Dallas flies by Falcons

Fresh off their bye week, the Dallas Cowboys warmed up in the second quarter before taking care of business against the Atlanta Falcons Sunday.

Miles Austin caught six passes for 171 yards and a touchdown Sunday afternoon to help lead the Cowboys past the Falcons, 37-21 at Cowboys Stadium.

With the win Dallas claimed its second consecutive victory for the first time since winning two straight in weeks 12 and 13 of the 2008 season.

"He's definitely a big part of this offense," Romo said of his new starting wide receiver, Miles Austin. "I'm glad to see all his hard work and effort is paying off."

In his last two games, Austin has now totaled 421 receiving yards - the most in two consecutive games by a Cowboys pass catcher in team history.

Romo finished 21-of-29 for 311 yards and three touchdowns in the win. His biggest play came right at the end of the first half when from second-and-goal from the 5 he eluded three defenders, popped up and threw a touchdown pass to Crayton that stretched the lead to 17-7 at halftime.

Had he taken the sack, time would've run out without Dallas getting any points because the Cowboys were out of timeouts.

The Falcons came in 4-1, matching the best start in franchise history, but former Falcons star Keith Brooking, DeMarcus Ware and the rest of the Dallas defense pestered second year man Matt Ryan into four sacks, two interceptions and two fumbles.

He only lost one, and on the very next play Romo hit the long TD pass to Austin, which put the Cowboys ahead for good just before halftime.

Patrick Crayton, who was benched in favor of Austin during the bye week, returned a Michael Koenen punt 73 yards for a touchdown, his first career punt return for a touchdown.

It was the first punt return for a touchdown for Dallas since Terence Newman returned one 56 yards for a score against Detroit (12/31/06). It was also the longest punt return by a Cowboys player since Deion Sanders returned one 76 yards at Indianapolis (10/31/99).

NOTES: The win gave Dallas its fifth consecutive win following a bye, upped its record after a bye to 16-5 overall and 7-1 at home. ... Romo threw for 311 yards, upping his club record to 19 career 300-yard outings. The club is now 16-3 when Romo throws for 300-or-more yards.