Cowboys rebound for 28-17 win over Cardinals

[September 26, 2017]  (The Sports Xchange) - When the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals get together, it is unwise to leave the stadium early or change the channel.

Three of the past four times they teams met, the game wasn't decided until the last play, twice going to overtime.

The Cardinals won all four of those games, but the Cowboys stopped the streak with a 28-17 victory on Monday night at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Dak Prescott threw two touchdown passes, Ezekiel Elliot ran for a score, and the Cowboys, who gained just 57 total yards in the first half, rebounded from a humbling 42-17 loss in Denver the previous week.

The Cowboys were leading 21-14 after Prescott found Brice Butler in the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown with just under 12 minutes left. Prescott was under pressure, rolled out to his right and hung the pass up in the air. Butler outleaped cornerback Justin Bethel for the ball and hauled it in for the score.

The Cardinals looked as if they were on their way to tying the game, but a 16-play drive resulted in a 37-yard field goal from Phil Dawson.

Prescott and the Cowboys made the Cardinals pay for that as the Dallas quarterback rolled out to his right once again and found Butler again for a 53-yard completion.

Elliott capped things with an 8-yard touchdown run with 4:57 remaining. A week after finishing with just 8 yards on nine carries against the Broncos, he ran for 80 yards on 22 carries against the Cardinals.

Six minutes into the third quarter, Prescott hooked up with wide receiver Dez Bryant to give the Cowboys their first lead of the game at 14-7. Elliott broke a 20-yard run on the previous play to give the Cowboys the ball at the Arizona 15-yard line before Prescott found Bryant over the middle.

 

 Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) escapes a tackles from Arizona Cardinals linebacker Haason Reddick (43) during the second half at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Initially, it appeared the Cardinals had him stopped well short of the end zone, but Bryant kept moving the pile, and after a second, third and fourth effort, got the ball to cross the plane for the touchdown.

The Cardinals needed their star wide receiver to match the effort, and Larry Fitzgerald, 34, obliged. He hauled in a 37-yard bomb from Carson Palmer down the left sideline and two plays later caught a 15-yard touchdown to tie the score at 14.

The catch, Fitzgerald's 10th of the game at that point, gave him 98 receiving yards, moving him ahead of Marvin Harrison (14,580) for eighth place on the league's all-time receiving yards list. He finished the night with 13 catches for 149 yards and one touchdown.

Palmer was 29 of 47 for 325 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Prescott, meanwhile, completed 13 of 18 passes for 183 yards with no interceptions.

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