I bid on this. If I win, this guy is an Eagles fan. Or maybe make him a Redskins fan.

I've been a Dallas Cowboy fan for as long as I can remember.

Even in the late 70's when my family lived in Houston and "Luv Ya Blue!" was all the rage; I rooted for the 'Boys from Big D. But I can't do it any more.

I remained a fan in the early 80's despite my frustration with Danny White's ability to get us to the NFC Championship game in '80,'81, and '82, only to watch him play poorly in each game and cost the Cowboys a trip to the NFL Championship. But I can't do it any more.

The mid 80's saw a decline in the number of wins the team achieved, and a sharp increase in the number of different QB's that played under center. Remember Hogeboom?! Pelluer?! Collier?! Sweeney?! I remember, yet I remained a fan. But I can't do it any more.

At the end of the '88 season, a new owner talked about restoring the luster and shine to the Cowboys star, but did much to tarnish it in his handling of Coach Tom Landry (rest his soul.) I certainly didn't agree with how it was handled, but I was still a fan. I just can't do it anymore.

Before it was announced that the Dallas Cowboys would be sold to him, Jerry Jones made what has remained the smartest decision in his history of owning the team. He hired Jimmy Johnson to be the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. It was a decision that would ultimately lead to 2 NFL Championship titles ('92 and '93) in 5 years. It was easy to be a fan during those years. But I can't do it anymore.

Feeling slighted by all of the attention and credit Jimmy Johnson was receiving for the team's success, the owner forced Johnson out after the '93 season (THEY HAD JUST WON BACK TO BACK SUPERBOWLS!!!!!) Despite owning the pie, Jones undeservedly wanted more credit for gathering the ingredients. He named himself GM and hired Barry Switzer, who hadn't coached at any level for 5 years prior to accepting Jones' offer, to coach the team. Jones once made the comment that anyone could coach the Dallas Cowboys with the talent that was on the team (talent that Jimmy Johnson put together). Switzer proved him right by winning the NFL Championship in only his 2nd year. The wins weren't pretty, and the team was showing signs of coming apart at the seams (drug arrests, drunk driving, fights at training camp, gun charges) yet I remained a fan. I just can't do it anymore.

From '95-2007, the Cowboys head coaching position was a short assignment. Switzer, Gailey, Campo, Parcells (the latter did much to improve the roster). From '96 until now, the Cowboys have yet to win a playoff game. Through all of the coaching changes, and losing records, and lack of playoff wins, I've remained a fan. Until now.

My hope that the ownership will finally see the light and hire a competent GM is gone. My faith in the current GM to hire a competent coach has run out. My optimism that our starting QB will eventually stop spending so much time playing golf & chasing women, and start taking his job more seriously, has turned to deep, dark pessimism. My thoughts that the talent on this current team would prevail and finally lead us deep into the playoffs have been destroyed by poor coaching decisions, bad play calling, and uninspired play.

The stadium may be beautiful, but the product is anything but. I can't bring myself to cheer for this team any longer.

** At the close of this auction I will immediately begin rooting for, and become a die hard fan of, any NFL team of the winning bidder's choosing. A portion of the proceeds will be used to purchase apparel and possibly game tickets for my new team. The remaining portion will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.**

Well, would it ease your mind if I told you there's a perfectly good explanation as to why they threw to Hurd twice in a row? Yes? Oh, good. Would it ease your mind if I told you the reason is because Tony Romo might just be an idiot?

No?

Well then, you won't like this item from Clarence Hill Jr. of the Star Telegram.

Is it possible that Romo didn't know it was fourth down?

Following the final incomplete pass to end the Cowboys hopes, a video caught on KDFW Fox-4 shows Romo seemingly telling his linemen to line back up. He then flashes three fingers to one of the game officials.

After hearing the response, Romo screams and walks off field.

If true, Romo apparently forgot about the spike to stop the clock on second down. When asked about the series of events, coach Wade Phillips didn't know anything about a discrepancy. He said that on the sideline they knew what down it was and any questions would need to be directed at Romo.

