ARLINGTON, Texas — Tony Romo to Jason Witten saved the Dallas Cowboys again, and it could be at least a month before All-Pro receiver Dez Bryant can help his quarterback again.
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Romo threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to his trusty tight end with 7 seconds left, and the Cowboys overcame three turnovers that led to easy New York points to beat the Giants 27-26 on Sunday night.
The Cowboys drove 72 yards in 1:27 after stopping New York at the 1 and forcing Josh Brown’s fourth field goal when a touchdown would have sealed the Giants’ first victory in an opener against Dallas.
Bryant wasn’t on the field for the decisive drive after breaking his right foot, an injury owner Jerry Jones said would require a pin and sideline the receiver four to six weeks.
The defending NFC East champion Cowboys are 8-0 against their division rival in openers, and have beaten them five consecutive times.
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie returned a fumble 57 yards for a touchdown, and the Giants had to go just a yard for their other TD after Trumaine McBride’s interception.
“We didn’t play great in a lot of areas and obviously [protecting] the ball was the biggest one,” said Romo, who threw for 356 yards and 3 touchdowns with 2 interceptions. “You gotta believe.”
The Giants tried to throw on third down from the Dallas 1 with a 23-20 lead, but the Cowboys didn’t take the play-action fake. Eli Manning had to throw the ball away, stopping the clock and giving Romo plenty of time to win the game.
New York then had to settle for Josh Brown’s fourth field goal with 1:34 left. Manning said he should have taken a sack, especially because the Cowboys were already out of timeouts.
“That’s 100 percent on me right now. It was bad clock management,” Manning said. “It was definitely an option to take a sack and run 40 seconds off the clock and give them less time. That’s 100 percent on me.”
On the winning play, Romo had to pick up the ball after a low snap and found Witten shielding defenders at the goal line. The 13-year veteran made the catch, stayed on his feet and left no doubt about getting the ball in the end zone for yet another huge connection between one of the most prolific quarterback-tight end combos in NFL history.
Romo led two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter after McBride’s interception set up Rashad Jennings’ 1-yard scoring that put the Giants up 23-13 with 8 minutes to go.
Running back Lance Dunbar got the final Dallas drive going with two catches for 40 yards. He finished with team highs of eight catches for 70 yards. Bryant left the game twice — once in the first half because of dehydration and the second time after injuring his foot.
Bryant had five catches for 48 yards before the injury.
The Giants converted two Dallas turnovers into 10 points in the final minute of the second quarter.
Rodgers-Cromartie picked up a fumble by receiver Cole Beasley just before he hit the ground at the end of a run and ran 57 yards untouched for a 10-6 lead.
On Dallas’ next snap, Romo threw behind Witten, who tipped the ball into the arms of linebacker Uani Unga, starting because Jon Beason missed the game with a sprained left knee. The Giants had to settle for Brown’s second field goal, from 40 yards.
Joseph Randle got most of the work in the first game for Dallas without 2014 NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray. He had 16 carries for 65 yards, and Darren McFadden (Pulaski Oak Grove, Arkansas Razorbacks) had six for 16. McFadden also caught a pass for a 19-yard gain.
Bryant led the NFL with 16 receiving touchdowns last season and started the year with more TDs than anyone in the NFL since coming into the league in 2010.
Video posted on Twitter showed Bryant emerging from the locker room in only his underwear, jumping and throwing his arms in the air as he greeted teammates coming off the field.
“I’ll be back soon but how about 9????????” Bryant tweeted, referencing Romo’s No. 9.
The injury came after Bryant missed all the preseason games and most of training camp with a hamstring injury. He also missed the entire offseason in a contract stalemate before signing a five-year, $70 million contract on the day of a deadline that would have forced him to play on a one-year deal. He had threatened to skip regular-season games without a long-term contract.
“You can’t replace Dez Bryant,” Romo said. “I hurt for him right now.”