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IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- Two more unlikely heroes emerged for Bill Parcells and the Dallas Cowboys .

Long snapper Jeff Robinson caught a five-yard touchdown pass and reserve running back Aveion Cason scored on a 16-yard run in the third quarter to lead the Cowboys to a 24-20 victory over the Carolina Panthers in a battle of division leaders.

The Cowboys (8-3) remain tied for first place in the NFC East with Philadelphia and host the Miami Dolphins on Thanksgiving Day.

"This was by far the best win I've had in Dallas," said Parcells, who has quickly transformed a team that finished 5-11 each of the last three seasons. "We're not losers anymore, we're something else. Our record is making us something else. When you beat a team with an 8-2 record, well that's just a really big win."

Dallas' No. 1 ranked defense stuffed 1,000-yard rusher Stephen Davis , who was held to 59 yards on 26 carries.

Jake Delhomme was unable to pick up the slack for Carolina (8-3), completing 9-of-24 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown.

"My confidence is not all that shaken," said Delhomme, who was 2-of-7 for 41 yards in the first half. "We just didn't play too well today and we know it. They made more plays than we did."

Quincy Carter did not have the benefit of a strong running game either, but threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns for the Cowboys.

One of those scoring throws went to Robinson, who had not caught a pass all season. Lining up as a tight end, Robinson made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone, giving the Cowboys a 17-10 lead with 9:26 left in the third quarter.

"It's been a couple of years (since he scored a touchdown)," said Robinson, who last reached the end zone in 2001 when he played for St. Louis. "I certainly wasn't the first option on the play. But we worked on it during the week and I was just happy to make the catch."

The Panthers (8-3) responded with a four-play, 65-yard scoring drive that featured a 35-yard catch by Muhsin Muhammad . Fullback Brad Hoover capped it with a one-yard touchdown catch, tying the game at 17-17.

But Dallas came back with a six-play, 63-yard scoring drive that Cason capped with his touchdown. Acquired by Parcells last April from Detroit, Cason took a pitch from fullback Richie Anderson on a 3rd-and-1 play and sprinted into the end zone, giving Dallas the lead for good with 4:15 remaining in the third.

"It probably surprised them big time," Cason said of his winning touchdown. "I'm sure they thought Richie was going to keep the ball after taking the handoff from Quincy, but he pitched it quickly and I had room to run."

Carolina drove inside the Dallas 10 in the fourth quarter, but ended up settling for a 34-yard field goal by John Kasay with 3:47 left. The normally-reliable Kasay earlier missed two field goals as did Dallas kicker Billy Cundiff .

But the Panthers were unable to pull off any late magic this time because they didn't get the ball back. The Cowboys consumed the rest of the clock with the help of a facemask penalty on Panthers defensive tackle Brentson Buckner and a 13-yard pass from Carter to rookie tight end Jason Witten on a 3rd-and-8 play.

Carolina has won six games in the final two minutes or overtime this season, but has lost two straight games in Texas, both by four points - the first a 14-10 defeat at Houston on November 2.