The Dallas Cowboys outscored the Philadelphia Eagles 41-37 in a real Texas shootout on Monday night.
Lead changes seven times in 78-point Texas thriller
Week Two Results / Standings
The Dallas Cowboys outscored the Philadelphia Eagles 41-37 in a real Texas shootout on Monday night, thanks to two touchdowns apiece from stars Marion Barber and Terrell Owens.
The Cowboys and Eagles went toe-to-toe at Texas stadium in a big-hitting Monday night showdown with the lead changing hands several times and Owens moving up into second in the all-time list of TD receptions with his two scores.
Tony Romo threw three TD passes and for a total of 312 yards from 21 completions as defence went out of the window with both teams simply trying to outscore each other for the win.
Donovan McNabb was again firing with 281 yards thrown and one touchdown pass while Brian Westbrook ran for two TDs and caught McNabb's pass for a third.
Rookie mistake
Eagles rookie DeSean Jackson was left red faced though as he caught a fine McNabb pass for a touchdown, only to flick the ball away in celebration just before he entered the end zone to literally throw away his side's chances of winning.
Owens caught a 72-yard pass from Romo halfway through the opening quarter to put Dallas 7-3 ahead, before Felix Jones extended their advantage with a mammoth 98-yard kick-off return.
Romo let the Eagles back into it early in the second quarter with two huge errors resulting in two touchdowns in just 14 seconds that put the visitors 20-14 ahead.
Firstly, a wild throw was intercepted resulting soon after in Westbrook catching a six-yard pass from McNabb, before it got even worse as the Dallas QB fumbled the snap inside his own end zone allowing Chris Gocong to drop on it for the score.
Romo responded by finding Owens for the wide receiver's 132nd career touchdown, but Westbrook went over from a one-yard run before the team's exchanged field goals and a breathless half ended at 30-24 in favour of Philadelphia.
Defence
Unsurprisingly a shred of defence came into the game in the third, but Romo managed to find a way through with a 17-yard pass to Barber the only score as Dallas edged a point ahead.
Another short Westbrook run again had the Eagles flying high in front but again they could not hold out as Dallas came firing back.
Romo led a seven-play drive before Nick Folk took the field goal from 47 yards to close within three points of the Eagles, before McNabb then made his big mistake with a fumble being recovered by Dallas soon after.
The Cowboys made it count as they went ahead when Barber powered into the end zone for his second TD with nine minutes left.
As Philadelphia tried to respond one last time the Dallas defence took over and sacked McNabb twice before forcing the turnover despite a brave attempt from the Eagles with two lateral passes on a fourth down that came up just short.
Dallas are the team to go 2-0 after a good start to the new season, but the Eagles are sure to win more than they lose if they continue to perform.
