"Maybe one day Jason Witten will look back at Sunday's game a little more fondly.

The 500th catch of his career. Moving into second all-time in receptions in Cowboys' history. Fourteen receptions in the game, one off his career high. A career-high 156 yards.

What mattered most was that the Cowboys lost Sunday, 31-24, to the New York Giants and dropped into a first-place tie with Philadelphia.

"It's definitely humbling to be second in Cowboys history because there's so many great tight ends and wide receivers that played here," Witten said, "but right now it's hard to think of it being a big deal."

Of the six tight ends to reach 500 receptions in NFL history only Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow did it in fewer games than Witten, 101 to 107. With 73 catches, Witten has had 60 or more in six straight years. Only future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez has done it more - 11 straight years.

"Jason played really well again," coach Wade Phillips said. "He's a threat out there."

Witten has back-to-back 100-yard games for the second time in his career after catching five passes for 107 yards on Thanksgiving against Oakland. In the last two games, Witten has raised his yard-per-catch average from 8.9 to 10.2 yards.

"There were some loopholes we felt in their secondary that we could attack," Witten said. "They paid a lot of attention to Miles [Austin] and stuff like that, but Tony did a good job getting the ball out."

Witten's career-high 15-catch game against Detroit two years ago ended with him catching the game-winning touchdown. About the only thing he didn't do Sunday was get in the end zone."