Of course, there was more to it than that, including perhaps Tony Romo's best throw of the night.

Romo celebrated his return with a 25-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass to Bennett in the fourth quarter, and Marion Barber amassed 153 total yards as the Dallas Cowboys surged back into the thick of the NFC playoff chase with a hard-fought 14-10 win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday night.

Tied for second

The Cowboys and Redskins are tied for second place in the NFC East at 6-4 behind the 9-1 New York Giants . Dallas had lost four of its previous six games, including a 26-24 decision to Washington in September, and was in danger of having its playoff hopes all but dashed with a loss.

"We had to have this one," said Romo, who missed the last three games with a broken right pinkie. "That was as important a game as we've played for sure this year. We stressed the importance level all week, (saying), ?The time is now.' It was a show-me game. We had to go out there and show each other we could play really good Football and win in a tough environment."

Romo completed 19 of 27 passes for 198 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Dallas gained its first lead of the game when Romo found Bennett, who outfought safety Chris Horton for the ball at the goal line, with 10:36 left.

"It was a good play by him, no question," said Romo, who was hampered early by the rust accumulated during his absence. "He goes up and gets the ball. That's fantastic. And I put it where I wanted to there."

It was Bennett's second TD of the season. His first came late in a 34-14 loss to St. Louis a month ago.

"The first one was like kissing Oprah (Winfrey)," Bennett said. "This one was like kissing Halle Berry. I'd much rather kiss Halle Berry or Angelina Jolie."

Getting it done

The score gave the Cowboys the lead by the final score and came one play after Romo kept the drive alive by flipping the ball to Miles Austin for an 8-yard gain on third-and-8.

On the ensuing possession after Bennett's TD, the Redskins marched to the Dallas 37 only to surrender the ball on downs after Terence Newman broke up a Jason Campbell pass to receiver Santana Moss on fourth-and-4 with 6:40 left.

Washington never got the ball back as Barber handled the ball on 11 straight plays, gaining 39 yards on 10 plays and catching one pass for 10 more yards. Romo then ran out the rest of the clock by kneeling twice.

Barber, who gained only 26 yards on eight carries against the Redskins in Week 4, logged 24 carries for a game-high 114 yards, including a 2-yard TD run that tied the score at 7 with 1:01 left in the first half. Barber also led the Cowboys with 39 yards on a team-high six receptions.