That may not be until Wednesday or Thursday. Romo is not scheduled to talk to the media until then.

Well, in Romo's defense, those clock-killing spikes at least FEEL like they shouldn't cost you a down. Alas. I'll just go ahead and predict right now that Romo tells the media he knew what down it was. The video, of course, suggests otherwise. If Romo really thought it was third down, that's... not good. It suggests a lapse in concentration at the very worst possible time, not an unfamiliar sight when it comes to the Cowboys star QB. Perhaps Romo was concerned with other things. Perhaps he had a karaoke duet with Dennis Haskins later in the evening. Perhaps he was distracted by the fact that Jessica's bust clearly looks to be rounding back into form. We can't discount any of those possibilities. We also can't discount that Romo may now suck.

Why not? Tony Romo had been testing him all afternoon, even though he kept acing every exam.

"I welcome it. Please do. That's the only way I get a chance to make plays," said Bailey, who had eight tackles, broke up four passes and made one key interception in Denver's 17-10 win over Dallas on Sunday.

His biggest play came with a second left when he knocked away the potential tying touchdown pass from Romo to Sam Hurd on fourth-and-goal from the 2.

With the blitz coming, Romo quickly fired toward Hurd cutting across the middle. Bailey reached around and swatted the pass away with his left hand at the last second, giving the Broncos their first 4-0 start since 2003.

"Maybe they thought they could catch Champ sleeping," teammate D.J. Williams surmised. "One of the top corners in the league, my last play, I wouldn't go toward him."

Romo would. Again.

"They're good all over," Romo insisted of Denver's top-ranked defense. "I understand Champ's good. It's questionable. I think you could go either way on that call. It's a bang-bang play and the corner's always driving on the ball. If he gets to the ball early, that's part of the game. ... Those are always going to be contested throws."

The Broncos had taken the lead on Brandon Marshall's 51-yard touchdown catch from Kyle Orton with 1:46 remaining, providing some vindication for the Pro Bowl receiver whose temper tantrum during training camp earned him a nine-day suspension from coach Josh McDaniels.

By the look of their emotional embrace on the sideline after he zigzagged his way into the end zone, Marshall and McDaniels have reconciled.

On the other sideline, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, coach Wade Phillips and cornerback Terence Newman were swearing a flag should have been thrown on Marshall for offensive pass interference.

"I couldn't have played that play any better," Newman said. "I could have sworn it was going to be a penalty. He grabbed my jersey and threw me to the side. If that wasn't a hold, I don't know what is. I tried to grab him back. I figured either way, we were both going to be called for holding. But the refs didn't see it."

Marshall grabbed the ball off the top of Newman's helmet at the 25-yard line, then avoided three more tacklers on his way for the score.

Even then, Marshall was nervous.

"Going back to Pop Warner I've made a bunch of plays like that really didn't mean anything because we end up losing the game," Marshall said. "We knew their 2-minute offense is one of the best in the business."

Sure enough, Romo, ineffective in the second half when the Cowboys' first five drives ended in four punts and an interception by Bailey, found Hurd for a 53-yard gain on fourth-and-3 to the Broncos 20-yard line with a minute left.

The Cowboys reached the 2 with 9 seconds left. Romo spiked the ball on second-and-goal, then Bailey knocked away a high pass intended for Hurd before swatting away the last one that was right on the money.

"That surprised me," Broncos safety Brian Dawkins said. "Both times that surprised me. To challenge a Hall of Famer, still doing what he does? You saw what he did on that beautiful pick on the sideline. So that surprised me that they continued to go at Champ. I'm glad they did."

Bailey, who picked off a pass from Romo at his 6 in the third quarter, wasn't surprised Romo would test him one final time because the blitz was designed to coerce a quick pass to his man.

"If you want to keep testing me, putting the pressure on me, I'm with you," Bailey said.

Denver held the league's best rushing attack to just 74 yards on 25 carries, a 3-yard clip.

