SEATTLE — On his sixth snap of the game, Tony Romo took a direct blow to his ribs and spent nearly a minute trying to get back to his feet.
Seconds later, when Chris Jones’ punt was smothered by Seattle and returned for a touchdown, Romo and the Dallas Cowboys were facing a 10-0 deficit on the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks’ home field.
Romo and his teammates rebounded from the terrible start, validating the strong start to the season with a resounding answer.
“I think our team now understands that we do a lot of things pretty well and I think we have the ability to kind of impose yourself on other teams,” Romo said.
Rallying from the early deficit, the Cowboys relied on running back DeMarco Murray and a defense that confused Russell Wilson in a 30-23 victory Sunday.
Murray, who ran for 115 yards, scored on a 15-yard run with 3:16 left to give Dallas the lead and the Cowboys’ defense held twice in the final 3 minutes to cap a miserable day by Seattle’s offense. Rolando McClain intercepted Wilson’s pass with less than a minute remaining to clinch the victory.
“Guys aren’t going to back down,” Dallas coach Jason Garrett said. “We have the right kind of guys on this team,”
The result wasn’t stunning. It was the way Dallas won. The Cowboys outhit, out-ran and bullied the Seahawks, showing no intimidation toward Seattle’s top defense or the noisy environment created by the 12th Man.
“I think that showed the maturity of this team. We expected to win,” Dallas tight end Jason Witten said. “We knew this was going to be a challenge and we stayed the course.”
It looked very familiar to the way Seattle won last year on its way to the title. And now the Cowboys are 5-1 for the first time since 2007.
“They played really well and they did a lot of cool stuff for their football team in all phases, and we were not right, really, in any phase of our game today,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.
Around every corner of the Dallas locker room compliments and accolades were being tossed about. Dallas owner Jerry Jones held court for nearly 45 minutes.
“This win is a coaching win. It’s a Jason Garrett win,” Jones said. “This called on everything you could ever ask a coach to come together with a team. He answered the bell today.”
Murray joined Jim Brown (1958) as the only running backs in NFL history to start a season with six straight 100-yard rushing games. And Murray did it against the league’s best run defense, which had not allowed a running back more than 38 yards in a game this season.
Dallas’ improved offensive line opened enough space for Murray to run and for the most part kept Romo protected. Romo was sacked only once, and bounced up off the turf from that first hard hit he took from Bobby Wagner on the Cowboys’ first drive.
And when Romo got pressured on Dallas’ winning drive, Terrance Williams made a stunning toe-dragging catch along the sideline for 23 yards to convert a third-and-20. Romo moved away from pressure by Bruce Irvin and found Williams along the sideline in front of the Dallas bench.
“If he throws it up, I’m trying to gain his trust, so I’m going to catch it regardless,” Williams said.
Murray then broke free for 25 yards and a 6-yard run to the Seattle 15. He capped his record day by cutting back against the defense and rolling through Richard Sherman at the goal line.
BRONCOS 31, JETS 17
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Peyton Manning connected with Julius Thomas twice and Demaryius Thomas once, leaving the Denver quarterback two shy of Brett Favre’s record for career touchdown passes, and the Broncos held on to beat New York.
Manning has 506 touchdown passes, and could tie or break Favre’s record next Sunday at home against San Francisco. Manning finished 22 of 33 for 237 yards — a far cry from last week’s performance against Arizona, when he passed for a career-high 479 yards with four TDs.
But Manning displayed his methodical best at times in his return to MetLife Stadium, where he and the Broncos (4-1) were blown out by Seattle in the Super Bowl last February.
Demaryius Thomas had 10 catches for 124 yards, and Ronnie Hillman ran for 100 yards on 24 carries.
PATRIOTS 37, BILLS 22
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes and had his 60th 300-yard game to lead New England past Buffalo.
Brandon LaFell had two touchdown catches, including a 56-yarder, and the Patriots forced three turnovers that resulted in 13 points in the second quarter.
Brady finished 27 of 37 for 361 yards to spoil the Bills’ first game under new owners Terry and Kim Pegula. Brady is 23-2 against AFC East rival Buffalo with the Patriots (4-2).
Kyle Orton went 24 of 38 for 299 yards with two touchdowns, an interception and a lost fumble in his second start for Buffalo (3-3) since replacing EJ Manuel.
PACKERS 27, DOLPHINS 24
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Aaron Rodgers threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Quarless with 3 seconds left to lift Green Bay past Miami.
Green Bay twice gave up leads and trailed 24-17 before Rodgers directed a 68-yard drive for a field goal with 4:09 to go. The Packers (4-2) quickly forced a punt to start at their 40 with 2:04 left, and Rodgers hit Jordy Nelson on fourth-and-10 for 18 yards to keep the winning drive alive.
Rodgers finished with three touchdown passes and 264 yards while committing no turnovers.
The Packers earned their third consecutive victory and won in Miami for only the second time ever. The Dolphins (2-3) lost despite the return of six starters who had missed playing time.
EAGLES 27, GIANTS 0
PHILADELPHIA — Nick Foles threw two touchdown passes, LeSean McCoy had a season-high 149 yards rushing and Philadelphia Eagles beat New York for its first shutout in 18 years.
A rough night for the Giants (3-3) became worse when wide receiver Victor Cruz tore the patellar tendon his right knee while leaping for a pass on fourth down from the Eagles 3 in the third quarter. Cruz was crying and holding his hands to his face as he was carted off the field with an injury that’s expected to end his season.
