TEXAS MOST: Jason Witten (left) glad-hands Brandon Carr after his interception in overtime set up the winning field goal in a 27-24 triumph over the Steelers yesterday. The Cowboys grabbed a three-way share with the Giants and Redskins for the NFC East lead. (AP)
ARLINGTON, Texas — In case the Giants were wondering, the Cowboys aren’t going away, either.
Dallas kept pace with the surging Redskins while knocking Big Blue into a three-way tie atop the NFC East yesterday with yet another “How’d they do that?” victory, this one in overtime by a 27-24 count over the injury-riddled Steelers.
Brandon Carr’s 25-yard return of a Ben Roethlisberger interception on the second play of overtime set up a chip-shot field goal by Dan Bailey to win it and wrap the East into an 8-6 knot with two games left.
The Cowboys, who also did the Jets a favor by cutting into 7-7 Pittsburgh’s thinning playoff hopes, had heads scratching around the NFL once again with their fourth improbable comeback win in the past five weeks.
“We just believe,” said Carr, who jumped an out route for Mike Wallace in front of the Pittsburgh sideline and returned it to the 1-yard line. “This whole season so far has been a roller coaster, but we know what type of football team we are and we’re just going to stay together and keep fighting.”
Nobody exemplified that for Dallas more than wideout Dez Bryant, who finished with four catches for 59 yards and a score, despite playing with a broken finger owner Jerry Jones said could require a surgical graft after the season.
“We just don’t quit,” Bryant said. “When you look in this locker room and look at the players, if we’re down, you never get the sense that anyone is about to quit.”
Against the emotional backdrop of their first home game since the death of practice-squadder Jerry Brown in a DUI crash caused by defensive tackle Josh Brent — who was controversially on the Dallas sideline yesterday — the Cowboys created many of their own obstacles but still overcame all of them.
Dallas went against type by actually jumping out to a 10-0 lead — the Cowboys had trailed by at least 10 points in five of their previous six home games — then rallied furiously late after giving that advantage away in the second half.
The Steelers, who have been ravaged by injuries on both sides of the ball all season, also did their part with two pivotal mistakes in the fourth quarter and OT.
Roethlisberger’s underthrown interception in the extra session proved decisive, of course, but a fumbled punt by wide receiver Antonio Brown near midfield early in the fourth while clinging to a 24-17 lead was the turning point in the Steelers’ second straight loss.
The Cowboys converted that into a DeMarco Murray TD run to tie the game, then Carr — their high-priced offseason free-agent acquisition from the Chiefs — came through in OT with the dramatic interception.
“I feel like I lost this game, absolutely, 100 percent,” Roethlisberger said despite finishing 24-for-40 for 339 yards with two TDs in the face of four sacks and a relentless rush. “This is on me. I let the team, the fans and everybody down.”
Carr, who credited the pick in part to knowing the tendencies of Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley from their time in Kansas City, also provided more redemption for Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.
Ridiculed for his late-game tactical mistakes and clock management, Garrett is now 5-1 since his job appeared to be in jeopardy when news broke that Saints coach Sean Payton could be a free agent after the season.
“My hat’s off to him, and I give Jason a lot of credit for how we’re playing right now,” Jones said in the middle of a jubilant postgame locker room. “And I don’t say that tongue-in-cheek.”
Jones also said the Cowboys were buoyed before the game even started by news of the Giants’ 34-0 drubbing at the hands of the Falcons — a development that let Jones’ team know opportunity awaited.
“We were all aware of [the Giants’ loss],” Jones said. “You can look at how the Giants played at the end of last year and how they took it all the way. It’s not unrealistic to think that same thing can happen to you.”