This wasn’t an ugly game in terms of turnovers or penalties, but it was still not very pretty. This is especially true of a few miscellaneous items, including:

* Andre Gurode’s snapping, which was awful,
* Roy Williams’ coverage, which was mostly awful, and
* The play of the secondary on third-and-long, which wasn’t very good.

Nevertheless, Dallas was able to pull out the win thanks to the play of a quarterback named Romo and a receiver with the initials T.O. I said on The Blue and Silver that I would actually buy an Owens jersey at this point. That’s quite a change.

Here are the NBC highlights:

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The key to the Dallas win really came down to a few plays that had almost nothing to do with Terrell Owens:

* 4-1-DAL 32 (8:59) (Field Goal formation) 6-S.Suisham 49 yard field goal is No Good, Wide Left, Center-67-E.Albright, Holder-4-D.Frost.
Dallas Cowboys at 08:37.

After this play, Dallas moved the ball back down field (13 plays, 60 yards) and scored on a four-yard Romo-to-Owens touchdown.

* (3:51) 9-T.Romo pass intended for 82-J.Witten INTERCEPTED by 52-R.McIntosh at DAL 33. 52-R.McIntosh pushed ob at DAL 3 for 30 yards (76-F.Adams). Play Challenged by DAL and REVERSED. 9-T.Romo pass incomplete to 82-J.Witten (52-R.McIntosh).

With Washington leading 10-7, it appeared that the Redskins would extend the lead. Rocky McIntosh returned the ball to the Dallas 3, and the Cowboys could have been down 17-7 or perhaps 13-7. Instead, the play was reversed. On the next play, Dallas gained 51 yards on a pass interference penalty and then took the lead for good three plays later. If we could give a challenge-of-the-year award, this would probably be it, at least for now.

* 3-10-DAL 19 (1:50) (Shotgun) 17-J.Campbell pass intended for 82-A.Randle El INTERCEPTED by 41-T.Newman at DAL 12. 41-T.Newman to DAL 19 for 7 yards (26-C.Portis).

The Redskins had plenty of time to make the game-winner, but Newman stepped in front a pass that was a little bit behind the receiver.

Those plays were huge, but the game indeed belonged to Owens. Eight receptions, 173 yards, 4 TDs. ESPN has an interview with Shawn Springs on the subject of Owens.

From NFL.com:

It was over when …
Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell bypassed an open running lane and tried to force a pass into Antwaan Randle El that was intercepted by Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman with less than two minutes remaining. The pick sealed Dallas’ 28-23 victory.

Game balls
The obvious candidate for the Cowboys is Terrell Owens. With his nemesis Sean Taylor out of the lineup for the Redskins, he had a field day. He caught a career-high four touchdowns and had eight receptions for 173 yards. In a losing effort, Santana Moss had his best game of the season. The dimunitive receiver had nine catches for 121 yards and a touchdown.

Key stat
Washington’s defense played well throughout the game on first and second down, but consistently fell apart on crucial third downs. Dallas converted on 8 of 13 attempts and overcame a 3rd-and-19 to score on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Romo to Owens.

Noteworthy
Redskins offensive tackle Todd Wade left the game with an undisclosed injury and was replaced by undrafted free agent rookie Stephon Heyer. … Cowboys offensive tackle Flozell Adams was helped off the field late in the fourth quarter with an injury. … Dallas has now won 10 of the last 11 meetings against the Redskins at Texas Stadium.

With the Lions losing today to the Giants, this is quickly becoming a two-team race for home-field advantage in the NFC. Dallas and Green Bay both stand at 9-1 and will play a week from Thursday. The Giants are 7-3 but have lost twice to Dallas and once to Green Bay, meaning that New York is still effectively three games behind. Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Seattle are each 6-4.