updated 2:05 a.m. ET Oct. 30, 2006

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Tony Romo found a way to put a smile back on Dallas coach Bill Parcells’ face.

Romo rallied the Cowboys from a 14-point first-quarter deficit, throwing for 270 yards and a touchdown, and Julius Jones ran for 94 yards and a score to help the Cowboys beat the Carolina Panthers 35-14 Sunday night. The Cowboys set a team record with 25 fourth-quarter points.

“He’s a guy who’s been miserable all week,” said receiver Terrell Owens, Romo’s top target with nine catches for 107 yards. “I asked him coming off the field on Friday, I asked him how it was going and he said he doesn’t like to get his butt kicked. As a team, we’re tired of losing, we know we have a decent team. We just have to go out and play like it.”

Romo, starting in place of the benched Drew Bledsoe, showed poise in slowly leading the Cowboys (4-3) back, using a variety of short passes to different receivers.

Early in the fourth quarter, facing a third-and-12 from the Carolina 21, Romo sidestepped pressure and fired a 16-yard pass to Jason Witten. But the drive stalled when Romo misfired to Witten in the end zone on third down, and Mike Vanderjagt kicked a 24-yard field goal to cut the Panthers’ lead to 14-13.

On the ensuing kickoff, Sam Hurd ripped the ball from Brad Hoover and recovered the fumble at the Carolina 14. On the next play, Jones ran untouched up the middle for the touchdown. The Cowboys added the 2-point conversion when Romo faked a draw and threw a pass to Owens to make it 21-14.

“It’s been tough, you never know, the change that we made at quarterback,” Romo said. “You never know what you’re going to get ... with a new starter who is untested. I was anxious just like Bill was to see what we were going to do out their tonight.”

Owens was impressed by Romo’s poise.

“Tony gives us a different change of pace,” Owens said. “He gets the ball out quick and he gave us some chances. Everybody came up with some big plays today. Jason Witten played tremendous over the middle.”

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Dallas sealed the win when Roy Williams intercepted Jake Delhomme’s throw on Carolina’s possession after Jones’ touchdown. Delhomme lost another fumble with under 2 minutes to go, Carolina’s third turnover in the fourth quarter.

“This is about as poor of a performance in the fourth quarter that I have been associated with,” coach John Fox said. “I apologize for all the people who paid for tickets.”

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Marion Barber had touchdown runs of 3 and 14 yards late as Parcells won a game after trailing by 14 points in the first quarter for only the second time in his career. The victory justified his decision to sit Bledsoe and end his streak of 70 consecutive starts. Bledsoe paced the sideline for most of the game, wearing a visor and occasionally glancing down at the play chart on his wrist, while applauding Romo’s performance.

“Drew actually came up to me before the game (and) said he was rooting for me,” Romo said. “Drew’s a really, really class act. He’s a very pleasant guy, and I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Drew.”

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