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With two games left in the regular season, Bill Parcells wants to make sure his team is fresh for the stretch run, so he's giving his team off until Wednesday.

"I want them to get away from football," Parcells said. "The coaches won't [be off]."

Said Tony Romo: "I think it's needed. It's a long season. Sometimes people forget training camp and preseason. You've got 20 games you're playing. It'll be good for the guys to get some rest."

— Todd Archer

On Jan. 30, 1994, the Cowboys beat Buffalo, 30-13, at the Georgia Dome to win Super Bowl XXVIII, the second of three titles they have won under owner Jerry Jones.

	Cowboys 38, Falcons 28
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On Saturday, the Cowboys merely moved closer to a playoff spot, but the victory was almost as meaningful to Jones.

"If you take the way we played last week ... then this team came back on a short week and won," Jones said. "And then you take getting up and getting behind and coming out on top, it really is big."

— Todd Archer

With five catches for 56 yards, Jason Witten joined Jay Novacek as the only tight ends in team history to have three straight 50-catch seasons.

Witten has 54 catches for 642 yards on the season. Novacek's streak spanned the 1990 to 1992 seasons.

— Todd Archer

Morten Andersen became the NFL's all-time leading scorer when a second-quarter point after attempt gave him 2,435 points for his career.

Andersen, 46, was mobbed by his teammates and was given the football. On the sideline, he switched jerseys. Former Minnesota kicker Gary Anderson held the record with 2,434 points.

— Todd Archer

Julius Jones may have become the first Cowboys player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since 2001, but it was Marion Barber who stole the show Saturday with two touchdowns and 69 yards on 11 carries.

VERNON BRYANT / DMN Julius Jones (21) tries to run through the grasp of Falcons linebacker Michael Boley.

"I kind of do the grunt work and he gets in there on third downs and gets it done," Jones said. "He's been very productive this year. He's been good for us, and hopefully we can keep this little combination going."

— Todd Archer

Cowboys right tackle Marc Colombo and Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall had a long night.

After a Julius Jones run in the first half, Hall jumped up and was about to land in the pile, before Colombo knocked him to the ground.

In the third quarter, Colombo and Hall exchanged shoves after an extra-point attempt that gave the Cowboys a 31-28 lead. Atlanta's Paul Carrington also was involved, and Colombo and Carrington were called for personal fouls.

"Guys just having fun," Colombo said.

— Calvin Watkins

The Cowboys' carousel at free safety continued Saturday when rookie Patrick Watkins started for the first time since Oct. 23 vs. the New York Giants.

Watkins finished with two tackles and had his second interception of the season.

"I don't ask questions," Watkins said. "I just do what they tell me. I think starting early in the season really helped me this time around because I was able to not make some of the same mistakes I did in earlier games."

Keith Davis had started the last six games. Watkins started the first six games of the season and had 30 tackles, two forced fumbles and three pass deflections but he allowed several big plays.

Tony Parrish, picked up off waivers from San Francisco last week, did not make the trip for the Cowboys.

— Todd Archer

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones and his family arrived roughly two hours before Saturday's kickoff after attending the memorial service for Kansas City owner and Highland Park neighbor Lamar Hunt earlier in the day at Moody Coliseum.

The Joneses received a police escort from the airport to the Georgia Dome. Cowboys public relations director Rich Dalrymple said it was the closest Jones had come to missing a kickoff since purchasing the team.

— Todd Archer

The last time Michael Vick was in the Georgia Dome, he was booed, prompting him to make an obscene gesture toward the crowd as he walked off the field.

In his first home game since the incident, Vick completed 16 of 24 passes for 237 yards, and he tied a career-high with four touchdown passes against the Cowboys.

He also rushed eight times for 56 yards, setting a single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 990 on 116 attempts. He surpassed Chicago's Bobby Douglass, who rushed for 968 yards on 141 attempts in 1972.

Any celebration was tempered, however, as Vick suffered a groin injury.

"We will have to wait and see," Vick said of the injury. "I felt a pain I have never felt before. It was a sharp pain. I will go see the doctors now and see what they have to say."

— Calvin Watkins

Warrick Dunn, the Falcons' leading rusher, managed to play Saturday despite a calf injury, surpassing 1,000 yards for the season on his third carry of the game – a 3-yard pickup.

It's the third straight year, and fifth time in his career, that Dunn has rushed for 1,000 yards in a season. He finished Saturday's game with 56 yards on 18 carries.

Rookie running back Jerious Norwood, who averages 6.5 yards per carry, was inactive because of a knee injury. Jamal Robertson served as the backup for Dunn.

— Todd Archer

Rookie linebacker Bobby Carpenter recorded the first 1½ sacks of his career. He combined with DeMarcus Ware for one stop, and he brought down Michael Vick for a 4-yard loss in the fourth quarter. ... Cornerback Jacques Reeves dislocated his left elbow in the first half and did not return. Reeves wasn't sure of his long-term status. ...

For the second time this season, the Cowboys did not dress eight linebackers. Junior Glymph was listed as inactive so cornerback Jacques Reeves could play. Oliver Hoyte did not make the trip, leaving Lousaka Polite as the only fullback. ... Left tackle Flozell Adams left the game with an injury in the third quarter but missed only one play. He said he was fine after the game. ... Former Cowboy Deion Sanders helped take over analyst duties for the NFL Network's broadcast after Dick Vermeil struggled with his voice in the first half.

— Todd Archer, Calvin Watkins

— Calvin Watkins