With Romo on the field, Cowboys beat Jaguars 31-17

LONDON (AP) Bad back or not, the Dallas Cowboys are a better team with Tony Romo on the field.

Romo threw three touchdown passes Sunday to lead the Cowboys over the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-17 in the last of three regular-season NFL games at Wembley Stadium.

''It's uncomfortable, but it's also manageable,'' Romo said of his third back injury in the last 18 months. ''Just like any other broken bone, you just feel kind of uncomfortable.''

The injury may have affected him against the Jaguars (1-9), but it didn't stop him from helping the Cowboys (7-3) snap a two-game losing streak.

Romo completed 20 of 27 passes for 246 yards and finished with a season-high passer rating of 138.8. He threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten in the first quarter and then hit Dez Bryant for a pair of TDs in the second, the first from 35 yards and the second from 68.

''He took some opportunities to throw the ball down the field and made some big plays to Dez,'' Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. ''And then when we had the opportunity to throw the ball underneath, I think he delivered the ball well.''

For the Jaguars, Denard Robinson scored two touchdowns, running in from the 32 to give Jacksonville a 7-3 lead in the first quarter and then from the 1 late in the fourth. Blake Bortles, playing with a sore left wrist, was 22 of 37 for 290 yards with one interception.

''The first drive we went down was really a good drive. The offensive line did well. We ran well,'' Bortles said. ''We came back with the second drive and hurt ourselves with the penalty and kind of shot ourselves in the foot for two or three drives after that and never really could get it rolling again.''

Here some things we learned in the Cowboys' win at Wembley:

ROMO CAN PLAY HURT: Romo fractured two small bones in his back two weeks ago and sat out last week's loss to the Arizona Cardinals. But with a bye coming up next week, he wanted to play against the Jaguars to get the Cowboys a win before the break, even if he wasn't 100 percent.

He wasn't perfect on Sunday, but he certainly did enough, even though he put his back at risk to further injury just by being out on the field.

''It's always uncomfortable no matter when you get hit when you don't feel 100 percent,'' Romo said. ''It's part of playing football. Everyone goes through that. There's probably 20 guys out on that field that had something going on and it's just part of the game.''

ONCE AGAIN, JAGUARS LOSE IN LONDON: The Jaguars are 0-2 in London, and they will return to Wembley Stadium next season and in 2016.

Jacksonville is in the middle of a four-year deal to play one game per season at Wembley, the home of England's national soccer team. Last year, they lost to the San Francisco 49ers 42-10. Next year, they will face the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 25.

Despite the losing the record, Bortles was impressed with the atmosphere.

''People were definitely passionate about the game, and it was a packed house,'' Bortles said. ''I had a lot of fun and really did enjoy it.''

BRYANT CAN BREAK TACKLES: Dez Bryant caught two touchdown passes and gained all of his 158 yards in the second quarter. And he did it by breaking several tackles on each touchdown catch.

''Dez really made a couple of great plays for us, plays that kind of changed the game,'' Garrett said. ''When you catch the ball five yards down the field and you make the run that he makes and then he makes the play down the sideline, those were huge for us. Those are the difference-making plays that allowed us to get ahead.''

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: According to Jaguars safety Johnathan Cyprien, there are some positive things to take away from the loss. Turnovers and mistakes aside, Cyprien is convinced the young team is showing signs of getting better.

''Today and last week there was some glimpses of our improvement, and we have to figure it out,'' Cyprien said. ''If we see glimpses of it, we can definitely do it consistently.''

And with the bye week coming up, there will be plenty of time for self-reflection.

''We know for a fact we're better than that. The team knows that,'' Cyprien said. ''It's just a matter of looking yourself in the mirror and figuring out, how do you do this consistently and don't ever have a game like we had today.''

GOODBYE WEMBLEY, FOR NOW: Sunday's game was the third and final regular-season game at Wembley this year, but they'll be back for more next year.

The attendance was 83,603, slightly more than the other two games this season. The first game this year, when the Miami Dolphins beat the Oakland Raiders 38-14, drew 83,436 on Sept. 28. The Detroit Lions' 22-21 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 26 drew 83,532.

Next year, however, there will be three more games in London. Besides the Jaguars- Bills on Oct. 25, the Dolphins will play the New York Jets on Oct. 4 and the Kansas City Chiefs will meet the Lions on Nov. 1.