ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons keep finding ways to win games. The Dallas Cowboys keep finding ways to lose them.
The Falcons did it with defense Sunday night, holding Tony Romo and the Cowboys in check en route to a 19-13 victory at the Georgia Dome.
Atlanta (8-0) is the only undefeated team in the NFL. Dallas (3-5) is reeling, having lost four of five.
Michael Turner scored Atlanta’s lone touchdown, a 3-yard run that gave the Falcons their first lead, 13-6, early in the fourth quarter. Four Matt Bryant field goals accounted for Atlanta’s other points.
Romo tried to mount a fourth-quarter comeback. He hooked up with Kevin Ogletree on a 21-yard touchdown pass to cut the Falcons’ lead to three with five minutes to play.
However, Atlanta converted three third downs on its ensuing drive and forced Dallas to burn all of its timeouts before Bryant nailed his fourth field goal with 17 seconds to play.
“There’s so many different ways to win football games,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “You’re going to have win games a lot of different ways because this league is so close.”
Roddy White caught seven passes for 118 yards and became the Falcons’ all-time leader in receptions. Teammate Julio Jones added 129 receiving yards on five catches, and Matt Ryan threw for 342 yards. The Atlanta quarterback went 24-for-34 with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
Turner finished with 102 yards on the ground, 92 coming in the second half.
“We knew we had to run the football,” Smith said. “Believe it or not, even though the statistics didn’t show in the first half, we felt like we were very close. We knew if we could get it to the second level, our wide receivers were doing a great job of blocking downfield.”
Romo finished with 321 yards passing. He completed 25 of 35 with one touchdown and no interceptions, but he was unsatisfied. He also said that he hurt his back late in the game.
“I tweaked it a little bit on the last play,” Romo said. “I’ll be all right. I just strained it.”
Jason Witten broke Michael Irvin’s franchise record for receptions with his fourth catch of the game.
In an even first half, neither team could find the end zone. Dallas made more big plays, with a 65-yard Ogletree reception and a spinning, 37-yard punt return by Dwayne Harris leading to two Dan Bailey field goals.
DeMarcus Ware blindsided Ryan on a second-quarter sack. The Cowboys held the Falcons to only 23 yards rushing in the first half.
Atlanta’s defense came up with its own key moments before halftime. Cornerback Asante Samuel knocked away what looked like a certain touchdown catch by Dez Bryant, and the Falcons forced Dallas to settle for field goals on two drives inside the 20-yard line.
The Cowboys, playing without starting running back DeMarco Murray, finished the night with just 65 yards on the ground.
“We left some opportunities out there tonight,” Romo said. “When you go up against a good football team like that, who does a lot of things well, that put themselves in good positions, you can’t really make the mistakes that will cost you the game.”
The Falcons held on a third-and-1 at midfield late in the first half, then took over at their own 12-yard line after a punt. Atlanta capitalized with a last-minute drive that culminated in a 46-yard Bryant field goal, tying the game 6-6 at halftime.
Bryant made a 45-yarder early in the second quarter. The veteran kicker also missed two attempts.
The Cowboys play the Eagles in Philadelphia next week, while the Falcons head to New Orleans for their first shot at the Saints this season.
NOTES: White’s fourth catch of the game was the 574th of his career, passing the franchise record held by Terance Mathis, who played for Atlanta from 1994-2001. … Irvin had 750 career catches for Dallas from 1988-99. Witten ended the night with 754 receptions. “I’m tremendously humbled,” Witten said, according to ESPNDallas.com. “From Day 1 when I came in here as a 20-year-old kid, I was just trying to do better each time I got an opportunity. To pass Michael and what he stood for and how he worked and obviously the player that he was, I mean, that’s special for me.” … Falcons linebacker Sean Witherspoon was inactive. Mike Peterson started in his place. … Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray missed his third consecutive game with a sprained foot. Felix Jones started in his place. … Romo’s record in November fell to 19-3 with the loss. … Falcons defensive end Peria Jerry left in the first half with a knee injury. … NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was in attendance. … The paid attendance was 70,840.