Dak Prescott has passed for only 25 yards. Ezekiel Elliott has run for only 31, with 30 coming on one play. Dez Bryant has one catch for minus-3 yards.
The Cowboys’ 57 total yards and 16 passing yards are the team’s fewest in the first half since Week 13 in 2005, via NFL Research. Yet, somehow, someway the Cowboys managed to tie the Cardinals 7-7 at halftime.
The Cowboys scored off a short field and two Cardinals’ penalties late in the second quarter. Rookie Ryan Switzer returned a punt 21 yards to the Arizona 33, and Prescott scored on a 10-yard run three plays later. Arizona gave the Cowboys 10 yards in penalties with an offside and a defensive hold.
Elliott, who had nine carries for 8 yards last week against Denver, had seven carries for 1 yard. His other carry went for 30.
The Cardinals started out hot, moving up and down the field, with Carson Palmer completing his first 11 passes. He threw a 25-yard touchdown to Jaron Brown with 9:59 left in the first quarter.
But after passing for 135 yards in the first quarter, Palmer managed only 10 yards in the second.
A missed chip-shot field goal by Phil Dawson, five costly penalties for 40 yards and two sacks of Palmer slowed the Cardinals roll. They also are showing how much they miss David Johnson, rushing for only 20 yards in the first half.