Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray had happy homecomings, beating up on a homecoming opponent.
The Cardinals came to AT&T Stadium and acted as if they owned the place, whipping the home team from start to finish. Arizona beat (and beat up) the Cowboys 38-10. They are 4-2, good for a second-place tie with the Rams behind the Seahawks.
Murray, who grew up a hop, skip and jump from AT&T Stadium in Allen, threw two touchdowns and ran for another. Kingsbury, who played and coached at Texas Tech, called the plays for an offense that rolled to 438 yards.
DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk also have Texas ties, with Hopkins having played seven seasons in Houston and Kirk having played collegiately at Texas A&M. Kirk caught two passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns, one covering 80 yards, and Hopkins had two catches for 73 yards, including a 60-yarder.
The Cowboys don’t have Jason Garrett to blame anymore. So what now?
They remain in first place despite the 2-4 record, with their only wins are over the Falcons and Giants, who are a combined 2-10.
For the first time in 70 games, the Cowboys played a game without Dak Prescott. It was not pretty.
It didn’t help that right guard Zack Martin departed in the first half with a concussion, leaving left guard Connor Williams as the only starter in the line.
Andy Dalton took three sacks and eight quarterback hits. He threw two interceptions, and Ezekiel Elliott lost two fumbles. The Cardinals converted the turnovers into three touchdowns and a field goal.
Dalton finished 34 of 54 for 266 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
Cardinals safety Budda Baker had seven tackles, a sack, an interception, a forced fumble and a pass breakup, and linebacker Haason Reddick had two sacks.