Santa Fe New Mexican

Cards cruise past Cowboys in Murray’s homecoming

- By Schuyler Dixon

ARLINGTON, Texas — Kyler Murray accounted for three touchdowns in his first game back home as a pro, Ezekiel Elliott set up the first two Arizona TDs with fumbles and the Cardinals beat the Dallas Cowboys 38-10 on Monday night.

The speedy quarterbac­k who won three high school championsh­ips and a Big 12 title at the home of the Cowboys improved to 7-0 as a starter at AT&T Stadium, throwing for two scores despite a rough start through the air and rushing for 74 yards and a TD.

It was the Monday Night

Football debut for Murray, a star in high school football-obsessed Texas while playing in the Dallas suburbs, and Kliff Kingsbury, who also had a happy first trip to his native Texas as an NFL coach.

Fired after six seasons at Texas Tech in 2018 without any winning records in Big 12 games, Kingsbury was hired by Arizona soon after and has the Cardinals (4-2) tied for second place in the tough NFC West. Arizona is above .500 this late in the season for the first time since 2015, its most recent playoff year.

Andy Dalton had the rest of Dallas’ four turnovers with two intercepti­ons in his first start for the Cowboys in place of injured star Dak Prescott, just down the road from where he had a standout career at TCU.

The nine-year starter in Cincinnati led a come-frombehind victory over the New York Giants in Week 5 after the gruesome-looking compound fracture of Prescott’s right ankle. There wasn’t anything resembling a rally this time.

While the Dallas offense didn’t look anything close to the NFL-leading unit it was with Prescott — and lost the fourth of its five projected starting offensive linemen in four-time All-Pro Zack Martin (first-quarter concussion) — Elliott’s miscues led to the fifth straight game in which the Cowboys have trailed by at least two touchdowns.

CHIEFS 26, BILLS 17

In Orchard Park, N.Y., rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire had

161 yards rushing and Patrick Mahomes threw two touchdown passes to Travis Kelce, leading Kansas City over Buffalo in a game that was originally scheduled for last Thursday.

Mahomes finished 21 of 26 for 225 yards. His first scoring toss to Kelce was the 90th of his career in his 37th game, breaking the NFL record for fewest games to 90 TD passes. Hall of Famer Dan Marino had the previous mark at 40 games.

The Chiefs are off to a their third 5-1 start in four seasons, and they bounced back from a sloppy 40-32 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 11.

 ?? MICHAEL AINSWORTH/ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? The Cardinals’ Kyler Murray celebrates running for a touchdown in the second half of Monday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas.
MICHAEL AINSWORTH/ASSOCIATED PRESS The Cardinals’ Kyler Murray celebrates running for a touchdown in the second half of Monday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas.

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