Tony Romo guided touchdown drives on his first four possessions, throwing for the score on three of them, and Terence Newman returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown, leading the Dallas Cowboys to a 44-7 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

The Cowboys (5-4) have won consecutive games and could be at the start of a big surge. Their next three opponents went into this weekend a combined 6-18.

Romo completed his first 13 passes, including touchdown strikes of 34 yards to Dez Bryant and of 58 and 5 yards to Laurent Robinson. Romo finished 23 of 26, setting the franchise record for single-game accuracy by hitting on 88.5 percent of his passes.

The 37-point margin of victory was the biggest for Dallas since Oct. 22, 2000. The Cowboys hadn’t scored this many points since Sept. 9, 2007.

Buffalo (5-4) lost its second in a row.

Chris Johnson ran for a season-high 130 yards and one touchdown, and the Tennessee Titans used a stifling defense to frustrate rookie Cam Newton in a 30-3 rout of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

The Titans (5-4) sacked Newton five times and took away the Panthers’ vertical passing game. Carolina (2-7) came in ranked fifth in the NFL on offense and first in plays of 20-plus yards, but Tennessee limited Newton to 209 passing yards and held Steve Smith’s, the NFC’s leading receiver, to 33 yards.

Johnson had 174 yards from scrimmage and eclipsed 100 rushing yards for the first time since Oct. 2. Marc Mariani returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown, and Matt Hasselbeck threw a 43-yard TD pass to Damian Williams, who finished with 107 receiving yards.

John Kasay kicked a 26-yard field goal in overtime to give the New Orleans Saints a 26-23 victory after Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith decided to go for it on fourth down deep in his own territory Sunday.

The Falcons (5-4) rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final 4½ minutes of regulation, tying it on Matt Bryant‘s 27-yard field goal on the final play of the fourth quarter.

Atlanta appeared to pick up a first down on a pass to Mike Cox, but it was ruled just short after referee Terry McAuley looked at the replay. Then, stunningly, Smith decided to go for it on fourth down from his own 29.

Michael Turner was stuffed, and Kasay kicked the winning field goal for the Saints (7-3).

Carson Palmer threw two touchdown passes and Michael Bush ran 30 times for a season-high 157 yards and one touchdown to lead the Oakland Raiders to a 24-17 win over San Diego on Thursday night, the Chargers’ fourth straight loss.

The Raiders (5-4) broke a two-game losing streak and took a half-game lead over the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.

Palmer looked much better in making his second start and third appearance since being acquired in a trade with Cincinnati, throwing touchdown passes of 33 and 26 yards to Denarius Moore. He’d been semi-retired and living in Del Mar, just north of San Diego, before being traded. Palmer was 14 for 20 for 299 yards, with one interception.

The Chargers (4-5) looked dismal most of the night and lost left tackle Marcus McNeill, right guard Louis Vasquez and linebacker Takeo Spikes to injuries.