Cowboys hold off Bears, get ninth win 41-28

The Dallas Cowboys didn’t clinch the playoffs Thursday night.

There is much work to be done.

And they have yet to prove that their December doldrums are in the past.

But one thing is certain: the Cowboys won’t be 8-8 again in 2014.

The Cowboys put an emphatic end to the middling mediocrity of the past three seasons with a 41-28 victory against the Chicago Bears in front of a crowd of 61,558 at Soldier Field.

The Cowboys upped their record to 9-4, giving them their most wins since winning the NFC East with an 11-5 record in 2009.

The Cowboys remain in second place in the NFC East, a half-game behind the Philadelphia Eagles (9-3), who play Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks (8-4).

The Cowboys also entered the day outside of the playoffs, losing out on the wild card because of an inferior conference record to the Seahawks and the Detroit Lions (8-4).

But they did what they needed to do and had to do by getting a huge win in Chicago, setting up another NFC East showdown at Philadelphia on Dec. 14, while also taking a step to end the past December blues.

“We are right in the hunt. We have challenges ahead. We have to clean this game up and then get ready for that next challenge in Philadelphia,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said.

The Cowboys made their record 28-43 in December since 1997, led by the dominance of NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray and the near-flawless play of quarterback Tony Romo.

“Anytime you win, it solves a lot of problems,” Romo said.

Murray rushed a career-high 32 times for 179 yards. He also had nine catches for 49 yards, setting a career high with 41 touches.

“I thought he played a really good football game. He obviously ran the ball well,” Garrett said. “There were some dirty runs early. I thought we did a good job sticking with the run and just finding ways to make bigger runs as the game wore on, whether it was getting to a new call or him hunting and pecking a little bit and finding his way and finding some creases. I thought he did a good job being persistent running the football.”

It was Murray’s 11th 100-yard game in 13 outings this season and was a nice bounce-back for him and the offensive line after a season-low 73 yards in the 33-10 Thanksgiving Day loss to the Eagles.

And a week after having his worst performance of the season against the Eagles, Romo was back to being his magical self.

Romo completed 21 of 26 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 138.0 in leading the Cowboys to scores on six consecutive drives between the second and fourth quarters to turn seemingly blow the game open.

“We were real balanced early on, like the old Cowboys,” Romo said.

The Cowboys led 35-7 before watching the rally in the fourth get as close as 38-28.

But Cowboys were able to finally close the game out, including some big runs by Murray.

“Some of the coverages dictated we weren’t going to be able throw the ball down the field quite as much and Tony did a great job checking the ball down to DeMarco,” Garrett said. “I thought DeMarco did a good job after the catch getting north and south, catching the ball 3, 4 yards down the field and making 6, 7, and 8 yards.

“That was a positive for our team. And he is a workhorse. We are lucky to have him. “

And for one week, Romo answered any concerns about his poor December record of 13-17 since 2006.

He and the team’s increasingly suspect defense will have to answer the test again against the Eagles.

If there was ever any question about the importance of the game, consider that coach Jason Garrett went for it on fourth down twice during a 12-play, 51-yard scoring drive in the second quarter.

It came after linebacker Bruce Carter partially blocked a Bears punt, setting the Cowboys up at their own 49.

After Murray was stopped for no gain on third-and-1 at the 13, Garrett eschewed a field-goal attempt and ran Murray one more time, gaining 4 yards.

Then when receiver Cole Beasley was tackled at the 1 after a pass on third-and-goal from the 6, Garrett went for it again.

Murray’s 1-yard run put the Cowboys up 7-0, offering a glimpse into the desperation of the moment.

The Cowboys had gone on fourth down just four times in the previous 12 games combined.

“You want to be aggressive. You are on the road. You are dealing with conditions. We can run the football,” Garrett said. “We’ve guys who are going to knock their guys back. We have a runner who is going to make yards.”

The Bears responded with an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive, thanks largely to a 42-yard pass from Jay Cutler to Brandon Marshall.

The Bears answered the Cowboys with a fourth-down call of their own, when Cutler connected with Marshall for 15 yards on fourth-and-7.

They tied the game on a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Martellus Bennett.

Romo simply took over from there.

He completed 10 of 12 passes for 72 yards with four third-down conversions in leading the Cowboys to a score right before the half.

A 13-yard pass to Beasley made the score 14-7 at halftime.

“Tony looked good tonight. I thought he moved around well. He threw the ball well. He had great presence, great decision making,” Garrett said. “He made a lot of good throws in the game.”

Romo and the Cowboys turned the game into a runaway in the third quarter.

Defensive end Anthony Spencer ripped the ball out of the hands of running back Matt Forte on the opening drive. Safety Barry Church recovered and cornerback Sterling Moore got the ball and returned it to the 31.

If there was any question about Romo’s health and viability, it came on the ensuing drive when he showed off some of that patented magic.

On third-and-3 from the 24, he made a spin away from a potential sack, moved to his left and lofted a floater to Beasley, who made a perfect adjustment to make the catch before running across the goal line.

It was a perfect example of Romo feeling good and loose after a full week of preparation.

Coming off back surgery last December and two fractured transverse processes in his back, Romo did not handle the short week well.

He had no such issues against the Bears, adding his third touchdown of the game with a 6-yard touchdown pass to the tight end Gavin Escobar, making the score 28-7.

Backup running back Joseph Randle 17-yard run made it 35-7 before the end of the third quarter.

The defense, however, remains a huge concern after Cutler passed for 341 yards to bring the Bears within striking distance before cornerback Orlando Scandrick’s game-sealing interception with 1 minute, 29 second left.

“We let them back in the game. You definitely can’t do that. You have to put teams away,” Scandrick said. “They were on the verge of wanting to quit. You have to put teams away.”

In the end, the ninth win was all that mattered on Thursday.

This story was originally published December 4, 2014 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Cowboys hold off Bears, get ninth win 41-28."