IRVING, Texas -- Tony Romo keeps handing the ball to DeMarco Murray, and the league's worst defense from a year ago keeps making enough plays to finish off victories for Dallas.
Now the Cowboys have to keep it going after a head-turning 38-17 victory over New Orleans that set up an in-state battle between a pair of surprising 3-1 teams with the Houston Texans visiting Sunday.
"You go out and lose next week and you lose all the luster and good feelings from this week," Romo said after throwing for three touchdowns against the Saints to go with two scores from Murray, who posted his fourth consecutive 100-yard game. "I think what you find is that we are consistently doing the same things each week, and in the past we weren't able to do that."
Dallas bounced back from one of its lowest moments a year ago in New Orleans. The Saints had an NFL-record 40 first downs and team-record 625 total yards, while the Cowboys didn't even get to 200 yards in a 49-17 loss.
The Cowboys' commitment to the running game has been unflinching, with Murray leading the league in rushing (534 yards so far) and averaging 25 carries and 134 yards per game. Before this season Murray's single-game high for carries was 26.
The defense isn't ranked among the league's statistical leaders because it struggled before the Cowboys rallied for beat the Rams 34-31 in Week 3. And Drew Brees bounced back with a strong second half Sunday night, allowing the Saints to finish with 438 total yards.
But Dallas kept New Orleans out of the end zone until the lead was 31-3 in the fourth quarter, and forced a three-and-out that led to a failed fake punt and the clinching score after the Saints had scored touchdowns on consecutive possessions.
The Cowboys are playing without linebacker Sean Lee because of a season-ending knee injury after cutting franchise sacks leader DeMarcus Ware in a salary cap move. That's why the defenders at the top of the tackles sheet are far from household names.
"We've just got a lot of guys that go to work, just practice and want to win," said defensive tackle Henry Melton, who had the only sack of Brees. "It doesn't just take all the big names to be a good defense."
Two seasons ago, the Cowboys lost their last two games in the second of three consecutive 8-8 seasons to miss the playoffs. A year earlier, they answered a four-game winning streak by dropping four of the last five.
"We can't let the success get to our heads," said receiver Dez Bryant, who had a touchdown on a mostly quiet night for him against the Saints. "We have to take it game by game, practice by practice and day by day. If we do that, there's no telling what can happen."
Even when Tennessee and St. Louis geared up to stop Murray in two Dallas road victories to start the current streak, he still found his way past the 100-yard mark. The only other Dallas back with four consecutive 100-yard games to start the season was Emmitt Smith in 1995.
Murray's success has opened the offensive line up for praise. It's a line that features three first-round picks the past four drafts in tackle Tyron Smith, center Travis Frederick and guard Zack Martin.
Romo, 34, has been sacked once the past two weeks after getting sacked seven times during the first two weeks.
"We're convicted about how we put this team together," coach Jason Garrett said. "The physical nature that we want to play with, we have strong convictions about that."
Sports on 09/30/2014