Romo’s dating hurting rating?

The next time Tony Romo wants to invite the superstar singer he’s dating to Texas Stadium for a game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, he should reconsider.

On Sunday, current flame Jessica Simpson was in a luxury suite wearing a pink Cowboys jersey with Romo’s No. 9 on it, and the Cowboys lost, 10-6. Under the “Jessica Jinx,” Romo completed 13 of 36 passes for 214 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions for a 22.2 rating -- the lowest single-game rating of his career.

He also bruised the thumb area on his throwing hand, though X-rays showed no break, as Dallas (12-2) fell into a tie with the Green Bay Packers for the NFC’s best record.

Romo’s previous low rating came last Christmas when the Eagles defeated the Cowboys, 23-7, in front of then-girlfriend Carrie Underwood. The “Carrie Curse” led Romo to pass for a career-low 142 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for a 45.5 rating.

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Home sweet road

The St. Louis Rams have had three games blacked out on local television because they did not sell out.

That wasn’t a problem in a 33-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers, thanks to a multitude of Packers fans who filled the Edward Jones Dome.

“It’s a joke,” Rams running back Steven Jackson said. “The whole first level is Green Bay Packers fans. It’s a joke. We were at Lambeau Field.”

The Rams are 1-6 at home with their home finale set for Thursday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The last time the Rams had only one home victory in a season was 1982, when they played at Anaheim Stadium.

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Everything’s not lost

The team to beat in the NFC South in 2008 is the Atlanta Falcons.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers clinched the division title with a 37-3 victory over the Falcons, marking the fifth consecutive season that the division winner was the team that finished last the year before.

Atlanta clinched last place with the loss.

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Bubble burst

The New York Giants’ practice bubble collapsed Sunday morning after strong winds blew down a set of revolving doors and let the air out.

No one was inside, and no one was hurt. The bubble should be back in operation no later than Thursday.

It was the third time in four years that the bubble has collapsed because of severe weather.

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Winter wonderland

It was a perfect day to build snowmen, so the Cleveland Browns put one up on the scoreboard when they defeated the Buffalo Bills, 8-0, in blizzard-like conditions in Cleveland.

And if the score seems unusual, it was.

It was the first 8-0 game in the NFL since the Chicago Cardinals defeated the Minneapolis Red Jackets on Nov. 10, 1929.

The Bills’ charter flight to Buffalo was canceled because of the nasty weather, and the team planned to spend Sunday night in Cleveland before heading home.

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Finishing school

The Oakland Raiders held a lead over the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts with less than five minutes to play and had not given up an offensive touchdown until Peyton Manning connected with Anthony Gonzalez for the winning score with 4 minutes 49 seconds remaining.

But there is no such thing as a moral victory when the team motto is “Just win, baby.”

“Who cares? We lost,” Raiders Coach Lane Kiffin said. “We’ve got to start winning these games. Someday we’ll be that team that makes the plays and finishes people off like that.”

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Rushing ahead

Every week, it seems, LaDainian Tomlinson is hitting new milestones.

He had 116 yards rushing and two touchdowns in a 51-14 victory over the Detroit Lions and moved past Eddie George and Tiki Barber into 19th place on the career rushing list with 10,487 yards.

The two touchdowns gave him 127, moving him past Jim Brown (126) for sixth place all-time. And he increased his season rushing total to 1,236 yards to join Eric Dickerson as the only players in NFL history to rush for more than 1,200 yards in each of their first seven seasons.

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Milestones

Jason Witten of the Cowboys caught eight passes for 113 yards against the Eagles and became the first Dallas tight end to go over 1,000 yards receiving in a season. . . . Tampa Bay’s Earnest Graham scored a touchdown rushing for the sixth consecutive game to set a team record. . . . Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor had 147 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the first opposing back to run for 100 yards in Pittsburgh since Cincinnati’s Rudi Johnson on Oct. 3, 2004 -- a streak of 30 games. . . . San Diego Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie broke a 46-year-old team record with his league-leading 10th interception of the season.

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Monday preview

The Minnesota Vikings (7-6) take a four-game win streak into their home game against the Chicago Bears (5-8). The Vikings would claim a playoff berth if they win their final three games. The Bears have lost three of their last four games.

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Injury report

New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey broke his left leg in the third quarter against the Washington Redskins and is probably out for the season. . . . Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis dislocated a finger against the Miami Dolphins and did not return. . . . Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller left the game because of a concussion and did not return. . . . New York Jets quarterback Kellen Clemens injured a rib against New England and will be evaluated this week. . . . Oakland Raiders running back Justin Fargas left in the fourth quarter against Indianapolis with what he described as a sprained knee ligament and will undergo an MRI exam today. . . . Philadelphia Eagles tight end Matt Schobel suffered a concussion on the opening series against Dallas and didn’t return.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Girl problems

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has posted the two lowest single-game ratings of his career at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. Both games took place soon after he began dating a star entertainer, each of whom happened to be watching from a luxury suite:

*--* DATE GIRLFRIEND CMP-ATT YDS TD INT RATING RESULT Dec. 25, 2006 Carrie Underwood 14-29 142 1 2 45.5 L 23-7 Dec. 16, 2007 Jessica Simpson 13-36 214 0 3 22.2 L 10-6 *--*

Los Angeles Times