Wearing all-black uniforms for the first time in franchise history, the Eagles (5-1) stayed tied with Dallas (5-1) for the lead in the NFC East. They hadn’t shut out an opponent since a 24-0 win over the Giants on Dec. 1, 1996, at old Veterans Stadium.
CARDINALS 30, REDSKINS 20
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Carson Palmer returned from a five-week absence to throw two touchdown passes, and Arizona beat Washington to take the sole NFC West lead.
Larry Fitzgerald caught six passes for a season-high 98 yards and his first touchdown of the season to help the Cardinals (4-1) bounce back from a 41-20 drubbing at Denver.
Kirk Cousins was 24 for 38 for 354 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson for the Redskins (1-5), but threw three fourth-quarter interceptions. Washington has lost four straight and 13 of 14.
Palmer had not played since damaging a nerve in his throwing shoulder in the season-opening win over San Diego and was not announced as the starter until just before kickoff. Palmer completed 28 of 44 for 250 yards with no interceptions. The Cardinals have not thrown an interception this season.
CHARGERS 31, RAIDERS 28
OAKLAND, Calif. — Branden Oliver scored on a 1-yard run with 1:56 to play and San Diego spoiled interim coach Tony Sparano’s Oakland debut.
Philip Rivers threw three touchdown passes and engineered the winning drive to give San Diego (5-1) its fifth straight win and send Oakland (0-5) to its 11th straight loss.
Rookie Derek Carr threw four touchdown passes for the Raiders and gave them a 28-21 lead on a 6-yard throw to Andre Holmes with 10:01 to play. But Rivers answered with a pair of scoring drives, and Carr’s pass was intercepted by rookie Jason Verrett with 1:13 to play.
Sparano took over for the fired Dennis Allen.
PANTHERS 37, BENGALS 37
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati’s Mike Nugent missed a 36-yard field-goal attempt on the final play of overtime, and the Bengals and Carolina played to the NFL’s first tie this season.
Nothing new about the Bengals tying at home. They finished 13-13 with Philadelphia in their last overtime game at Paul Brown Stadium in 2008.
Nugent made a 42-yard field goal that put Cincinnati (3-1-1) up after the opening drive of overtime. Carolina (3-2-1) tied it on Graham Gano’s 36-yarder with 2:19 left.
Andy Dalton was nearly perfect in overtime, going 8 for 9 for 87 yards with one throwaway. He led the Bengals into range to win it, but Nugent sliced the kick wide right.
TITANS 16, JAGUARS 14
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Sammie Hill blocked a field goal attempt in the final seconds, and Tennessee held off winless Jacksonville to snap a four-game losing streak.
Jackie Battle ran for a touchdown, and Ryan Succop kicked three field goals to help the Titans (2-4) bounce back after blowing the biggest lead ever by a home team in the regular season in a loss to Cleveland.
Jurrell Casey had two of Tennessee’s six sacks. The Titans forced two turnovers as they won their first game at home this season — only their second here in nine games.
BROWNS 31, STEELERS 10
CLEVELAND — Brian Hoyer passed for 217 yards and pulled off a rarity for a Cleveland quarterback, leading the Browns to rout over Ben Roethlisberger and rival Pittsburgh.
Hoyer threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Cameron and improved to 6-2 as Cleveland’s starter as the surprising Browns (3-2) beat the Steelers for the third time in 23 games. Cleveland hadn’t beaten Pittsburgh so badly since a 51-0 victory in 1989.
Ben Tate had two rushing TDs and rookie Isaiah Crowell added another one as the Browns opened a 21-3 lead in the first half and rolled to the easy win a week after staging the largest comeback in NFL history by a road team against Tennessee.
BEARS 27, FALCONS 13
ATLANTA — Jay Cutler threw for 381 yards and a touchdown, Matt Forte ran for a couple of second-half scores, and Chicago picked up another road victory by beating Atlanta.
Chicago (3-3) has won three of four away from Soldier Field this season, though there were so many Bears fans at the Georgia Dome that it seemed almost like a neutral site.
After the Falcons (2-4) rallied from a 13-3 halftime deficit to tie it late in the third quarter, the Bears bounced back to hand Atlanta its third straight loss. Cutler unleashed a towering pass to Alshon Jeffery that went for 74 yards. On the next play, Forte scored on a 6-yard run.
LIONS 17, VIKINGS 3
MINNEAPOLIS — Tahir Whitehead intercepted two of Teddy Bridgewater’s passes, and Joique Bell put the game away with a fourth-quarter touchdown run in Detroit’s victory over Minnesota.
With Calvin Johnson and Reggie Bush missing, the Lions played a low-risk game. But their defense made another case for top billing in the league. Ziggy Ansah had 2 1/2 of Detroit’s eight sacks,
Bridgewater threw three interceptions in his second career start for the Vikings (2-4).
The biggest problem for Detroit (4-2) was two more missed field goal attempts, through Matt Prater did make one from 52 yards in his Lions debut. Detroit won at Minnesota for only the second time in its last 17 trips.
RAVENS 48, BUCCANEERS 17
TAMPA, Fla. — Joe Flacco threw for 306 yards and five touchdowns to help Baltimore beat Tampa Bay.
Baltimore (4-2) scored on six straight possessions to begin the game, with Flacco throwing touchdown passes on the first five. Torrey Smith caught the first two, and Kamar Aiken, Michael Campanaro and Steve Smith had the others as the Ravens rebounded from a road loss to Indianapolis.
Tampa Bay (1-5) was embarrassed for the second time in six games under first-year coach Lovie Smith. The Bucs fell 56-14 at Atlanta on Sept. 18.
By wire sources