In the second half, Romo was 11 for 24 for 201 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

"It happens, it happens," Dallas receiver Roy Williams said. "Michael Jordan scores nine points. Tiger can't come back on the final day. It happens. It happens."

Especially when Elvis Dumervil is breathing down his neck all game.

Romo was sacked five times, twice by Dumervil, who has eight in his last three games.

Denver's defenders filed into the locker room afterward crowing about having proved the critics wrong for blasting them this offseason and then dismissing their 3-0 start against bad offenses.

"To come out and do it against a great team shows we are great," D.J. Williams proclaimed.

NOTES: Orton improved to 17-2 at home as a starter since joining the league in 2005. ... Broncos RB Correll Buckhalter sprained his left ankle after gaining 55 yards on five receptions and 37 yards on six carries. He walked out of the stadium on crutches.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)--Antonio Pierce laughed off all the hype for this September Super Bowl, or whatever the Dallas Cowboys considered the opener of their $1.15 billion stadium.

To the New York Giants, this was just another division game, one they had to win. And they did--dramatically.

Lawrence Tynes kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Giants a 33-31 victory over turnover-prone Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, sending home the largest regular-season crowd in NFL history muttering about what might've been.

Former President George W. Bush, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and LeBron James were among a packed house of 105,121 that saw eight lead changes, with neither team ever ahead by more than six. The lead switched three times in the final quarter and had a doubly exciting finish because after Tynes made the kick, he had to do it again; Dallas had called a timeout just before the snap.

His second try was even better than the first and all those fans got awfully quiet.

"People were talking about this like it was the Super Bowl in the second week of the season," said Pierce, a Giants linebacker. "We just came here to win a football game."

Eli Manning was 25 of 38 for 330 yards with 22-yard touchdowns to Mario Manningham and Steve Smith. Each caught 10 passes, with Manningham's covering 150 yards and Smith's going for 134. It was quite a way for the Giants to end a 13-game stretch without a single 100-yard receiver.

"The whole team did a good job of gutting it out," Manning said. "This is a good thing to build from."

New York relied on Manning's arm because Dallas limited Brandon Jacobs to 58 yards and Ahmad Bradshaw to 37. However the Giants did it, the reigning NFC East champions are now 2-0 with both wins against division foes.

"Everybody makes a big deal because we spoiled their little party," said defensive end Justin Tuck, who hurt a shoulder and missed the second half. "Every other game we play in the NFC East will be just as big."

The Cowboys (1-1) went ahead for the final time 31-30 on a 7-yard touchdown run by Felix Jones with 3:40 left.

It turned out to be plenty of time for Manning. He got out of a first-and-20 at his own 15 and kept it going with two third-down conversions, the second coming on a tipped pass caught by Manningham.

"Well, we just knew we had to go and get in field goal range," Manning said. "We had enough time, we had timeouts."

In one of the biggest settings of his career, Romo turned in one of his worst outings: 13 of 29 for 127 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions, all of which resulted in New York touchdowns.

Romo's first interception was returned for a TD, the second was a bit of a fluke (it bounced up off Jason Witten's shoe) and the third was a punt-like heave into double coverage.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to play up to the level the rest of the other guys did," Romo said. "I have to get better at the mistakes I made and I will."

Between Romo's pickoffs and a fumble by Felix Jones that turned into a field goal, Dallas helped New York score 24 points. The Giants' only other scores were field goals on their first drive and their last two.

"We lost by a short margin," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. "If we cut (turnovers) down certainly and certainly make some more on defense, we can win those kind of games. We can see that."

Romo had never thrown for so few yards in a full game and his passer rating of 29.6 was the second-lowest of his career. It also was a dramatic reversal from the opener, when he showed the poise and patience he supposedly worked on all offseason and didn't have a turnover. Even worse was that it came against a New York defense that already was missing two injured starters in the secondary before Tuck got hurt.

The Cowboys stayed in it thanks to their running game. Marion Barber ran for 124 yards and the stadium's first touchdown, and Jones added 96. Barber had 51 of his yards on Dallas' final drive. Dallas' 251 yards rushing was its most since 1993.

