Tony Romo threw for three touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter, to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a 31-22 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Texas Stadium.

Romo completed 14-of-23 passes for 176 yards, while also throwing an interception, for the Cowboys (4-1), who were coming off a home defeat to the Washington Redskins. Felix Jones ran for 96 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries, and Jason Witten had eight receptions for 79 yards and a score. Marion Barber rushed 23 times for 84 yards.

"I thought that was a real good win for us," Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said. "I think you learn a lot when you make mistakes and still overcome them. That's part of learning to win, part of being a team when things aren't going great. We kept fighting in the game and finally came through at the end. I was really proud of our team with the way they fought all the way through."

Terrell Owens, who last week complained of not touching the ball enough, only made two catches, but had a 57-yard touchdown in the fourth that proved to be the game-winning score. He finished with 67 yards receiving.

"They are doubling Terrell every play," Phillips said. "That's what teams are doing. But again, we went back to the running game. If you keep those guys back deep, they won't have enough up front to stop our running game."

Carson Palmer went 23-of-39 passing for 217 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for the Bengals (0-5), who are winless after five games for the first time since starting 0-7 in 2002. T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught seven passes for 85 yards, including two scores. Shayne Graham went 3-for-3 in field goal attempts.

"There is no consolation prize for losing," Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said. "We kind of dug ourselves in a hole and put the defense in a bad situation at the end of the football game."

With the Bengals trailing 17-13, Cincinnati intercepted a Romo pass and drove the ball down to the Dallas 22 early in the fourth. The drive stalled, however and Graham hit his third field goal of the day -- a 40-yarder -- to cut the deficit to one with 14:02 to play.

The Bengals tricked Dallas on the ensuing kickoff, recovering an onside attempt at their own 48. But the Cowboys later recovered a Chris Perry fumble, and Romo found Owens two plays later for a 57-yard touchdown over the middle to give the team a 24-16 advantage with just under 12 minutes left. Owens caught the ball about 20 yards downfield, avoiding several defenders as he raced down the sideline to the end zone.

Glenn Holt returned the following kickoff for Cincinnati to the Dallas 37. Palmer found Daniel Coats and Houshmandzadeh for 11 and 9 yards, respectively, to get to the 13. Three plays later Houshmandzadeh caught a 10-yard touchdown pass to get the visitors within two with 7:39 to play. Ben Utecht couldn't pull down the two-point conversion attempt on a fade route.

On the Cowboys next drive, Romo converted two third downs - on a three-yard run and an eight-yard completion to Witten, running the clock down. From the 15, on 3rd-and-11, Romo threw a touchdown pass through the hands of wide receiver Miles Austin and into the hands of Patrick Crayton giving Dallas a 31-22 lead with just under two minutes to play.

Palmer was intercepted on the first play from scrimmage, but the ensuing Dallas drive didn't muster a first down, with the Cowboys instead settling on a Nick Folk 30-yard field goal less than two minutes in.

After a punt, the Cowboys marched 75 yards down the field in 10 plays, as Jones sprinted around the Bengals' defense for a 33-yard touchdown and a 10-0 advantage with six minutes left in the first.

Dallas opened up a 17-0 lead with 12:12 left in the half, as Romo found Witten in the end zone from four yards out to cap a 10-play 80-yard drive.

Graham hit a 41-yard field goal to put the Bengals on the board, capping an eight-play drive with 8:15 to play in the second. Cincinnati recovered a Romo fumble late in the half and Graham hit a 31-yarder to make it 17-6 going into the break.

The Bengals scored on their opening drive of the second half. Palmer found Houshmandzadeh on 3rd-and-9 for an 18-yard touchdown, capping an 11-play 72- yard march.

Game Notes

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