure of payback and moved atop the NFC East standings with their fourth straight victory.

“Our last loss against them really motivated us to come out and play good,” Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware said.

The Eagles fell to 5-3 while the New York Giants are 5-4 after a 5-0 start.

Romo finished 21 of 34 for 307 yards, one TD and one interception.

Donovan McNabb was shaky after a strong performance in a 40-17 rout of the Giants last week. McNabb threw for 227 yards, one TD and was intercepted twice for the first time this season.

“We have to eliminate mistakes,” he said.

The Cowboys began their go-ahead drive after stopping McNabb on fourth-and-inches at their 45. The Eagles challenged, but a replay upheld the original spot.

On third-and-14, Romo fooled Sheldon Brown with a pump-fake and hit a wide-open Austin down the left sideline to give Dallas a 20-13 lead.

“I gave them a little pump,” Romo said. “I thought they’d been jumping it a little and they went for it.”

Austin leads the Cowboys with seven TD catches, three fewer than Terrell Owens had last season. Unlike T.O., Austin only gives defenses headaches instead of his QB.

“I made sure I caught it first,” Austin said of his only reception in the game. “A bunch of the guys were making fun of me because I took so long to see it in my hands.”

David Akers kicked a 52-yard field goal to cut it to 20-16, but the Eagles never got the ball back. The Cowboys maintained possession for the final 4:27.

“I thought we could hold them, get the ball back and win the game,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said.

Trailing 10-6, the Eagles seemingly went ahead when Ellis Hobbs returned the second-half kickoff 96 yards for a score. But a holding call on Moise Fokou nullified the TD.

No matter, McNabb drove Philadelphia 77 yards for the go-ahead score.

After LeSean McCoy turned a short pass into a 45-yard gain, McNabb threw an 11-yard TD pass to Brent Celek to put the Eagles ahead 13-10.

On Dallas’ ensuing possession, Brown intercepted Romo’s off-target pass to Jason Witten and returned it 54 yards. An illegal block by Fokou negated the return to the Cowboys 35, and the Eagles’ drive stalled near midfield after starting at their own 12.

Mike Jenkins intercepted McNabb to set up Nick Folk’s tying 33-yard field goal 8 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Gerald Sensabaugh’s interception on Philadelphia’s first possession ended McNabb’s streak of 118 straight passes without a pick. McNabb’s pass on third-and-5 to a wide-open Jeremy Maclin hit him in the hands and bounced to Sensabaugh.

Six plays later, Tashard Choice ran in from the 2 after taking a shotgun snap with Romo lined up wide to the right.

Romo completed two third-down passes to keep the drive going, including a 21-yard gain to Kevin Ogletree on third-and-9.

Romo tossed a 64-yard catch-and-run pass to Patrick Crayton late in the second quarter to set up Folk’s 22-yard field goal that made it 10-6. Tracy White made a diving, TD-saving tackle to trip up Crayton.

Akers kicked a 45-yard field goal early in the second quarter to put the Eagles on the board. He nailed a 48-yarder late in the quarter to cut it to 7-6.

The Eagles played without star running back Brian Westbrook for the second straight game because of a concussion, and strongside linebacker Chris Gocong sat out with hamstring and quad injuries. Fokou, a seventh-round pick, made his first start in Gocong’s place.

The Cowboys held receiver DeSean Jackson to just two catches through three quarters. Jackson has six TDs this season, all for 50-plus yards. He has four TD catches and he’s scored on a run and a punt return.