Months of hype led up to quite a pregame scene: Fans streaming in four hours before kickoff, especially the 30,000 or so who were looking for places to stand; the roof and end-zone doors sliding open with about 90 minutes to go; an unveiling of midfield logo after a cartoon showed the blue star emblem being transferred from Texas Stadium via outer space. After video clips comparing this place to the Egyptian Pyramids and the Roman Colosseum, a flag was unfurled that covered the entire field.

Bush and his wife, Laura, handled the coin toss, then watched from a luxury suite that also included Goodell, John Madden and Pat Summerall. Roger Staubach, Bob Lilly, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin were among those taking part in a halftime ceremony to unveil the new Ring of Honor.

NOTES: Jacobs had 8 yards in the first half, then 9 yards on his first run of the second half. ... The largest crowd had been 103,467 for 49ers-Cardinals in Mexico City in 2005. ... Dallas had spoiled New York's opener at Giants Stadium, winning 24-14 in 1976. ... Had Tynes not made the winner, Giants' fans might've blamed him for the loss. He'd missed a 29-yarder early in the third quarter.

Dallas rode Jones and Barber for most of a 94-yard touchdown drive, the highlight series during the first-half battle between the first-team units in a preseason game against San Francisco. The 49ers won the battle of the backups in the second half, winning 20-13 on a 9-yard touchdown run by Kory Sheets with 33 seconds left.

"They're a great combination," Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said of Barber and Jones. "You don't want to pigeonhole one as being this kind of back and the other guy being this kind of back. We just like to get them out there and let them play and they both have proven they can run both inside and outside and they can catch the ball, and they can block and do all those things. It's just fun to see them get their opportunities."
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Dallas (1-2) outplayed San Francisco (3-0) when the starters were in, with Tony Romo getting the Cowboys into scoring position on three of four drives, but they led only 10-3 at halftime.

"We're continuing to grow as an offense and I think there is a lot of room for improvement," said Romo, who was 11 of 17 for 125 yards and his first interception of the preseason.

Shaun Hill and the 49ers sure could've used Michael Crabtree.

Playing in the hometown of their holdout wideout, the 49ers had only 36 yards over their first three drives. They even used their version of the Wildcat formation twice to try getting something going, with little success. On their final drive of the half, Hill finally completed some passes to a receiver-- three to Arnaz Battle--and got a 42-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the second quarter.

"I would have liked for it to have gone a bit smoother than it did," said Hill, who was 9 of 17 for 79 yards. "You can't tell a whole lot right now. I just wish we could have put a few more points on the board. ... There's just certain plays out there that we need to make, but we didn't. They were stopping those drives. Obviously, we have a lot of work yet to be done."

Sheets turned 11 carries into 42 yards and two touchdowns. His first tied the game at 10 in the third quarter, then came the winner in the final minute.

Nate Davis went 10 of 15 for 132 yards and leading two scoring drives in the final quarter, bolstering his chances of sticking with the club.

"It meant a lot to me," Davis said. "That's one thing I want to be on this team--a leader."

Romo guided Dallas' starters to 195 yards and 13 first downs despite being without starting receiver Roy Williams (shoulder) and reserve receiver Sam Hurd (thigh). Miles Austin caught three passes for 44 yards and undrafted rookie Kevin Ogletree had two catches for 36 yards, both on third downs on the opening drive.

But the Cowboys stopped themselves from getting more points.

Their first drive ended in a field goal, but a penalty wiped it out and they punted. On the next drive, Romo rushed a throw into double coverage and it was intercepted.

"You have to make a better decision under distress," he said. "I'm upset with myself for making that decision."

The 94-yard TD drive followed, then came another trip inside the 10. On third down, Romo scrambled and threw Patrick Crayton. Had Romo kept running, he might have had an easy touchdown. Instead, Crayton was stopped and the Cowboys settled for a short field goal.

