ARLINGTON, Texas — An early 10-point hole Sunday afternoon didn’t bother the Arizona Cardinals. They are 7-1 for a reason.

“This is a very good team,” Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer said. “We feel like we can play with anybody and that’s important because we feel like we are improving.”

Palmer threw three touchdown passes and Arizona cruised to a 28-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.

Arizona owns the best record in the league after the clash of division leaders by holding the Tony Romo-less Cowboys in check. The Cowboys have lost consecutive games since winning six straight to surge to the top of the NFC East.

Cardinals running back Andre Ellington racked up 134 yards from scrimmage and caught a 1-yard touchdown from Palmer in the fourth quarter. Palmer finished 22 of 34 for 249 yards and an interception while the Dallas offense sputtered with backup Brandon Weeden at the controls.

The Cardinals limited NFL leading rusher DeMarco Murray to 79 yards, snapping his streak of 100-yard games at eight. Weeden signed in the offseason to back up Romo, completed just 18-of-33 passes for 183 yards and two picks. Weeden did connect with receiver Dez Bryant on a meaningless touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t play well enough on offense,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “Obviously they come into it with a commitment to stopping the run. That’s their style of defense.”

Dallas (6-3) heads to London next week to face Jacksonville lugging a two-game losing streak that dropped the Cowboys out of first in the NFC East. Philadelphia (6-2) took the division lead after beating Houston on Sunday.

NFC West-leading Arizona is off to its best start since 1974, and came into Sunday with a two-game lead over San Francisco. The Cardinals are home next week against St. Louis.

Cowboys said: “We never take it for granted. It’s’ hard league – running, passing, anything – to win in this league. It’s hard to get those wins. We’ve got six of them and we’re going to continue to try to get as many as we can and more forward.” — RB DeMarco Murray.

Cardinals said: “The confidence in this locker room is through the roof. We spotted them 10 points, but we didn’t blink. We stayed focused. If we keep doing this, it’s a very promising season for us.” – CB Patrick Peterson.

Two things we learned:

About the Cowboys:

1. Quarterback Tony Romo isn’t just a bus driver. As important as the running game has been to Dallas this season, the Cowboys can’t win on DeMarco Murray alone. Backup QB Brandon Weeden struggled in his first start, and the offense didn’t move the ball with any consistency. The ‘Boys need Romo back. Not until the final drive of the game did Weeden complete a pass to an outside receiver — Terrance Williams caught the first pass of the drive and Dez Bryant the last two for 15 yards including a 3-yard score.

2. Despite the offensive problems, these Cowboys don’t stray from their game plan. Unlike years past when they would abandon the run, the Cowboys tried to stick with it Sunday. “We ran the ball at times effectively,” Weeden said. “When you have a back like (Murray) you have to continue to keep feeding it to him.”

–RB DeMarco Murray had his NFL record streak of 100-yard rushing games to start a season end at eight after rushing for 79 yards on 19 carries against Arizona. Murray did set a career high for rushing yards in a season, running his total for 1,133 yards through nine games.

–QB Tony Romo missed his first game of the season Sunday two transverse process fractures in his back. Romo is traveling with the team to London on Monday for next week’s game against Jacksonville, and all expectations are that he will play.

–DT Josh Brent signed a one-year contract extension through 2015 for the league minimum. Brent is still serving a 10-game suspension for his conviction on an intoxication manslaughter charge, which claimed the life of teammate Jerry Brown. Brent will be eligible to return Nov. 23 against the Giants.

–WR Dez Bryant has joined Jay Z’s Roc Nation agency, which will represent Bryant in his contract talks with the Cowboys. Bryant, eligible to become a free agent in March, is seeking a lucrative extension.

About the Cardinals:

1. Early deficits aren’t a problem for a team overflowing with confidence. The Cardinals came back from being down 10-0 early to score 28 straight points. “We don’t find ways to get frustrated,” RB Andre Ellington said. “We always find ways to overcome. It’s been working so far.”

2. The run defense is for real. Even after allowing 110 yards to Philadelphia last week, Arizona came into the game allowing just 79.6 yards rushing. The NFL’s leading rusher DeMarco Murray was held to a season-low 79 yards, and Dallas just managed 92.

–CB Justin Bethel blocker a 35-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half to preserve a 14-10 lead. It was the third block field goal of Bethel’s career.

–CB Patrick Peterson help shut down Cowboys WR Dez Bryant, who finished with only two catches in 10 targets. Peterson said he’s heard criticism of his game. “It is time to put all that to rest,” he said. “I feel that I am back to my old form.” Peterson also returned a blocked field goal for 60 yards, nearly scoring a touchdown.

–S Tyrann Mathieu picked up his first interception of the season in the third quarter in the red zone with Arizona clinging to a 14-10 lead. Mathieu said saw the throw coming. “They came back to it on third-and-10 and I was just able to get a good break on it,” he said.