ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — DeMarco Murray did the finishing work for the Dallas Cowboys. Backup Lance Dunbar made his job a lot easier. ADVERTISING ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — DeMarco Murray did the finishing work for the Dallas Cowboys. Backup Lance
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — DeMarco Murray did the finishing work for the Dallas Cowboys. Backup Lance Dunbar made his job a lot easier.
Murray ran for three touchdowns, Dunbar had a career-high 82 yards rushing and the Cowboys overcame Oakland’s fumble return for a score on the opening kickoff to beat the Raiders 31-24 Thursday.
Murray had 63 yards rushing but did most of his damage near the goal line, including a 7-yard score to put Dallas ahead for good early in the fourth quarter.
Dunbar, who went out with a left knee sprain, sparked the tying and go-ahead touchdown drives in the second half, highlighted by a 45-yard run that led to a 4-yard scoring pass from Tony Romo to Dez Bryant.
The Cowboys (7-5) moved two games above .500 for the first time since late last season. The Raiders (4-8) are guaranteed an 11th straight season without a winning record since going to the Super Bowl during the 2002 season.
Matt McGloin had a strong first half for the Raiders, leading consecutive TD drives that put Oakland up 21-7.
Oakland7140 3—24
Dallas777 10—31
First Quarter
Oak—G.Jenkins fumble recovery in end zone (Janikowski kick), 14:48.
Dal—Murray 2 run (Bailey kick), :43.
Second Quarter
Oak—Jennings 1 run (Janikowski kick), 10:13.
Oak—Jennings 1 run (Janikowski kick), 1:56.
Dal—Murray 4 run (Bailey kick), :10.
Third Quarter
Dal—Bryant 4 pass from Romo (Bailey kick), 5:26.
Fourth Quarter
Dal—Murray 7 run (Bailey kick), 14:20.
Dal—FG Bailey 19, 1:56.
Oak—FG Janikowski 45, :35.
A—87,572.
OakDal
First downs 16 23
Total Net Yards 305 352
Rushes-yards 25-50 30-144
Passing 255 208
Punt Returns 4-42 4-27
Kickoff Returns 5-97 2-61
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-0
Comp-Att-Int 18-30-1 23-32-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 2-17
Punts 5-53.0 5-47.6
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-1
Penalties-Yards 10-71 6-40
Time of Possession 27:41 32:19
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Oakland, Jennings 17-35, McFadden 5-13, Ford 1-3, McGloin 2-(minus 1). Dallas, Dunbar 12-82, Murray 17-63, Romo 1-(minus 1).
PASSING—Oakland, McGloin 18-30-1-255. Dallas, Romo 23-32-0-225.
RECEIVING—Oakland, Holmes 7-136, Streater 3-57, Ford 3-19, Rivera 2-30, Reece 2-5, Jennings 1-8. Dallas, Bryant 7-61, Murray 5-39, Witten 3-53, Williams 3-23, Beasley 3-19, Austin 1-18, Dunbar 1-12.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.
