After a stalled opening drive for the Lions and a punt downed at the Dallas two, Jon Kitna drove the Cowboys 13 plays and 98 yards for a touchdown on their first drive. An offside call on the Lions gave Dallas some room to operate, and a 3rd-2 conversion to Jason Witten gave the drive legs.
Kitna completed passes to Dez Bryant, Felix Jones, Jason Witten and Roy Williams and Jones ran twice for nine yards to reach the Lions 1. Marion Barber was stuffed on first-and-goal, and the Lions sniffed out a play-action pass on second down, before Kitna hit Dez Bryant on a fade for the 7-0 lead.