IRVING, Texas — With Tony Romo scrambling, Terrell Owens kept chugging down the sideline. Once the pass went up, Owens went to work.

He caught the ball and turned upfield, getting pushed out of bounds after a 52-yard gain. Then he kept going, drawing more attention. With all eyes and TV cameras on him, Owens stretched his arms out to form a T, then curled them over his head to form an O.

Yes, T.O. is back.

And the Dallas Cowboys might be hitting their stride, too.

Bottled up all season, and his frustration starting to show, Owens broke out with seven catches for 213 yards and the Dallas defense played great when it had to, helping the Cowboys beat the San Francisco 49ers, 35-22, yesterday.

"They unleashed me today," Owens said, smiling.

Dallas (7-4) has won consecutive games for the first time since starting 3-0. With sputtering Seattle coming to Texas Stadium on Thursday, the Cowboys could distance themselves even more from their recent 2-4 rut and could go steaming into December in prime position for a wild-card playoff berth.

Thanks to this game, they also shouldn't have to worry about an uproar from Owens.

T.O. had the second-most yards of his career, behind only the 283 he had for San Francisco when he caught an NFL-record 20 passes in 2000. It was the fourth-most in Cowboys history, the best in the NFL since Philadelphia's Kevin Curtis had 221 in September 2007 and tops by a Dallas player since Tony Hill had 213 against the Eagles in 1979.

"He's still got it," Romo said. "He's a fantastic player."

Everyone had a different theory on Owens.

Owens said there were some new wrinkles in the game plan and credited the offensive line with giving Romo more time. Romo said it was the 49ers (3-8) giving Owens more room to roam, mainly by having cornerback Nate Clements play several yards off the line of scrimmage instead of jamming him during the first 5 yards.

"Nate can cover T.O.; he did not today," interim 49ers coach Mike Singletary said. "I'm not going say that T.O. is the greatest wide receiver in the world. I think he does a heck of a job."

GIANTS 37, CARDINALS 29

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Eli Manning threw for three touchdowns in his return to the scene of his Super Bowl MVP performance and New York (10-1) beat Arizona (7-4) to snap the Cardinals' seven-game home winning streak.

Manning completed 26 of 33 for 240 yards with no interceptions. Kurt Warner, under fierce pressure most of the afternoon, was 32 for 52 for 351 yards and a touchdown for Arizona. He was intercepted once and fumbled once, both leading to Giants touchdowns.

BEARS 27, RAMS 3

ST. LOUIS — Rookie Matt Forte had a season-high 132 yards rushing and scored twice, and Marc Bulger lasted only five plays before sustaining a concussion against a defense that had three of a season-best five sacks by the break and helped Chicago (6-5) roll over St. Louis (2-9). Kyle Orton set a franchise record by throwing 185 consecutive passes without an interception as the Bears rebounded from a blowout loss at Green Bay last week and kept a share of first place in the balanced NFC North.

BUCS 38, LIONS 20

DETROIT — Tampa Bay (8-3) fell behind winless Detroit (0-11) by 17 points, then scored five unanswered touchdowns en route to its third straight victory. Detroit moved a step closer toward becoming the NFL's first 0-16 team. Daunte Culpepper completed just 8 of 20 passes for 121 yards and a TD with two interceptions.

FALCONS 45, PANTHERS 28

ATLANTA — Michael Turner scored four touchdowns and rookie Harry Douglas scored his first career TD on a 7-yard end around, caught a 69-yard pass that set up a TD, then finished off Carolina (8-3) with a 61-yard punt return that carried Atlanta (7-4) to a win.

REDSKINS 20, SEAHAWKS 17

SEATTLE — Clinton Portis ran for 143 yards on 29 carries to help Washington (7-4) beat Seattle (2-9) for its first victory in almost a month. Portis was questionable to play after missing most of practice last week because of a sprained knee.