"Kickoff was about four hours away, but Tony Romo and Jason Witten, who was riding shotgun, made the drive from the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine to Cowboys Stadium.

They needed more treatment.

Romo sat in a hot tub at one end of the training room to help loosen up his sore back. Witten sat on a table with wires and ice attached to his sprained left foot.

"It was pretty early for both of us," Witten said. "But it was like that all week really."

Romo and Witten fought through the aches and pains Thursday for the three hours and 11 minutes it took for the Cowboys to beat Oakland.

Romo threw for 309 yards, completing 18-of-29 with two touchdown passes. He also had his sixth game without an interception.

Witten caught five passes for a season-high 107 yards - the ninth 100-yard game of his career - and he helped open holes for a running game that averaged 7.8 yards on 25 carries.

"That shows you the level of toughness those guys have," said guard Kyle Kosier, whose 2008 season was ruined by a sprained right foot.

Romo figured he would play all along after taking a DeAngelo Hall knee to his back in the first quarter of Sunday's game against Washington, but he needed a pain-killing injection."