On Wednesday, Tony Romo confirmed that he is dating American Idol star Carrie Underwood. He denied dating Jessica Simpson. ?That one is true,? Romo said of Underwood.

Terrell Owens is 0-for-2 against the Eagles. That's the least of his problems. While he wore a Cowboys-branded Santa hat on his head, Owens certainly wasn't joyful Christmas night. His frustration was evident after a 23-7 loss, when he scored the only Dallas touchdown, then complained several times that not enough passes are coming his way.

The Eagles were supposed to get buried by December road games against all three division foes, especially with retread backup Jeff Garcia running the offense. Turns out, that challenge was exactly what they needed to grab control of the NFC East. After close calls in Washington and New York, Garcia and the Philadelphia defense made it a clean sweep with a surprisingly easy 23-7 victory over Dallas on Monday.

The Cowboys can clinch their first NFC East title under coach Bill Parcells with a win over the Eagles on Monday. But the focus will likely shift to Terrell Owens facing his former team for the second time this season. Owens was booed lustily by the Philadelphia fans and caught just three passes for 45 yards in the Cowboys' loss to the Eagles on October 9. The temperamental wide receiver often threw his hands up in disgust and vented his frustration to teammates and coaches on the sidelines during the game.

After Terrell Owens spit in DeAngelo Hall's face in Saturday night's game, Hall insisted he'd have nothing to do with the Dallas receiver. Owens, who was fined $35,000 by the NFL, kept trying to contact Hall, the Falcons' star cornerback. Former Atlanta and Dallas player Deion Sanders finally convinced Hall to take a three-way telephone call on Monday. "We had a pretty good conversation," Hall said Wednesday. "As far as I'm concerned, it's over. We got it all out, cleared it all out. It's over."

Terrell Owens has 35,000 reasons to never spit at an opponent again. T.O. was fined $35,000 by the NFL on Monday for spitting in the face of Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall during Saturday night's Cowboys-Falcons game.

Mercurial receiver Terrell Owens faces a hefty fine from the NFL after spitting in the face of Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall early in the Dallas Cowboys? 38-28 victory over the Falcons Saturday night in the Georgia Dome. "I lost all respect for the guy," Hall said. "We were kind of walking face to face, walking back to the huddle, and he just hauled off and spit in my face. Owens confessed to the dirty deed in an interview after the game with the NFL Network. "I got frustrated and I apologize for that," Owens said. "It was a situation where he kept bugging me and getting in my face. He kept aggravating me."

Terrell Owens acknowledged spitting in the face of Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall during the first quarter of Saturday night's game in Atlanta. Hall, during postgame comments with reporters, accused the Cowboys wideout of spitting at him. "I lost all respect for the guy," Hall said of Owens. "That's the No. 1 thing in the National Football League. You don't spit in another grown man's face. Hopefully, the NFL can see it and go back and watch the film right just before the first punt. On third down, we were kind of walking face to face, walking back to the huddle and he just hauled off and spit in my face." Owens, who scored two touchdowns in Dallas' 38-28 win, then appeared on a postgame TV interview and owned up to the charge. "I got frustrated and I apologized for that," Owens said on the set of the NFL Network's postgame show. "It was a situation where ... he just kept bugging me ... he kept getting in my face... he just kept aggravating me," the receiver said of Hall.

Terrell Owens hauled in a couple of touchdown passes, Marion Barber scored on two punishing runs and the Cowboys protected their NFC East lead with a 38-28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Dallas (9-5) bounced back from a 42-17 home loss to New Orleans to bolster its playoff hopes. It was a devastating defeat for the Falcons (7-7), who had climbed back into the NFC wild-card race with two straight wins and overcame an early 14-0 deficit in this one.

Former Cowboys QB Quincy Carter was arrested Friday on marijuana possession charges at the home of a woman who called police saying Carter had been "throwing things around." Carter was booked in lieu of $500 bond and was released Friday afternoon, Irving police spokesman David Tull said. His bond was paid by Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Randy Galloway, host of the sports-talk show "Galloway and Company" on ESPN 103.3 FM radio in Dallas.