The long scoring drive began at the 6 and nearly ended on the first play as the speedy, shifty Jones blew through the middle and into the secondary. After going down on an arm tackle by safety Mark Roman, Jones walked away smiling, then later blamed himself for not picking up his heels enough to get past the final defender.

Then Barber showed why Terrell Owens dubbed him "Marion the Barbarian," bullying his way for 30 yards on seven carries, including a 3-yard gain on fourth-and-1. His last carry reached the 3, then it was Jones' turn again. He slithered between his blockers for his second touchdown in as many games.

"We have to carry this on through the regular season," Jones said. "It's still a learning process for us. We are just going to continue to run hard and get better."

Jones finished with 23 yards on five carries and Barber 47 yards on 13 attempts. Third-stringer Tashard Choice--who has dubbed the trio "Smash, Dash and Tash"--outgained them both, going for 55 yards on eight carries in the second half before getting the wind knocked out of him.

The second football game in the Cowboys' new $1.15 billion home drew 72,171 fans, and didn't feature a single punt that hit the overhead video boards that have been such a source of attention that the league issued a ruling about how to handle such a situation.

Well, those who showed up early might've seen San Francisco punter Andy Lee reach the 90-foot-high board solidly once in pregame warmups.

Romo threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to favorite target Jason Witten(notes) to cap a brief but successful night before the Oakland Raiders rallied for a 31-10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night in the exhibition opener for both teams.

Romo completed his four passes on the night to four receivers before leaving with a 7-3 lead that Dallas' reserves could not hold onto.

"I don't think it means anything," Romo said. "If one guy caught six straight balls and then we scored, that's fine, too. It's just about whatever the defense allows us on that specific play."

Bruce Gradkowski(notes) engineered three touchdown drives against mostly backups on Dallas' defense, throwing a 3-yard touchdown pass to Tony Stewart(notes) in the second quarter. Louis Rankin(notes) and Gary Russell(notes) added short TD runs in the third quarter, long after Romo's night was done.

Romo played just two drives, going three-and-out on the first after former teammate Greg Ellis(notes) batted down his first pass of the game, and throwing the TD to Witten on the second. Romo and the Dallas offense looked sharp on the second drive as he completed all four of his passes and the Cowboys mixed in the run effectively.

Three of the completions came against backup corner Stanford Routt(notes), who replaced All-Pro Nnamdi Asomugha(notes) after one drive. Romo avoided pressure in the pocket on the touchdown pass to give Witten time to get open in the end zone against Routt.

There is plenty of intrigue about how the Cowboys offense will look after the departure of Owens, who caught 235 passes in three seasons with Dallas but often complained that he didn't get the ball enough.

Roy Williams, who struggled after coming over from Detroit during last season, will be counted on heavily this season. He caught one pass from Romo for 12 yards. Romo also completed passes to Martellus Bennett(notes) and Felix Jones(notes) on the drive.

"If we execute like that, any team is going to have trouble," Williams said. "But we're going to have our adversity and have our hard times where we can't get open or the quarterback gets sacked or a bad throw. But tonight it all fell into place."

Sam Hurd(notes), one of the young receivers Dallas is counting on to emerge this season, had five catches for 79 yards from Jon Kitna(notes).

Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell(notes) also played two series, driving his team to a field goal on the opening drive as Oakland relied heavily on the pass early. Russell looked poised in the pocket, completing six of nine passes for 50 yards against Dallas' backup cornerbacks and even scrambling for 18 yards on one play.

Russell had a particularly good rapport with second-year receiver Chaz Schilens(notes), who caught four passes from Russell and also drew a 47-yard pass interference penalty that set up Sebastian Janikowski's(notes) 23-yard field goal. Schilens finished with five catches for 52 yards.

"I thought he was very aggressive with the ball, made good decisions," coach Tom Cable said. "That's what I'm talking about with him. When he plays the game at a fast enough speed, it allows him to be on time and he showed that tonight."

First-round pick Darrius Heyward-Bey(notes) wasn't nearly as effective. Russell missed the speedster on two deep attempts and Heyward-Bey finished with one catch for 8 yards as Dallas often

"We're going to see a lot of that this season," Heyward-Bey said. "I saw a lot of that in college. But the important thing is the win."

