Dallas' solid and workmanlike performance was punctuated early in the fourth quarter when Cole Beasley made a spectacular one-handed circus catch for a key first down.
Dallas tight end Jason Witten surpassed Michael Irvin as the all-time receiving-yards leader in franchise history and also scored the lone touchdown of the game on a second-quarter 12-yard pass from quarterback Dak Prescott, who had some passes sail high early but settled down to turn in another solid and turnover-free performance.
Dallas fell to 1–1, looking to be in total disarray – nursing several key injuries to its secondary – heading into its Monday night meeting at Arizona against the Cardinals.
Despite Carson Palmer's 325 yards passing, Dallas was able to limit scoring damage with key pressures and sacks, and run stoppages to keep the Cardinals neutralized.
Dak Prescott turned in a turnover-free performance for the Cowboys with 183 yards passing and two touchdown tosses, while running for Dallas' first score – a second quarter 10-yard scamper on a read-option play.
Ezekiel Elliott rebounded from last week's dismal performance to accumulate 80 yards on 22 carries and scored one touchdown.
The "tale of two halves" sports cliché was never more true to life as it was Sunday October 1 in AT&T Stadium, as the Dallas Cowboys lost to the visiting Los Angeles Rams 35–30 after dominating the first half of play.
After Dallas posted a 4th-quarter touchdown on a pass to tight end James Hanna, Los Angeles was able to answer with its 7th field goal of the game.
With Dallas posting a 21–12 halftime lead, they looked in prime form for revenge in this rematch of their Divisional round playoff the previous season.
Green Bay kept chipping away and Aaron Rodgers led the Packers on a late nine-play 75-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 12-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams with 11 seconds remaining in the game.
Damarious Randall earlier added a pick-six to the scoring with a 21-yard return of a Dak Prescott interception to give Green Bay a 28–24 lead at 9:56 of the fourth quarter.
Dallas had answered that, regaining the lead on an 11-yard Dak Prescott touchdown run after a grueling 17-play, eight-minute 79-yard scoring drive which left 1:13 on the game clock for Green Bay to work with.
Bouncing back from a two-game losing streak, Dallas dominated a winless San Francisco 49ers team 40–10.
On special teams, Dallas recovered a fumbled kickoff and Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick returned a blocked field goal attempt 86 yards to the Washington 2-yard line, setting up an Ezekiel Elliott rushing touchdown, which put Dallas ahead 14–13 with 2:20 left to play in the first half.
With Ezekiel Elliott playing on a last-minute stay of his looming suspension and carrying the ball 27 times for 93 yards and one touchdown, and Dak Prescott throwing two touchdown passes to Cole Beasley, running for another score and finding receiver Terrance Williams nine times for a game high 141 yards, the Cowboys notched their third straight victory by a score of 28–17 and improved their record to 5–3 at AT&T Stadium against the AFC West division leading Kansas City Chiefs.
Already without Ezekiel Elliott, whose suspension had finally taken effect, the Cowboys lost key players Tyron Smith and Sean Lee to injuries.
In a tight, defensive game against the Eagles backups, the Cowboys narrowly prevailed 6-0, with the only score coming on a fourth-quarter touchdown by Brice Butler.
This was Jason Witten's last game in the NFL until Week 1 of the 2019 season, as he retired on May 3, 2018 and joined the Monday Night Football booth.
It would also be the final game in a Cowboys uniform for kicker Dan Bailey, who missed the extra point on Butler's touchdown, as well as a late field goal attempt.