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Philadelphia • In an unexpected defensive tussle, the depleted Dallas Cowboys delivered the knockout punch.

Tony Romo threw for 317 yards and one touchdown, a banged-up defense shut down Chip Kelly's prolific offense and the Cowboys overcame a sluggish start to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 17-3 on Sunday to take sole possession of first place in the NFC East.

At least there won't be a quarterback controversy in Philadelphia after this one. Nick Foles was awful leaving with a head injury.

"Obviously, our defense was outstanding," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "That offense challenges you in so many ways. They have a really good scheme. Our defense played sound, played together. They were physical and our tackling was outstanding."

Two teams that averaged a combined 58.2 points per game and allowed a combined 55.2 totaled 13 punts in a first half that ended with Dallas (4-3) leading 3-0. It was more two inept offenses than two dominant defenses. Cowboys 17, Eagles 3

Dallas 0 3 7 7 — 17

Philadelphia 0 0 0 3 — 3

Second Quarter

Dal • FG Bailey 38, 3:17.

Third Quarter

Dal • Tanner 1 run (Bailey kick), 9:17.

Fourth Quarter

Phi • FG Henery 31, 14:57.

Dal • Williams 9 pass from Romo (Bailey kick), 9:25.

Dal Phi

First downs 22 19

Total Net Yards 368 278

Rushes-yards 26-74 23-84

Passing 294 194

Punt Returns 5-23 1-5

Kickoff Returns 2-49 1-23

Interceptions Ret. 3-33 2-36

Comp-Att-Int 28-47-2 22-49-3

Sacked-Yards Lost 2-23 3-15

Punts 9-38.6 9-46.6

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 12-75 5-33

Time of Possession 36:13 23:47

Individual Statistics

Rushing • Dallas, Randle 19-65, Harris 1-6, Romo 4-2, Tanner 2-1. Philadelphia, McCoy 18-55, Foles 3-25, Brown 2-4.

Passing • Dallas, Romo 28-47-2-317. Philadelphia, Barkley 11-20-3-129, Foles 11-29-0-80.

Receiving • Dallas, Bryant 8-110, Williams 6-71, Beasley 6-53, Witten 4-48, Randle 3-28, Tanner 1-7. Philadelphia, Cooper 6-88, McCoy 6-26, Ertz 3-33, Avant 3-32, Jackson 3-21, Celek 1-9.

Missed Field Goals • Philadelphia, Henery 60 (WL).