Turnovers played a big role in a first half dominated by defense, as the Ravens capitalized on a late Tony Romo interception to take a 9-6 lead into halftime tonight at Texas Stadium.

Romo threw a pick to Ed Reed -- Reed's second interception of the game -- on a badly underthrown pass intended for Terrell Owens with less than a minute left in the half. Reed's interception and 29-yard return set up the Ravens near midfield. A 21-yard screen pass to Willis McGahee and a 13-yard run by McGahee set up Matt Stover for his third field goal of the game as time expired in the half to give the Ravens a 9-7 lead.

The Baltimore defense has held the Cowboys to 103 total yards of offense in the first half and forced two turnovers. The only points of the game for Dallas followed a fumble by Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco that was recovered by the Cowboys inside the Ravens 5-yard line.

The Patriots are hoping for a Baltimore loss tonight, which would allow New England to assume control of its own destiny in the AFC wild-card playoff race. A Ravens win would leave Baltimore just one win (over noncontending Jacksonville) away from clinching the conference's second and final wild-card spot.

By the way, anyone who wonders what Owens' selfishness costs a team might ponder the fact that Romo's second interception came on a play in which he was trying to force a pass to Owens -- who complains all the time about not getting the ball enough -- with less than a minute left, and that Owens barely made an effort to come back to the ball.