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Improved Romo guides Cowboys' to home win
2009-09-29
ARLINGTON, Texas (Reuters) - The Dallas Cowboys, led by an improved Tony Romo, produced a strong second half effort to claim a 21-7 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Monday. After conceding a 7-0 halftime deficit, Dallas quarterback Romo engineered three successive scores after the break while cornerback Terence Newman returned an interception 27 yards to seal the home team's first win at the new Cowboys' Stadium. "We made some adjustments (in the second half) and didn't make many mistakes. We had to stop beating ourselves," Romo told reporters. Romo, who had a poor game in last week's 33-31 loss to the New York Giants, gradually worked into the game on Monday to find a rhythm and finished with 255 passing yards. Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme continued his early-season struggles and threw his second interception of the game, and seventh of the season, as the Panthers were trying to mount a comeback with less than six minutes to play. Delhomme had connected with Dante Rosario on a 25-yard touchdown pass with 1:10 remaining in the second quarter to give the Panthers their lead. Carolina however, then failed to convert a first down on their first four possessions in the second half and were forced to punt. Newman then intercepted on Carolina's next possession to run the ball back for his touchdown to end the scoring late in the fourth quarter. Tashard Choice completed a five-yard touchdown run to give Dallas a 10-7 lead in the third quarter, while Nick Folk slotted two short-range field goals, which the Cowboys had to take after failing to convert goal-line situations to touchdowns. Choice and Felix Jones combined for 176 rushing yards in the absence of injured running back Marion Barber. "You never want your team mates to go down so when the opportunity is called you have to be ready to go," Choice said. "We wanted to make sure we got to the running game and we controlled the game." The Cowboys' defense also controlled the game, sacking Delhomme three times and forcing a fumble. (Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
Packers feast on Lions in holiday NFL games (2009-11-27)Colts win a close one, Saints roll to stay unbeaten (2009-11-22)Improved Romo guides Cowboys' to home win (2009-09-29)Jessica Simpson's Birthday Breakup With Tony Romo (2009-07-13)T.O. takes his show and shuffles off to Buffalo (2009-03-08)
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