DETROIT (Ticker) -- It's obvious the Dallas Cowboys are listening to Bill Parcells. What's going on in Detroit is another story.
The Cowboys continued their amazing turnaround under their new coach, embarrassing the lowly Detroit Lions, 38-7, for their fifth straight victory.
Quincy Carter threw three touchdown passes to Terry Glenn as Dallas rolled to a 28-7 halftime lead. Troy Hambrick added a TD run in the second half to punctuate the victory.
The Cowboys have won five straight games for the first time since 1994. They were 5-11 each of the previous three seasons until Parcells took over as coach.
"I spend a lot of time trying to tell them what we have to do to win and the things that we can't do," said Parcells, who is trying to turn around his fourth franchise.
One of those listening is Quincy Carter, who completed 18-of-25 passes for 191 yards. Once considered a project as an NFL quarterback, Carter is starting to blossom under Parcells.
"My coach has to critique me," Carter said. "I can't say how I'm doing right now. My coach may have a different opinion."
With the third-rated offense and defense in the NFL, Dallas held a 25-9 cushion in first downs and a 331-157 advantage in total yards while holding the ball for more than 37 minutes.
"Today was a total embarrassment for this organization, the way we came out and played," Lions tackle Jeff Backus said. "We made mistakes and lacked any type of big plays."
The only positive for the Lions was cornerback Dre' Bly's 67-yard fumble return, which opened the scoring midway through the first quarter.
"I think it was obvious to everybody that they manhandled us," Detroit coach Steve Mariucci said.
Coming off a bye week, the Lions (1-5) lost their fifth consecutive game, failing to build on narrow losses in Denver and San Francisco. They haven't scored more than 17 points or allowed fewer than 20 during their skid.
"We're trying to go out and fight," Glenn said. "I think the key is the lack of success the Cowboys had in the last couple years. We go out now, we want to prove we can do this every week - week in, week out."
While Parcells has led Dallas to first place in the NFC East, the league's four other first-year coaches - including Mariucci - entered Sunday a combined 5-17.
"As you can see, we have a long way to go," Mariucci said.
It looked good early Sunday for Detroit, which opened the scoring on Dallas' second possession. Safety Corey Harris stripped Hambrick and Bly sprinted 67 yards for the score.
"Normally, when you score defensively early in the game, normally you try to build off that, but that was something we weren't able to do today," said Bly, who scored his second touchdown of the season.
Parcells actually was concerned that his team wasn't prepared to play. Dallas picked up one first down on its first possession and turned over the ball on its second before getting going.
"It took us a little while to get going in that game," Parcells said. "I felt like I might not have done a good job getting them ready to play."
Carter hooked up with Glenn on each of the Cowboys' next three possessions. The first catch was the prettiest, a leaping 20-yard grab in the back of the end zone, where he simultaneously caught the ball and dropped both feet in bounds.
"You're just trying to keep your surroundings, be aware of your surroundings," Glenn said. "The ball came and I just waited for it to come over the safety's head."
Glenn's first TD finished a 79-yard drive. He also had a 19-yard scoring reception that capped an 83-yard march and gave Dallas the lead for good, 14-7, with 11:31 left in the first half.
Glenn's three scores came in a 9 1/2-minute span. Linebacker Dexter Coakley set up the last one, intercepting Joey Harrington and returning it 24 yards to Detroit's 8. Carter found Glenn on the next play, making it 21-7.
Reunited with Parcells, his coach in New England, Glenn had six receptions for 75 yards. He became the first Cowboy to have three TD receptions in a game since Michael Irvin on September 20, 1992.
"It's my first game I had more than one touchdown in the NFL, and I really like that," said Glenn, whose career has been slowed by injuries and discipline problems. "I'm very excited about the win."
"Today was Terry's day," Carter said. "We did some things in our passing game to get him open on some plays."
Hambrick and fullback Richie Anderson took care of the ground game, totaling 126 yards on 31 carries. While wide receiver Joey Galloway was shut out, Antonio Bryant chipped in four catches for 57 yards.
"We didn't take away and phase of their offense," Lions defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson said. "But give them credit, they made the plays. This game was ugly any way you look at it."
Dallas' lead grew to 28-7 when cornerback Mario Edwards picked off Harrington and scored from 27 yards with 4:20 to go in the half. Harrington was only 5-of-13 for 30 yards with two interceptions before being replaced.
"I made two bad decisions and I put the defense in a terrible position and they scored points," Harrington said.
Mike McMahon was equally ineffective, completing 5-of-20 passes for 51 yards with a fumble and interception. Harrington's backup misfired on each of his first seven pass attempts.
"I don't think it's being rusty," McMahon said. "I just think I was trying to make too much happen at one time."
McMahon could have played more, had the Lions totaled more than three offensive plays from scrimmage in the third quarter.
Hambrick capped an 81-yard drive of nearly 7 1/2 minutes with an eight-yard run, making it 35-7. Detroit then went three-and-out before the Cowboys chewed up the rest of the quarter on a field goal drive.
"I don't remember a game quite like that," Mariucci said. "We took the early lead and then from there on it was down hill."
The Lions were without wideout Charles Rogers, their first-round draft pick who broke his collarbone in practice two weeks ago.
"I said we were going to miss him from the start," Harrington said. "But not one person is going to change the outcome of this game."
