(Sports Network) - The Dallas Cowboys were once again able to stop the snowballing hype machine that inevitably followed the current NFC East leaders' recent run of success, in much the same way that the team's offense was shut down by the Green Bay Packers in Sunday's 17-7 loss at historic Lambeau Field.

A Dallas attack that entered this past weekend's play ranked among the NFL's best in several major categories generated a season-low 278 total yards against a determined Packers defense intent on making an unhappy homecoming for Wisconsin native Tony Romo. Under siege by a heavy rush for virtually the entire afternoon, the Cowboys quarterback committed three turnovers (2 fumbles, 1 interception) and was sacked five times in suffering the first-ever November defeat of his four-year tenure as a starter.

Dallas avoided its first shutout loss since 2003 when Romo found wide receiver Roy Williams for a nine-yard touchdown with 38 seconds remaining. There were a few other missed scoring opportunities beforehand, however, with Romo being picked off in the Packers' end zone on a first-and-goal earlier in the fourth quarter and normally-reliable kicker Nick Folk misfiring on a 38-yard field goal try on the team's opening drive.

"We made far too many mistakes," said Romo. "We just did too many things that were out of character for this football team, and that is too much to overcome when you continually do that throughout a football game."

Romo and the offense had made precious few costly errors during a four-game win streak that vaulted the Cowboys to the top of the division standings and came to a halt on Sunday. The standout signal-caller had thrown for nine touchdowns against just one interception over that surge, while topping the 300-yard mark on three occasions.

He didn't get much help in the Green Bay game from a front line that was weakened when stalwart right tackle Marc Colombo fractured his left fibula on Dallas' second offensive series. The eighth-year pro, who has started 57 consecutive games, will undergo surgery on Monday and is most likely done for the regular season, if not beyond.

The leading candidate to fill Colombo's spot is Doug Free, a fourth-round draft choice of the Cowboys in 2007 who's played sparingly over the past three seasons.

QUICK HITS: Romo had been 13-0 in games he started in November prior to Sunday's loss...Williams finished with 105 yards on five catches, the first time he has surpassed the century mark since a 106-yard effort against the New York Giants while with Detroit on November 18, 2007...Outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware had two of the Cowboys' four sacks of Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and has recorded seven quarterback takedowns over the last five games...Two starters in the secondary, free safety Ken Hamlin (high ankle sprain) and cornerback Mike Jenkins (bruised forearm), left the contest with injuries.

NEXT UP: Dallas returns home and to divisional play when rival Washington makes its first visit to brand-new Cowboys Stadium this Sunday. Although the Redskins (web | news) reside at the bottom of the NFC East at the moment, the club came through with a much-needed victory over AFC West co-leader Denver over the weekend and dealt the Cowboys a 26-24 loss in Dallas last season.

WASHINGTON: The Redskins will be heading into this Sunday's tussle in Texas off a 27-17 win over the Denver Broncos that proved to be a breakthrough on more than one front.

Not only was Washington able to end a frustrating four-game slide that had placed the embattled team in a sizeable midseason hole, the Redskins finally managed to put some points on the scoreboard in doing so. Prior to Sunday's landmark performance, the Burgundy and Gold had failed to eclipse 17 points in any of its first eight outings of 2009 and ranked 29th in the NFL in scoring.

Washington got over the hump by showing a renewed commitment to a resurgent running game, a suffocating defensive display in the second half and a well- executed trick play that provided a huge swing in momentum.

Trailing 14-7 midway through the second quarter, the Redskins lined up for a 53-yard field goal try but faked the attempt, with holder and regular punter Hunter Smith floating a pass to wide-open fullback Mike Sellers for a 35-yard touchdown that energized the FedEx Field crowd in addition to sparking the home team.

Denver would kick a field goal to take a three-point lead into halftime, but Washington dominated their playoff-hopeful opponents after intermission. A Broncos offense run by rusty second-string quarterback Chris Simms mustered a paltry 36 total yards and three first downs over the final two quarters, with Simms connecting on just 3-of-13 passes for 13 yards.

The Redskins piled up the majority of their season-best 174 rushing yards in the second half and clearly weren't affected by the absence of injured running back Clinton Portis, held out after suffering a concussion in the previous week's loss at Atlanta. Replacement Ladell Betts amassed 114 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, with usual special-teamer Rock Cartwright chipping in 41 yards on nine attempts.

"We got back to playing Redskins football," said Sellers. "We ran the heck out of that ball, plain and simple. Coaches put us in a great position to make plays and we just kept pounding (the ball) and pounding it."

QUICK HITS: Veteran offensive lineman Levi Jones, signed by the Redskins on October 20, made his first start of the season at left tackle in Sunday's win. Right tackle Mike Williams missed the game with an ankle injury, with Stephon Heyer shifting from the left side into that spot...Second-year pro Chad Rinehart was also inserted into the starting lineup at right guard, supplanting journeyman Will Montgomery...Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth left the game with a sprained left ankle in the fourth quarter and will have x-rays on Monday...Outside linebacker Brian Orakpo had 1 1/2 sacks against the Broncos to set a Redskins' rookie season record in that category. The first- round draft choice now has seven through his first nine professional games.

NEXT UP: Washington will be attempting to stop a seven-game road losing streak dating back to last season when it visits the palatial Cowboys Stadium this Sunday for the first of back-to-back away tilts versus divisional foes. The Redskins, 0-4 as the visitor thus far in 2009, will travel to Philadelphia in Week 12.



