Cowboys top Falcons

ATLANTA – Michael Vick and Morten Andersen got their records. Terrell Owens and the Dallas Cowboys got a crucial victory.

Owens hauled in a couple of touchdown passes, Marion Barber scored on two punishing runs and the Cowboys protected their NFC East lead with a 38-28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday night.

Dallas bounced back from a 42-17 home loss to New Orleans to bolster its playoff hopes. It was a devastating defeat for the Falcons, who had climbed back into the NFC wild-card race with two straight wins and overcame an early 14-0 deficit in this one.

Owens, who was kept out of the end zone by Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall when the two faced off in the 2005 opener, took care of that blemish. Owens made a 7-yard touchdown reception with a brilliant one-handed catch, then blew past Hall to haul in a 51-yarder.

Afterward, Hall said that Owens spit in his face when the Falcons’ cornerback came out jawing on the very first play.

“I lost all respect for the guy,” Hall said. “We were kind of walking face to face, walking back to the huddle, and he just hauled off and spit in my face.”

Owens didn’t say whether he spit on Hall.

“He had a lot of words. I didn’t,” T.O. said. “I just wanted to come out and prove I’m a guy to be reckoned with.”

Vick tied a career high with four touchdown passes and eclipsed Bobby Douglass’ 34-year-old record for most rushing yards in a season by a quarterback. He has 990 yards, breaking Douglass’ mark of 968 with the 1972 Chicago Bears.

“It means a lot. It’s everything I’ve worked for in my career,” Vick said. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t get the win, but it’s a milestone.”

Andersen, meanwhile, became the leading scorer in NFL history. The 46-year-old kicker booted four extra points, giving him 2,437 points for his career and breaking Gary Anderson’s mark of 2,434.

It wasn’t enough to hold off the Cowboys. Barber put them ahead for good on a 9-yard run with 2 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.

Barber added a 3-yard TD run with 2:18 remaining to clinch the victory.

Tony Romo, coming off his worst game since taking over the starting job, completed 22 of 29 for 278 yards. He spread it around – Terry Glenn had five receptions for 96 yards, Owens caught five for 69 yards and Jason Witten pulled in five passes for 56 yards.

Vick had one horrible pass, which was intercepted by DeMarcus Ware and returned 41 yards for a touchdown on the first play of a wild second quarter. Otherwise, the Atlanta quarterback played well, completing 16 of 24 for 237 yards and running eight times for 56 yards.

The four touchdown passes tied Vick’s personal best from an overtime tie with Pittsburgh in 2002, his first year as a starter.

Vick left the game late with a groin injury, casting doubt on his status for next week’s game.

After Atlanta’s second TD tied the game at 14, Andersen kicked the extra point that broke Anderson’s career scoring record.

Cowboys 38, Falcons 28

Dal—Owens 7 pass from Romo (Gramatica kick)

Dal—Ware 41 interception return (Gramatica kick)

Atl—Griffith 1 pass from Vick (Andersen kick)

Atl—Jenkins 9 pass from Vick (Andersen kick)

Dal—Owens 51 pass from Romo (Gramatica kick)

Atl—Lelie 8 pass from Vick (Andersen kick)

Atl—Griffith 5 pass from Vick (Andersen kick)

Dal—FG Gramatica 48

Dal—Barber 9 run (Gramatica kick)

Dal—Barber 3 run (Gramatica kick)

A—71,102.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Dallas, Barber 11-69, J.Jones 13-26, Romo 3-(minus 1). Atlanta, Dunn 18-56, Vick 8-56, Griffith 1-15.

PASSING—Dallas, Romo 22-29-1-278. Atlanta, Vick 16-24-1-237, Schaub 3-5-1-33.

RECEIVING—Dallas, T.Glenn 5-96, Owens 5-69, Witten 5-56, Barber 4-27, Polite 2-21, Crayton 1-9. Atlanta, Crumpler 5-59, Griffith 4-34, White 3-104, Jenkins 3-37, Dunn 2-19, Lelie 2-17.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.