(Reuters) - Robert Griffin III tossed four touchdowns for the second straight game to lead the surging Washington Redskins to a 38-31 road win over the fading Dallas Cowboys on Thursday.
Griffin put on a Thanksgiving Day clinic, completing 20-of-28 passes for 311 yards with touchdowns to Aldrick Robinson, Santana Moss, Pierre Garcon and Niles Paul, matching the four scores he threw in Sunday's win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Tony Romo had his biggest day as a Dallas quarterback, tossing for a career-high 441 yards and three touchdowns, but also had two costly interceptions that helped put the Cowboys in a hole they could not escape.
"It's disappointing," Romo told reporters. "They got after us pretty good and we had to work our way back the whole game and obviously fell short.
"We have to find ways to do things better. We need to play better.
"It's just not going to be a fun few days now. I'm exhausting my brain thinking of things to do to help us get off to better starts and move the ball better."
Washington's victory pulled them level with the Cowboys at 5-6 for the season but more importantly left them just one game back of the NFC East-leading New York Giants, who play the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Dallas accounted for all the scoring in the opening quarter on a Dan Bailey 30-yard field goal before the Redskins exploded for 28 points in the second, including three touchdown passes from Griffin.
The Redskins rookie quarterback, who played his college football in Texas, made himself right at home in Dallas, hooking up with a wide-open Robinson on a 68-yard bomb.
On the Cowboys' next possession, Dez Bryant fumbled and seven plays later, the Redskins were back in the end zone, Alfred Morris driving over from the one to put Washington up 14-3.
DALLAS BOO-BOYS
Griffin continued to shred the Dallas secondary, connecting with Garcon on a 59-yard touchdown before completing a spectacular quarter by converting a Romo interception into a six-yard strike to Moss for a 28-3 lead.
After being booed off the field, the Cowboys came out of the break determined to get back into the contest, Bailey landing a 33-yard field goal before Romo hooked up with Bryant on a career-long 85-yard touchdown pass to trim the deficit to 28-13.
In the fourth quarter, Griffin took the steam out of the Dallas rally when he found a wide-open Paul with a 29-yard touchdown pass.
The Cowboys, however, refused to wave the white flag, Romo finding Felix Jones for a touchdown, then diving across for a two-point conversion to make the score 35-21.
After a near-perfect afternoon, Griffin made his first miscue by throwing an interception and Romo quickly made the Redskins pay by finding a diving Bryant in the end zone to make it a one-score game at 35-28 with eight minutes remaining.
Redskins' Kai Forbath booted a 48-yard field goal to restore Washington's 10-point advantage while Bailey answered with a 51-yarder to pull Dallas back within a touchdown with 18 seconds on the clock.
The Cowboys, however, would get no closer as Washington recovered the on-side kick attempt and ran out the clock for the win.
"Their quarterback is obviously a really good player and they use him really well," Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said.
"It was challenging for us to slow those guys down and we didn't do enough on offence to keep up with them in the first half.
"Our team responded well in the second half to get us back in the ball game but it wasn't enough to beat that team."
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by John O'Brien)