NFL
COWBOYS 38, SAINTS 17
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo wasn't trying to fill in for running back DeMarco Murray.
But Romo did show that his surgically repaired back is coming along fine.
Romo, 34, threw three touchdown passes and Murray ran for 149 yards, his fourth consecutive 100-yard game to start the season, in the Cowboys' 38-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night at AT&T Stadium.
The Cowboys led 24-3 when Romo broke free for 21 yards on third down and slid for the first down. Murray followed with a 28-yard touchdown run, his second score of the game, to give the Cowboys a 31-3 lead.
"It makes me feel old and the fact that I haven't gotten more than 21 yards is pretty pathetic," said Romo, whose previous long run was 17 yards. "But other than that, it feels pretty great."
The Cowboys kept Drew Brees and the Saints scoreless in the first half after giving up an NFL-record 40 first downs in a 49-17 blowout loss in New Orleans last year.
Brees had touchdown passes to Josh Hill and Jimmy Graham early in the fourth quarter to get the Saints to 31-17 before the Cowboys regained control.
Brees finished with 340 yards passing, but 256 of those yards came after Dallas built 24-0 halftime lead.
Brees had thrown for 838 yards with 7 touchdowns and no interceptions in his previous two games against Dallas, both victories.
"I think we're a different team than we were last year," Romo said. "What you find is you forget it's the Saints and Drew Brees and just go play."
Dallas is 3-1 for the first time under Coach Jason Garrett after starting 2-1 the three previous seasons. The Cowboys are tied with Philadelphia for the NFC East lead.
The Saints (1-3) started 0-2 before beating Minnesota last week in their home opener.
New Orleans lost to the Cowboys in Texas for the first time since 1991. The Saints had won the past four times they played in Texas.
"There's not going to be too much good to see in this film," New Orleans Coach Sean Payton said. "We're 1-3 right now, and that's about how we're playing."
The Cowboys totaled 445 yards against former Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, who is in his second season with the Saints.
Two of Romo's three touchdown passes went to Terrance Williams, who made a leaping 6-yard touchdown catch to cap Dallas' 80-yard drive to open the game. Romo found Williams in the end zone again, with 19 seconds left in the half, for a 23-yard touchdown to make it 24-0.
Williams had 6 catches for 77 yard. Dez Bryant caught 3 passes for 44 yards, including an 18-yard scoring catch late in the fourth quarter to secure the victory after New Orleans pulled with 31-17.
Murray's first touchdown, a 15-yard run virtually untouched around right end, was set up when Bruce Carter tipped Brees' pass and Justin Durant intercepted it at the New Orleans 39.
Murray, the NFL's leading rusher with 534 yards, carried the ball 24 times and joined Emmitt Smith as the only Dallas running backs with 100 yards in the first four games of a season.
Plus, Murray didn't lose a fumble, as he had in the three previous games.
"DeMarco is inspirational," owner Jerry Jones said. "Glad to see him have a game that he didn't turn the ball over. About the time New Orleans was thinking about getting some life, he'd go out and make those yards."
The Saints got the ball back trailing 31-17 midway in the fourth quarter, but a drive stalled and punter Thomas Morstead was tackled for a 2-yard loss while trying to throw a pass on a fake punt. That set up Bryant's clinching touchdown.
"Hindsight's probably 20-20," Payton said. "It was on the hash mark that we wanted, and they covered it pretty well."
Sports on 09/29/2014