PHILADELPHIA: The Philadelphia Eagles missed out on a chance to tie Dallas for the NFC East's top spot with this past Sunday's 31-23 loss at San Diego, a game which brought back a double-bad case of deja vu for the team.

The Eagles have now been handed defeats in each of their two trips to the West Coast this season, previously enduring a hard-to-fathom 13-9 setback to the wayward Oakland Raiders back in Week 6. While Philadelphia won't have to deal with any more cross-country excursions over the remainder of the regular season, the injury running back Brian Westbrook sustained against the Chargers figures to have more lasting and serious implications.

Westbrook incurred his second concussion in a span of three weeks when he took a shot to the head early in the third quarter of Sunday's game. The two-time Pro Bowler had just returned after sitting out two straight contests due to the effects of a helmet-to-helmet collision that briefly rendered him unconscious in an October 26 victory at Washington.

The latest incident has put Westbrook's season status in obvious jeopardy, not to mention further fueling concern about the brittle 30-year-old's long-term well-being.

Philadelphia has other problems that need attending to as well, most notably in the ground game and in red-zone production. Even with Westbrook healthy and available, the Eagles ran the ball only eight times in 33 first-half plays during Sunday's loss and finished the afternoon with a meager 29 rushing yards. Two of those attempts were stuffed at the San Diego one-yard line, forcing the team to settle for an 18-yard field goal in the second quarter.

The Eagles also couldn't turn another first-and-goal situation into a touchdown in their following possession, and wound up kicking another short field goal midway through the third quarter when head coach Andy Reid elected not to go for it on 4th-and-1 from the Chargers' seven.

"Short-yardage situations, we have to do better there," Reid remarked afterward. "When you're given opportunities again in the red zone and you have a number of shots at it, then you have to make sure that you score touchdowns."

Philadelphia was able to move the ball effectively through the air, with quarterback Donovan McNabb racking up 450 passing yards and tying a franchise record with 35 completions in 55 attempts.

QUICK HITS: McNabb also completed 35 passes in a win over the Chargers on October 23, 2005 and ended with the second-highest yardage total of his career...Slot receiver Jason Avant established career bests with eight catches and 156 receiving yards in the loss, while fellow wideout DeSean Jackson had a personal-best eight grabs totaling 91 yards...Normal left guard Todd Herremans was shifted to tackle for Sunday's game with usual left-side starter Jason Peters inactive because of a sprained ankle...The Eagles also shuffled their linebacking crew due to weakside regular Akeem Jordan being out with a hyperextended knee. Will Witherspoon moved from the middle into Jordan's spot, with customary strongside starter Chris Gocong taking over inside...Cornerback Sheldon Brown was forced to leave Sunday's test with a strained hamstring...Reserve corner Joselio Hanson served the first of a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances.

NEXT UP: The Eagles will be back on the road this Sunday for a prime-time clash with a slumping Chicago squad from Soldier Field. The Bears have dropped two straight and four of their last five games, including last Thursday's 10-6 loss in San Francisco in which quarterback Jay Cutler was intercepted five times. Philadelphia will be attempting to avenge a 24-20 defeat to the Bears in the Windy City during Week 4 of last season.



N.Y. GIANTS: The New York Giants managed to draw even with Philadelphia in the division standings despite not playing over the weekend, which brought a bit of positive news to a team that hasn't experienced a win in well over a month.

The Giants also got some good information in regards to its injury-plagued secondary over the course of its recent bye week. Cornerback Aaron Ross was back on the field when New York reconvened for practice last Wednesday, the first time he's been able to participate in a session since late September. The 2007 first-round draft choice, who had been entrenched as a starter from midway through his rookie campaign, has yet to play this season due to a lingering hamstring problem that has plagued him since training camp.

Barring any setbacks, Ross is expected to make his 2009 debut when the Giants host Atlanta this Sunday, the start of a challenging four-game stretch that will go a long way towards determining Big Blue's postseason prospects. After battling the 5-4 Falcons, New York will travel to AFC West front-runner Denver before a pair of crucial home tests against Dallas and Philadelphia, the teams New York is competing with for NFC East supremacy.

Ross would be a welcome addition to a Giants' defense that has allowed the second-fewest passing yards in the league this year, but has been lit up by enemy quarterbacks for the majority of the team's current four-game losing streak. Saints superstar Drew Brees threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-27 pasting of the G-Men on October 18, while Donovan McNabb tossed three scoring strikes to lead the Eagles to a 40-17 rout back in Week 8. In New York's most recent outing, San Diego's Philip Rivers drove his team downfield in the final minutes for a last-second touchdown that gave the Chargers a narrow 21-20 win.

The Giants have not lost five in a row since an eight-game skid in 2004, quarterback Eli Manning's rookie season and New York's first under head coach Tom Coughlin.

NEXT UP: New York will be squaring off against an Atlanta team that's in a funk of its own at the moment. The Falcons will be entering Giants Stadium with losses in three of their last four games and fell to 1-4 on the road this season following last weekend's 28-19 defeat to fellow NFC South member Carolina. Both clubs currently sport 5-4 records and are tied with both Philadelphia and Green Bay for the top two positions in the conference Wild Card race.











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