The Associated Press

Bill Parcells was on his way to the team bus in the wee hours Tuesday morning, still smiling from an incredible first victory as coach of the Dallas Cowboys and thrilled to have shared it with so many friends.

Then he clicked on his cell phone and listened to about eight messages. All were congratulatory, though most aren't fit for print.

"Friendly obscene," he described them, adding they were hilarious.

Bob Knight called later and praised a rookie for a heady play during crunch time. When Carolina offensive coordinator Dan Henning phoned, the former Parcells assistant skipped hello and went straight to the X's and O's behind an important pass.

"He called the play the way we call it in the huddle," Parcells said.

For Parcells, the jokes were funnier and the questions easier to answer in the afterglow of the 35-32 overtime victory against the New York Giants that began Monday night and ended about 1 a.m.

Dallas surprisingly led by 13 points at halftime and by 15 in the fourth quarter. Then the Giants got hot, the Cowboys got cold and New York led with 11 seconds left. All the Giants needed was a squib kickoff that would give Dallas time for only a desperation pass.

But the ball curled out of bounds at the 1, a penalty that let the Cowboys start at the 40. A quick sideline pass to Antonio Bryant, the one Henning knew was coming, set up Billy Cundiff's career-long 52-yard field goal as time expired.

Cundiff made a 25-yarder in overtime, giving him an NFL record-tying seven in one game and making Parcells 1-1 on his new job.

"That," Parcells said, "was a good win."

CHIEFS: Priest Holmes is questionable for Sunday's game at Houston with bruised ribs, raising anew the question of whether Kansas City is asking too much of its Pro Bowl running back.

Holmes, the NFL's offensive player of the year in 2002, missed the final two games last season with a hip injury that required surgery in March and had him on crutches for several weeks.

The Chiefs have said they wanted Holmes to get fewer touches than last season, when he had 313 carries for 1,615 yards and 70 passes for another 672 in just 14 games.

But in victories over San Diego and Pittsburgh, Holmes has 53 touches, more than anyone else in the NFL except Miami's Ricky Williams - a lot of punishment for a running back who will turn 30 in a few weeks.

FALCONS: Coach Dan Reeves said the target date for Michael Vick's return is the Oct. 13 Monday Night Football matchup against the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome. Reeves cautioned that the following week's home game against the New Orleans Saints was a more realistic scenario.

PANTHERS: Safety Jarrod Cooper was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and possession of a controlled substance. He also was charged with speeding and driving with a revoked license.

Cooper, 25, has a drunken driving conviction on his record from an incident in 2002. He was given a 90-day suspended sentence and was placed on one year's probation for his first arrest.

JAGUARS: Jacksonville placed receiver-punt returner Jermaine Lewis on injured reserve and waived safety Marlon McCree.

49ERS: San Francisco waived kicker Jeff Chandler and kick returner Arland Bruce and signed former Giants kicker Owen Pochman.

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