Two more sin-bins took Magic Round's running total to 12 in five games as the Roosters staved off a North Queensland comeback, with James Tedesco the star in a 30-16 win.
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The Roosters shot out of the blocks before the Cowboys scraped back from 18-0 to 18-16, Lachlan Burr's late sin-binning for a high shot on a falling Tedesco a nail in the Cowboys' coffin as the Roosters (7-3) kept in touch with the NRL's top four.
"We didn't assume an ascendancy ... just scored some points," Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.
"We were a little bit off but then I liked our adaptability in defence the longer the game went.
"And Teddy carried us on his shoulders tonight; he was a step above everyone else on the ground.
"He decided to own that game tonight and he did, and he needed to."
Sitili Tupouniua was the other man sin-binned for a first-half high shot that shifted the balance after the Roosters defied some early pressure to carve out four clinical tries.
Lachlan Lam was sharp in his return from a knee injury and teenager Sam Walker probed to set up his own try as a bloodbath loomed.
But Tupouniua's sin-binning proved pivotal, Cowboys hooker Reece Robson sensing the moment to spark his side.
Scott Drinkwater got busy too, setting up Javid Bowen for the first try before he scored himself from a neat Robson line-break.
Valentine Holmes then trampled Walker in the first set of the second half, offloading for Drinkwater to make it an 18-16 game.
In the ascendancy, Cowboys opted to take the penalty kick, after Angus Crichton was reported for a late shot on Drinkwater.
But Holmes' effort swung wide, shifting momentum back to the Roosters.
Tedesco stepped up, streaming through some broken defence and popping a pass to an in-form Crichton for his second try.
Burr became the 12th man sin-binned in the fifth game of Magic Round, clipping a falling Tedesco high and Adam Keighran's ensuing penalty edged them eight clear with 15 minutes to play.
Defending with a man down, the Cowboys scrambled in defence and chanced their arm with the ball until Daniel Tupou's second try with six minutes left sealed the result.
"I'm just disappointed (by the Burr sin-bin) but that's not why we lost the game, we lost because we let in six tries," Cowboys coach Todd Payten said.
"We gave them too much respect (early in the game) but showed some character and fought our way back."
Australian Associated Press
