Owens pulls in 4 TDs as Cowboys heat up after half, top Skins

IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Terrell Owens' first big catch pulled the Dallas Cowboys out of an ugly funk and set up his first touchdown. His second touchdown put them ahead for the first time.

His third touchdown was downright fun. The fourth? It marked a personal best, plus tied a team record.

Yet T.O. still had one thing left to do.

Playing the last line of defense on a game-ending Hail Mary, the ball found Owens in the end zone again. Instead of going for a glitzy interception, he followed orders and swatted it away, preserving a 28-23 victory over the Washington Redskins on Sunday.

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Terrell Owens moved into third place all-time with 126 career TD receptions, trailing only Jerry Rice (197) and Cris Carter (130) after surpassing Marvin Harrison (123) on Sunday. He also became the fifth NFL receiver in 10 seasons to haul in four touchdowns in a game. The Patriots' Randy Moss accomplished the same feat on Sunday.
Player	Game
Terrell Owens	Sunday, Cowboys vs. Redskins
Randy Moss	Sunday, Patriots vs. Bills
Joe Horn	Dec. 2003, Saints vs. Giants
Marcus Robinson	Nov. 2003, Ravens vs. Seahawks
Isaac Bruce	Oct. 1999, Rams vs. 49ers
-- All franchise records; Owens tied the Cowboys' single-game mark set by Bob Hayes vs. the Oilers in Dec. 1970

Owens' TD catches of 4, 31, 46 and 52 yards was all the scoring the Cowboys needed to get to 9-1 for the first time since 1983. With Green Bay also winning Sunday, the teams remain tied atop the NFC with one game left before they meet at Texas Stadium a week from Thursday.

Dallas has won four straight since losing to New England, and Owens is a huge reason for it, producing at least 100 yards receiving and one touchdown each game.

This one, though, topped them all -- and most others in a 12-year career filled with remarkable performances.

"This is one of the greatest games, really, that I feel like I've played in, just me coming through in the clutch," Owens said. "I pride myself in trying to make plays for the team. When my number's called and opportunities are there for us to make plays, I know that's my job."

Even on defense?

"My assignment was to knock the ball down and I knocked the ball down," Owens said. "Interceptions are not going to do me any good. If that's a drop, that's a drop."

Yes, he was laughing when he said that. Besides, it still went down as the first pass breakup of his career.

Without T.O.'s big day, this might have been a huge victory for Jason Campbell and the Redskins (5-5).

Washington led 10-7 late in the third quarter and appeared poised to add to it following an interception return to the Dallas 3. But the play was wiped out on replay.

"I'm just curious how close it was," Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said. "I want to see it myself."

The Cowboys went deep on the next play, moving 51 yards on a pass-interference penalty. Then they really broke things open, getting three touchdowns on their next 13 snaps.

Owens was practically uncovered on the go-ahead score, which also was the 124th of his career, passing Indianapolis' Marvin Harrison for No. 3 on the career list. The next two were long balls, the first coming down the middle of the field -- with a dunk over the crossbar in celebration, followed by chants of "T! O!" from the crowd -- and the second coming on the right sideline after eluding a defender around the 25.

His first score came in the second quarter and was set up by a 23-yarder on third-and-15 when Dallas was really sputtering. He finished with eight grabs for 173 yards.

"What can you say about a receiver who catches eight passes, four for TDs?" Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said.

The only other Cowboys receiver to have a four-TD game was Bob Hayes, in 1970. With 12 touchdowns on the season, Owens tied New England's Randy Moss for the NFL lead -- until Moss caught one in the first quarter Sunday night.

Dallas has matched last season's win total and put itself in great shape to win the NFC East. The Cowboys are 4-0 in division play and hold the tiebreaker over the New York Giants, the only other club that can still finish with four division wins.

The Redskins showed how close they are to being a contender by rallying from a 28-16 deficit to make things interesting until time expired. Before T.O.'s game-ending play, Campbell got Washington inside the Dallas 20 but blew it with an interception right into the belly of Terence Newman with 1:39 left.

"A loss is a loss," center Casey Rabach. "Until we learn how to make the big plays it won't do us any good."

Part of the reason Dallas struggled to move the ball early was because center Andre Gurode had trouble hiking it. One shotgun snap went off Romo's facemask, two went over his head. Romo recovered both loose balls, throwing an interception on one.

"If you snap it good every time, it's not exciting for the fans," said Romo, who was 22-of-32 for 293 yards.

Campbell was 33-of-54 for 348 yards. Santana Moss, playing with a specially rigged cleat to protect a bruised right heel, caught nine passes for 121 yards and a touchdown, all in the second half. Chris Cooley caught eight passes for 89 yards and a touchdown.

Redskins cornerback Shawn Springs, who was beaten on several of Owens' touchdowns, said he was overcome by emotion during warmups because he was thinking about his father, former Cowboys running back Ron Springs, who is comatose at a nearby hospital.

"It was tough for me," Springs said. "It brought back a lot of memories of coming to this stadium as a kid."

Game notes
Owens has caught three TDs four times. ... Washington RT Todd Wade left with a sprained knee. ... Romo has 27 TDs, third-most in team history. ... Clinton Portis ran for only 36 yards after going over 100 two straight games, but he had only 12 carries.