Dallas Cowboys beat Oakland Raiders 31-24

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ARLINGTON, Texas — The Raiders gave up control of the game late in the first half and saw the Dallas Cowboys dominate the second half of a 31-24 Thanksgiving Day loss before 87,572 fans at AT&T Stadium.

The Raiders, 4-8, can do no better than .500 this season and will be hard-pressed to get anywhere near that with two road games against the New York Jets and San Diego Chargers and home contests against Denver and Kansas City.

It will be the 11th consecutive season at .500 or below since winning the AFC championship in 2002.

Dallas, 7-5, is a half-game ahead of Philadelphia in the NFC East with quarterback Tony Romo and a surprisingly potent running game seizing the second half.

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten (82) is tackled by Oakland Raiders cornerback Tracy Porter (23) during the first half of an NFL football game Nov. 28, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (Tim Sharp/AP)

Raiders quarterback Matt McGloin had his moments during two Raiders scoring drives, but had two key turnovers _ a lost fumble deep in Oakland territory that led to a Dallas touchdown, and a Brandon Carr end zone interception with the Raiders at the Dallas 20-yard line on third-and-9 in the fourth quarter.

Oakland scored 12 seconds into the game on a 23-yard fumble return by Greg Jenkins of a Terrance Williams fumble and on two 1-yard runs by Rashad Jennings.

The Cowboys had touchdown runs of 2, 4 and 7 yards by DeMarco Murray and a 4-yard touchdown pass from Romo to Dez Bryant.

The Cowboys went ahead for good on Murray’s 7-yard run with 14:20 left to cap a 65-yard drive and Dan Bailey’s 19-yard field goal with 1:56 left put the game away.

Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 45-yard field goal with 35 seconds left to put the Raiders within 31-24, but the Raiders failed to recover a short onside kick as Dallas ran out the clock.

Probably the biggest momentum swing for the Cowboys came in the aftermath of the Raiders’ high point.

When Jennings scored from the 1 with 1:56 to play, it finished a 50-yard, 12-play drive and put the Raiders up 21-7.

From that point, it was all Romo, who completed 5 of 7 passes for 71 yards of a 73-yard scoring drive, with Murray scoring on a 4-yard run to tie the score with 10 seconds left in the half.

It went a long way toward undoing the good that had been done by consecutive Raiders scoring drives during which McGloin converted five third-down pass attempts for 81 yards and five first downs.

In the third quarter, undrafted free agent running back Lance Dunbar rushed for 78 yards on seven carries and the Cowboys tied the score on the 4-yard Romo to Bryant touchdown with 6:03 left in the quarter.

Wide receiver Andre Holmes had a breakout game for the Raiders with seven receptions for 136 yards.

The Raiders finish the season 0-4 against NFC teams and are 0-8 in two seasons with Dennis Allen as coach. It was also the Raiders’ eighth consecutive loss against a team with a winning record, dating back to a 25-20 win over the Chicago Bears dating back to Nov. 27, 2011.