Romo, Austin ride as Cowboys roll

ARLINGTON, Texas - Tony Romo is running around and having fun again, and Miles Austin is the reason for it.

Romo returned to his swashbuckling style, keeping drives alive by improvising and turning one near-disaster into a touchdown. Austin proved his breakout game was no fluke by coming up with big play after big play, leading the Dallas Cowboys to a 37-21 victory over the Atlanta Falcons yesterday afternoon.

"He's definitely a big part of this offense," Romo said. "I'm glad to see all his hard work and effort is paying off."

With Romo and Austin bringing the offense to life and the defense giving up little more than long drives at the start of each half, the Cowboys (4-2) roared out of their bye with their most impressive win of the season and first against a team with a winning record.

The Falcons (4-2) came in looking to keep pace with the best start in franchise history. Penn Charter graduate Matt Ryan started great, but couldn't keep it up. His streak of 142 passes without a sack ended with takedowns on consecutive plays in the first quarter. He was sacked four times, threw two interceptions, and lost a fumble.

"It's frustrating because we feel we can play better," Ryan said.

Two of the sacks and the lost fumble were caused by DeMarcus Ware, the NFL's reigning sack king, who was stuck at zero sacks through four games. Cowboys linebacker Keith Brooking didn't have any huge plays, but his energy and excitement were as evident as ever a few days before his 34th birthday.

"The last thing I was told by one of the coaches is this is a young man's game. I guess an old man can still play in this league," said Brooking, who grew up in Atlanta, went to college at Georgia Tech, and played 11 seasons for the Falcons until being forced to leave when he wasn't re-signed in the off-season.

Romo was 21 of 29 for 311 yards and three touchdowns. As dazzling as Austin was on his scores of 59 and 22 yards, Romo might have topped him on his other touchdown throw, a 5-yarder to Patrick Crayton. Only a few seconds were left in the first half and Dallas was out of timeouts, so Romo couldn't afford to take a sack - and didn't, spinning off two grabs by defenders and popping up to find Crayton open in the end zone.

Romo didn't have a single yard in the first quarter, except for 17 yards on a third-and-18 scramble. He was hit hard in the back at the end of that play, then got an ice pack on his neck while sitting on the bench. Backup Jon Kitna took snaps and looked over some in-game photos to get ready to go in, but Romo didn't miss a snap. He finished with 31 yards on six runs.

Austin caught six passes for 171 yards and the two TDs in his second career start. He had a club-record 250 yards and two touchdowns, including the winner, in his first start, against the Chiefs, and is quickly moving into the NFL leaderboard in both categories. The product of Monmouth (N.J.) College can also now be legitimately considered the big-play threat Dallas lost when it cut Terrell Owens.

Austin replaced injured Roy Williams for his first start, then bumped Crayton down in the rotation this time. Crayton lost his other job as the punt returner when Dallas signed Allen Rossum. Yet he managed to have a memorable day anyway, catching the touchdown pass from Romo and sealing the victory by returning a punt 73 yards for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter; he got the job back because Rossum left with a hamstring injury after his first return.

Ryan was 19 of 35 for 198 yards and touchdowns of 4 yards to Roddy White and 30 yards to Eddie Weems. Michael Turner had the other touchdown on a 2-yard run.

Atlanta 7 0 7 7 – 21

Dallas 0 17 7 13 – 37

First quarter

Atl–White 4 pass from Ryan (Elam kick), 6:26.

Second quarter

Dal–FG Folk 38, 11:03.

Dal–Austin 59 pass from Romo (Folk kick), 5:50.

Dal–Crayton 5 pass from Romo (Folk kick), :06.

Third quarter

Atl–Turner 2 run (Elam kick), 5:26.

Dal–Austin 22 pass from Romo (Folk kick), 2:32.

Fourth quarter

Dal–FG Folk 46, 10:10.

Dal–Crayton 73 punt return (Folk kick), 8:38.

Atl–Weems 30 pass from Ryan (Elam kick), 5:07.

Dal–FG Folk 34, 2:21.

A: 81,521.

Atl   Dal

First downs 21   18

Total Net Yards 298   414

Rushes-yards 26-124   28-115

Passing 174   299

Punt Returns 2-9   4-76

Kickoff Returns 4-85   1-16

Interceptions Ret. 0-0   2-0

Comp-Att-Int 19-35-2   21-29-0

Sacked-Yards Lost 4-24   2-12

Punts 5-46.0   3-45.0

Fumbles-Lost 3-1   2-1

Penalties-Yards 3-30   8-50

Time of Possession 31:08   28:52

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Atlanta, Snelling 7-68, Turner 18-50, Ryan 1-6. Dallas, Barber 14-47, Jones 8-37, Romo 6-31.

Passing: Atlanta, Ryan 19-35-2-198. Dallas, Romo 21-29-0-311.

Receiving: Atlanta, White 6-50, Gonzalez 4-37, Weems 2-33, Finneran 2-22, Jenkins 2-22, Booker 1-14, Haynes 1-10, Snelling 1-10. Dallas, Austin 6-171, Witten 5-53, Bennett 3-32, Crayton 2-9, Jones 2-6, Choice 1-23, R.Williams 1-16, Barber 1-1.

Missed Field Goals: None.