Dallas Covers 4 Point Spread And Defeats Atlanta 37-21

NFL News - October 26th, 2009 - Written by Scott

The Dallas Cowboys were in desperate need of a big win on Sunday and they got it behind the solid play of quarterback Tony Romo, as the Cowboys handed the Atlanta Falcons their second loss of the season 37-21. The story of the game was the performance of receiver Miles Austin though. Austin followed up his huge performance in his first career start last week with 171 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns against the Falcons. Over his past two games, the rookie from Monmouth college has racked up 416 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns.

"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."

Atlanta opened up the scoring on a 4 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Ryan to Roddy White. However, the rest of the half would belong to the Cowboys. Place kicker Nick Folk would connect on his first of three field goals from 38 yards out to cut the Falcon's lead to 7-3. Austin would then haul in his first touchdown of the day on a 59 yard pass from Romo. With 6 seconds remaining in the opening half, Romo would elude three defenders and connect with Patrick Crayton to give the Cowboys a 17-7 lead heading into halftime.

Midway through the third quarter, Micheal Turner would score on a 2 yard touchdown run to bring the Falcons within 3, the closest they would get for the remainder of the game. Austin would respond with his second touchdown reception from 22 yards out to put the Cowboys ahead 24-14. A 13 point fourth quarter, 2 field goals from Folk and a 73 yard punt return by Crayton, would seal the win for Dallas 37-21.

The Dallas defense played a huge role in their win on Sunday. They held the Falcons to 298 yards and forced 3 turnovers. Ryan was pressured all game and was sacked 4 times. He also threw 2 interceptions and had one lost fumble.

"It's frustrating because we feel we can play better," said Ryan, who finished 19 of 35 for 198 yards and two touchdowns.

Romo, who got off to a slow start and did not have a single yard passing in the first quarter, finished the game on 21 of 29 passing for 311 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The Dallas Cowboys had no problems in covering the NFL betting odds 4 point spread against the Falcons on Sunday. Their 20 unanswered points following Turner's touchdown in the third quarter sent them past the 4 points they were favored.

The Falcons are two games behind New Orleans in the NFC South and will have an opportunity to cut this lead as the travel to play the Saints next Monday night. Dallas will host Seattle on Sunday.

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