LANDOVER, Md. — A perfect day for the Washington Redskins would include a complete, start-to-finish, no-let-up humiliation of the Dallas Cowboys. Make it a game that puts the playoffs within serious reach, and you've got sheer nirvana.

From the raucous pregame chants of "We Want Dallas" to the seven sacks, four turnovers and four touchdown passes, the celebration never stopped in yesterday's 35-7 blowout, Washington's most one-sided victory in the 45-year history of the rivalry.

"We've got a lot of Dallas fans, even in D.C.," Washington defensive end Renaldo Wynn said. "I've been here four years, and I've just been getting sick and tired of hearing about it, what they're going to do. So you don't even know how enjoyable it was for us to get this win and get a sweep. It hadn't happened since '95. It's unbelievable. It's something I'll definitely remember."

The Cowboys' first play from scrimmage was a pass tipped by Phillip Daniels and intercepted by Cornelius Griffin. The rest of the game was more of the same. Daniels finished with four sacks and a fumble recovery, Marcus Washington had two sacks, an interception and a forced fumble, Chris Cooley caught three of Mark Brunell's four touchdown passes, and Clinton Portis ran for 112 yards.

"It was one of those nights where everything went our way," coach Joe Gibbs said.

The score was 28-0 at halftime, with the Redskins scoring on drives of four, eight, two and two plays. They capitalized off two interceptions, a bad punt and a long pass to Santana Moss that brought back memories of his two fourth-quarter touchdown catches in the stunning 14-13 win over the Cowboys on a Monday night in Week 2.

"People kept saying it was a fluke that first game," Daniels said. "I think we showed today it was no fluke."

Washington's third straight victory left the Redskins (8-6) and Cowboys (8-6) two games behind the New York Giants in the NFC East, but the Redskins hold the tiebreaker because of their first Dallas sweep in 10 years.

Washington's 8-2 conference record also puts it in position for a wild-card berth and its first postseason appearance since 1999.

"They just outplayed us in every area," Dallas coach Bill Parcells said in a terse postgame briefing. "We had really no chance to win the game. ... We just lost our poise and played very, very poorly."

Washington's victory came with a price. Right guard Randy Thomas, the team's most consistent lineman and the lead blocker on many of Portis' wide runs, is lost for the season after breaking a bone in his lower leg in the fourth quarter.

Dallas also had its right guard, Marco Rivera, carted off in the fourth quarter with a strained neck after landing on his head during a running play. He was to be re-evaluated overnight in a local hospital.

"He has movement and feeling," Cowboys spokesman Brett Daniels said.

BEARS 16, FALCONS 3

CHICAGO — Rex Grossman had waited a long time for this — nearly 15 months — so he was surprised and thrilled when the call finally came.

After replacing the struggling rookie Kyle Orton in the third quarter, Grossman warmed the crowd and then the offense as Chicago (10-4) defeated Atlanta (8-6).

"To finally be back and have crowd support like that is not really something you can explain unless you have the experience yourself," said Grossman, who broke his left ankle in the preseason.

Grossman was 9 of 16 for 93 yards with an interception. It was plenty, though, with Thomas Jones rushing for 91 yards and a touchdown, and Brian Urlacher making 11 solo tackles and batting a pass.

Bears coach Lovie Smith praised Grossman but stopped short of naming him the starter for next week's game at Green Bay.

"I just felt like we needed a spark," Smith said. "Rex was ready to go. He had that look about him."

PANTHERS 27, SAINTS 10

BATON ROUGE, La. — Former New Orleans backup Jake Delhomme led Carolina (10-4) back into first place in the NFC South, throwing for a touchdown and running for another to help beat the Saints (3-11).

Throwing only as much as he needed to, Delhomme was 13 of 22 for 176 yards as he relied on a solid running game to control the clock. Carolina rushed for 161 yards, with DeShaun Foster running for a team-leading 75 yards.

"Jake's been excellent for us," Carolina coach John Fox said. "He's got us to where we're now 10-4. Jake's had a whole lot to do with that."

Delhomme's fourth victory against his former team came in the same week the Saints benched quarterback Aaron Brooks after 82 straight starts. His replacement, seldom-used Todd Bouman, threw four interceptions and lost a fumble. He finished 17 of 34 for 193 yards.

EAGLES 17, RAMS 16

ST. LOUIS — Mike McMahon threw three interceptions but also tossed the game-winning touchdown pass to long snapper Mike Bartrum on the first play of the fourth quarter as Philadelphia (6-8) beat St. Louis (5-9).

On a rare day when neither quarterback threw for 100 yards, McMahon did the bare minimum to win.

"I had some highs and lows," said McMahon, who was 15 of 28 for 97 yards. "You're going to have that in some games. Luckily, our defense stepped up and made some big plays and gave us some short fields."

McMahon did enough to trump Rams rookie Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was 10 of 24 for 69 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Pisa Tinoisamoa, a former Hawai'i standout, made an interception and returned the ball 20 yards to the 5, setting up a St. Louis touchdown.