IRVING, Texas PHILADELPHIADETROIT — Tony Romo might not want to take the splint off his passing hand the way he and the Cowboys are playing.
Romo crisply guided Dallas to touchdowns on its first three drives and points on the first four, then turned the early surge into a 34-9 victory over the Seahawks on Thursday.
The Cowboys won their third straight, matching their best roll of the season, all coming since Romo returned from a broken right pinkie. Dallas is 8-4 and back near the top of the NFC playoff race. Now comes the hard part — staying there.
The Cowboys’ next three games are against the Steelers, Giants and Ravens. That stretch will be even tougher if they’re without linebacker DeMarcus Ware and running back Marion Barber. Both left with injuries in the third quarter, Ware because of a sprained left knee and Barber with a bruised right little toe.
Coach Wade Phillips said X-rays showed no break for Barber and that Ware seemed to be OK.
“It will be a challenge to get into the playoffs, but we feel very confident in our ability to win football games,” Romo said. “I like our chances.”
The Seahawks lost their fifth straight game and fell to 2-10, matching the most losses outgoing coach Mike Holmgren has had in his 17 years in the NFL.
Seattle was within a touchdown of winning its past three games, but this one was never close after former Dallas running back Julius Jones fumbled on the Seahawks’ first possession. The Cowboys wound up driving for a touchdown that made it 14-0 on the way to a 24-3 lead midway through the second quarter.
Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck was 22-of-38 for a season-high 287 yards. He threw one interception and was sacked seven times, the most by Dallas since having nine Nov. 9, 1997. Ware had three, giving him an NFL-best 15 this season.
It’s no coincidence the Cowboys have turned their season around since Romo’s return. His broken bone actually isn’t healed completely, so he’s been playing with a splint protecting it. With 10 days off before the next game, Romo might be back to normal by then.
“I’d be very surprised if I wore the splint against Pittsburgh, but you never know what’s going to happen in the next week,” said Romo, who finished 22-of-34 for 331 yards and three touchdowns with an interception.
“If we get the splint off, he might throw for 300 yards — oh, wait, he did,” Phillips said jokingly.
Eagles 48, Cardinals 20 Donovan McNabb, pulled four days ago in a loss to the Ravens, threw four touchdown passes in his best game since Week 1, and Brian Westbrook tied a team record with four scores as Philadelphia rolled over Arizona.
“Adversity always happens in our position,” McNabb said. “It’s how you pull yourself out of it.”
McNabb completed 27-of-39 passes for 260 yards and had a passer rating of 121.7. Westbrook, playing with a sore ankle and knee, had 110 yards rushing and 20 more receiving. He had two TDs on the ground and two receiving. Irving Fryar was the last Eagles player to score four TDs, in 1996.
Titans 47, Lions 10 Chris Johnson ran for 125 yards and scored twice in the first quarter, and LenDale White had two touchdowns in the second and finished with 106 yards rushing.
“It’s nice to be able to do what you set out to do,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “Both backs got a lot of yards on their own, but they got a lot of help up front.”
Johnson was untouched on a short run to the outside and a long gain up the middle. The two plays were symbolic of the canyon-like gap between the once-beaten Titans and the winless Lions.
“We hit the first punch and they fell,” White said.
The Associated Press
