ARLINGTON, Texas » Tony Romo helped dump a bucket on Jason Garrett and playfully shoved him the same way the Dallas coach often does to his players.

The Cowboys had long since known their four-year playoff drought was over Sunday when they finally got to celebrate in the final seconds of a dominating 42-7 win over Indianapolis that clinched the NFC East title.

A special moment made perfect sense for the quarterback with a history of crushing late-season failures and a coach who kept getting Dallas to meaningful finales but couldn’t shake questions about his future because he couldn’t break through with a postseason trip.

"In so many ways, this is such a long journey and to get to a point to achieve your first goal of winning the division title, a lot goes into that," said Garrett, in his fourth full season. "I think the way you play in securing that matters, and I thought we played really, really well."

Romo threw four touchdown passes and broke Troy Aikman’s franchise record for yards passing while the Cowboys (11-4) emphatically ended a three-game home losing streak, scoring touchdowns on their first four possessions.

Dallas had an opening for its first division title and postseason berth since 2009 because of Philadelphia’s 27-24 loss at Washington on Saturday. The Eagles were eliminated with the Cowboys’ win.

The Colts (10-5) didn’t have much to play for with the AFC South title secured, and looked like it while they barely avoided their first shutout loss in 21 years.

"Yeah, it was a dismal start," said Andrew Luck, who threw for a season-low 109 yards with two interceptions and was pulled in the third quarter with the game out of hand. "It was bad. A lot of bad. Not much good, if any."

The Cowboys had already ended their three-year rut of 8-8 finishes that included losses in finales that kept them out of the playoffs. But they had to keep winning to make sure they got in.

Tight end Jason Witten had a touchdown catch and 90 yards receiving to reach his 11th straight season with at least 600 yards. He had the memorable one-liner that it couldn’t be "the same old story" before training camp during the string of frustrating .500 finishes.

Then it kept being the same old story — until Sunday, when Dallas kept alive its hopes for a first-round bye as well.

Romo led scoring drives of 80 and 75 yards, the latter ending on a 24-yard pass to Cole Beasley. He spun away from a shoulder tackle by D’Qwell Jackson and ran the final 13 yards to the end zone.

The 34-year-old Romo broke Aikman’s record on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Witten, his teammate since they came into the league together 11 years ago.

"He’s obviously just got a special place in my heart," said Romo, who has 32,971 career yards, 29 more than the three-time Super Bowl winner.

PATRIOTS 17, JETS 16

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. » Jonas Gray scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter after New England intercepted Geno Smith, and the Patriots clinched a first-round playoff bye with a win over New York (3-12).

Tom Brady threw a 3-yard TD pass to Rob Gronkowski for the Patriots (12-3), who could earn home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs if Denver loses at Cincinnati on Monday night.

PANTHERS 17, BROWNS 13

CHARLOTTE, N.C. » Cam Newton threw for one touchdown and ran for another as Carolina (6-81) beat Cleveland to take over sole possession of first place in the NFC South. The victory sets up the winner-take-all showdown next Sunday at Atlanta.

The winner will join the 2010 Seattle Seahawks as the only teams in NFL history to reach the playoffs in a non-strike-shortened season with a losing record.

Newton threw for 201 yards and ran for 63 yards just 12 days after the quarterback suffered two fractures in his lower back following an automobile accident. Jonathan Stewart ran for 122 yards and caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Newton.

Johnny Manziel made his second NFL start for Cleveland (7-8) but left with 1:49 remaining in the first half with a hamstring injury and did not return.

TEXANS 25, RAVENS 13

HOUSTON » Running back Arian Foster threw a touchdown pass, Randy Bullock made a franchise-record six field goals and Houston’s defense dominated Baltimore to keep slim playoff hopes alive.

The Ravens (9-6) now need some help next week to get into the postseason after Joe Flacco threw a season-high three interceptions and the offense struggled all day.

Houston (8-7) remains in the hunt with the victory, but needs several teams to lose next week.