Gradkowski completed nine of 16 passes for 153 yards, including a 48-yard pass to undrafted free-agent Nick Miller that set up Gary Russell's 1-yard run. Charlie Frye(notes), who is battling Gradkowski for the third-string job, threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Will Franklin(notes) in the fourth quarter as the Raiders did a good job picking on Dallas' depleted secondary. Second-stringer Jeff Garcia(notes) missed the game with a calf injury.

"Our second group and our young guys, they made a lot of mistakes," Dallas coach Wade Phillips said. "You could see them out there. ... Those things shouldn't happen but they did. Our guys will learn from those things."

The Cowboys wasted a scoring opportunity at the end of the half when Kitna botched a shotgun snap at the 2 from Cory Procter(notes), leading to a 16-yard loss. Nick Folk(notes) missed a 36-yard field goal.

NOTES: Ellis, who spent 11 seasons with Dallas before being released in June, visited with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and some of his former teammates before the game. ... Injured cornerbacks Terence Newman(notes) (groin), Mike Jenkins(notes) (ankle) and rookie Michael Hawkins (knee) missed the game for Dallas. Orlando Scandrick(notes) and Alan Ball(notes) got the starts.

IRVING, Texas -- Lead change after lead change, spectacular play after spectacular play, head-slapper after head-slapper, the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles played a game Monday night that was more gripping than many movies.

A good ol' fashioned Western, Tony Romo called it.

"It's a good thing we were Clint Eastwood," he said, smiling after the 41-37 victory.

There were the highs of a long touchdown pass to Terrell Owens and a longer kickoff return by Felix Jones. The lows of back-to-back flubs by Romo that gave Philadelphia touchdowns 14 seconds apart. And that was just the first 17 minutes.

Then came Eagles rookie DeSean Jackson losing a touchdown because he flicked the ball backward before crossing the goal line, Donovan McNabb showing the fancy footwork of his youth and Brian Westbrook scoring twice on runs, once on a catch, only to have the McNabb-Westbrook connection go wrong on a fourth-quarter handoff.

When it was done -- after Marion Barber's second second-half touchdown and after the Dallas defense snuffed a reception followed by two laterals -- the Cowboys came away with a win in their final home opener at Texas Stadium, and the highest-scoring of the 98 games between these teams.

"We know that no game is going to be perfect," Owens said. "There's going to be interceptions, fumbles, missed assignments by everyone. But as a team, we came to play tonight. Offensively, defensively, I think everyone stepped up when they needed to."

Romo was 21-of-30 for 312 yards with three touchdowns, plus an interception and a lost fumble that came on consecutive snaps, taking Dallas from near-breakout to near-breakdown.

"We kept believing in each other," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. "Everyone said 'Hey, hang in there, we're going to come out on top,' and we did!"

Philadelphia, coming off an impressive romp in its opener, went from trailing 14-6 to leading 30-21 just before halftime. The Eagles were still up 37-31 after Westbrook's third score, early in the fourth quarter, but his fumble on the next series led to the seventh and final lead change.

"These were two great teams going at it," McNabb said. "There are a lot of positives we can take from this game. But that's not important right now. What we need to do is focus on the working on the negatives. That's going to make us a better team."

This was the rare September game that will linger in the memory of anyone who saw it. For anyone who didn't, think back to Romo's big comeback in Buffalo on a Monday night last year, or to Romo's playoff goof in Seattle two years ago, or McNabb's great escape on a scramble four years ago or even Leon Lett's premature touchdown celebration in the January 1993 Super Bowl. This game had plays reminiscent of all those, most in the first half.

"It was one of the best games I've not only seen, but been a part of," Cowboys linebacker Bradie James said.

Owens had 89 yards on three catches, including a 72-yard touchdown on Dallas' first series that he punctuated with the kind of arm-flapping celebration he used to do for Philadelphia, and a 4-yard touchdown. His first TD moved him into second place on the NFL's career receiving touchdown list; he finished at 132, well behind Jerry Rice's record of 197.

