[AP] Arlington, Texas – Terence Newman [pictured] dived into the end zone, threw the ball into the air and exhaled. The Dallas Cowboys were headed to victory and their maligned defense was the main reason for it.
Newman returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown with 5:07 left, cracking open a tight game and sending the Cowboys to a 21-7 victory against the Carolina Panthers on Monday night.
Dallas (2-1) came into the game without a takeaway or a sack, the latter number an especially sorry stat for last year’s NFL leaders. But the Cowboys harassed Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme into three sacks, two interceptions and a fumble — and, most important, forced him and the Panthers (0-3) into four straight three-and-outs to start the second half. Two sacks and the fumble came on Carolina’s final drive.
Tony Romo moved the ball well all night, but struggled to turn deep drives into points.
Dallas was leading 13-7 when Newman picked off a ball intended for Steve Smith and ran toward the right corner of the end zone, hurtling in as he was caught from behind.
Teammates mobbed him in celebration while a loud crowd of 90,588 savored the likelihood of the Cowboys’ first victory in their new $1.15-billion home, a week after a last-second loss to the New York Giants.
Romo bounced back from a three-interception outing by playing carefully. He was 22 for 33 for 255 yards and no touchdowns — but also no turnovers. He didn’t throw deep too often and rarely into traffic.
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Here’s how the AdultFYI football pool standings look after three weeks. Seven participants had 13-3 records, while five had 12-4 marks:
Scott David 39-9
John Gray 38-10
Danny from Foxxx Modeling 38-10
Steve Volponi 37-11
Jeff Mullen 36-12
Karl the Birdman 36-12
Kickass Ben 35-13
Gene Ross 34-14
Kickass Chris 34-14
Tim Case 34-14
John, Adult Source Media 34-14
Billy The Crystal 33-15
Sean from Porn Legends 33-15
Mike Dickinson 33-15
Steve from Magnus 32-16
Sunset Thomas 32-16
Dr. TJ Eckleburg 32-16
Ryan from Jerry’s Deli 32-16
Steve Seidman 31-17
0 & 16 Chuck 31-17
Brian Wallace 30-18
Mike Fattorosi 29-19