PHILADELPHIA — Miles Austin punctuated his touchdown catch by emphatically firing the ball into the stands.
Take that, Philadelphia.
Tony Romo threw a 49-yard scoring pass to Austin midway through the fourth quarter as the Cowboys beat the Eagles 20-16 on Sunday night in the 100th meeting between the fierce division rivals.
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 the Cardinals.
The Cowboys (6-2) spent the whole offseason thinking about that horrendous ending. They got their revenge and took over sole possession of first place in the NFC East with their fourth straight victory.
“Our last loss against them really motivated us to come out and play good,” Dallas linebacker DeMarcus Ware said.
The Eagles fell to 5-3.
Romo completed 21-of-34 passes for 307 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
“We executed,” Romo said. “I think the coaches put together a good plan. You just have to keep fighting and getting better.”
Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was shaky after a strong performance in a 40-17 rout of the Giants last week. McNabb threw for 227 yards and one touchdown, and was intercepted twice for the first time this season.
“We have to eliminate mistakes,” McNabb said.
The Cowboys began their go-ahead drive after stopping McNabb on a fourth-and-inches play at their 45-yard line. The Eagles challenged, but a replay upheld the original spot.
On a third-and-14 play, Romo fooled Sheldon Brown with a pump-fake pass and hit an 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.”