"It doesn't matter what they say about me now," Owens said. "The Lord has obviously blessed me with a lot of talent."

T.O. didn't catch a pass in the second half, but took pride in opening the middle for tight end Jason Witten, who caught seven passes for 110 yards. He had a 42-yarder to set up a 51-yard field goal before halftime, then a 32-yarder on the game-winning drive. Witten did most of his damage with a shoulder separated in the first half. Dallas also lost safety Roy Williams to a broken right arm.

McNabb was 25-of-37 for 281 yards with a touchdown and four sacks, two on the final series. He also matched Ron Jaworski's club mark of 175 career TD passes.

Jackson caught six passes for 110 yards, becoming only the second player in NFL history to open his career with consecutive 100-yard games. The other was Don Looney, also for Philadelphia, in 1940.

Westbrook ran 18 times for 58 yards for two touchdowns, and caught six passes for 45 yards and another score.

"We came so close," tight end L.J. Smith said. "We knew it would be a tough battle. To lose like this hurts."

This game was destined to be different when the opening kickoff went out of bounds between the 1-yard line and the pylon.

The long scores by Owens and Jones, then a great pass breakup by rookie Mike Jenkins got the old stadium rocking. Then it got quiet real fast.

Romo avoided a sack, then made the kind of "impulse play" former coach Bill Parcells hated, resulting in an interception. Westbrook scored on a short screen, cutting Dallas' lead to one point.

The Cowboys fumbled the kickoff, recovered at the 5, then got pushed back by a false start. Romo lost the ball three times on the next snap and Philadelphia's Chris Gocong landed on it in the end zone for a touchdown.

Dallas came right back with another long kickoff return by Jones and another TD by Owens.

Next came Jackson's early celebration of a long touchdown. The Cowboys challenged and, with all the extra cameras for a Monday night game, officials easily found an angle that showed him letting go too soon. Using similar logic to the controversial fumble-whistled-dead in the Broncos-Chargers game Sunday, the ball was put at the 1 and Westbrook scored on the next play.

The unbelievable part of Jackson's goof: He did it before. In a 2005 high school all-star game, Jackson spread his arms for a swan dive into the end zone, only to land at the 1.

McNabb kept the next drive alive by somehow breaking free from linebacker Greg Ellis and running for 10 yards. McNabb came away smiling and dancing. After another run that took five defenders to drop him, Philadelphia kicked a 22-yard field goal to go up 30-21 with 45 seconds left until halftime.

Plenty of time, in other words, for Dallas to get within 30-24.

The Cowboys went ahead on a 17-yard touchdown catch by Barber midway through the third quarter. The Eagles came right back, with McNabb overcoming a second-and-21 by scooting out of two near collisions, avoiding an ankle tackle and zipping the football like a fast-pitch softball to Westbrook. The drive ended with Westbrook churning into the end zone for his third touchdown and a 37-31 lead.

Want an encore? Well, the teams meet again in Philadelphia. In the season finale.

Game notes

The 54 first-half points were second-most in a Monday night game. ... The Cowboys hadn't had a kickoff returned for a touchdown in the regular season since Randal Williams did it, also against Philadelphia, in 2003. ... Owens also broke a tie with Cris Carter for the second-most games with multiple touchdowns.

Found this in a bunch of old pictures. Was taken off the TV during the 2008 Major League Baseball playoffs in Philadelphia.

That's six Dallas. Six. More than you have. Suck it. Especially Texascowboy.

SUCK IT - HARD!

"Tony Cheats On Jessica In Her Own Bed"

While Jess was out of town, Tony Romo went out partying with buddies (Laguna Beach's Stephen Colletti and Entourage's Kevin Connolly) and when the club closed at 2 a.m., Tony rounded up a bunch of people and brought them back to his place. His place was actually Jessica's house. People were getting in on in every room; Tony went upstairs and made out with a "cute olive-skinned brunette who wore a blue-green print dress." Moving on!