NFL game summary for 12/07/1975:
Jim Hart completed three touchdown passes ? 30 yards to Terry Metcalf and 49 and 6 yards to Mel Gray ? as the Cardinals soared to a 28-3 halftime lead and held on to take a one-game lead over the Cowboys, who fell into a second-place tie with the Redskins in the NFC East. Hart hit 11 of 19 passes, while Metcalf rushed for 86 yards and pushed his total offense yardage to 2,335, just 109 short of the NFL record of 2,444 yards for one season.
Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):
| Team | Rush Yds/Gm | Pass Yds/Gm | Tot Yds/Gm | Turnovers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | OFFENSE | 169.5 (6) | 192.4 (4) | 361.8 (3) | 28 |
| DEFENSE | 120.7 (3) | 154.6 (11) | 275.4 (7) | 37 | |
 | OFFENSE | 161.0 (8) | 191.7 (5) | 352.7 (6) | 36 |
| DEFENSE | 149.0 (16) | 177.9 (18) | 326.9 (17) | 30 |
Line: Cardinals by 1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Cowboys (8-4-0) | 3 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| St. Louis Cardinals (9-3-0) | 14 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 31 |
( 0- 7) STL Terry Metcalf 30 yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick)
( 3- 7) DAL Toni Fritsch 23 yard field goal
( 3-14) STL Mel Gray 49 yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick)
( 3-21) STL Steve Jones 1 yard rush (Jim Bakken kick)
( 3-28) STL Mel Gray 6 yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick)
(10-28) DAL Doug Dennison 1 yard rush (Toni Fritsch kick)
(10-31) STL Jim Bakken 27 yard field goal
(17-31) DAL Preston Pearson 1 yard rush (Toni Fritsch kick)
DAL STL
First Downs: 28 22
Rushes-yards: 25-118 43-169
Yards/rush: 4.7 3.9
Comp-Att-Yd-INT: 25-41-268-3 11-18-199-1
Sacked-yards: 3-13 0-0
Net pass yards: 255 199
Net yards/pass: 5.8 11.1
Total net yards: 373 368
Total plays: 69 (36% run) 61 (70% run)
Yards/play: 5.4 6.0
Fumbles-lost: 0-0 1-0
Turnovers: 3 1
Penalties-yards: 5-22 7-67
Attendance: 49,701
Passing:
DAL: Roger Staubach, 25 of 41 for 268 yards (3 int) STL: Jim Hart, 11 of 17 for 199 yards and 3 TDs (1 int); Terry Metcalf, 0 of 1 for 0 yards
Rushing:
DAL: Preston Pearson, 8 for 20 yards and 1 TD; Robert Newhouse, 7 for 28 yards; Roger Staubach, 6 for 61 yards; Doug Dennison, 4 for 9 yards and 1 TD STL: Jim Otis, 21 for 88 yards; Terry Metcalf, 14 for 86 yards; Jim Hart, 3 for 0 yards; Steve Jones, 3 for -1 yards and 1 TD; Jerry Latin, 2 for -4 yards
Receiving:
DAL: Preston Pearson, 8 for 61 yards; Drew Pearson, 4 for 74 yards; Charley Young, 4 for 42 yards; Robert Newhouse, 4 for 32 yards; Jean Fugett, 3 for 38 yards; Billy Joe DuPree, 1 for 17 yards; Doug Dennison, 1 for 4 yards STL: Ike Harris, 4 for 71 yards; Mel Gray, 4 for 65 yards and 2 TDs; Terry Metcalf, 1 for 30 yards and 1 TD; J.V. Cain, 1 for 17 yards; Steve Jones, 1 for 16 yards
Kick returns:
DAL: Doug Dennison, 2 for 45 yards; Preston Pearson, 2 for 42 yards; Cal Peterson, 1 for 10 yards; Thomas Henderson, 1 for 3 yards STL: Terry Metcalf, 2 for 47 yards; Gary Hammond, 1 for 20 yards
Punt returns:
STL: Terry Metcalf, 1 for 5 yards
Interceptions:
DAL: Randy Hughes, 1 for 0 yards STL: Roger Wehrli, 3 for 31 yards
Punting:
DAL: Mitch Hoopes, 1 for 36 yards STL: Jeff West, 2 for 79 yards
Field Goals:
DAL: Toni Fritsch, 1/1 STL: Jim Bakken, 1/1
DAL: Roger Staubach, 25 of 41 for 268 yards (3 int) STL: Jim Hart, 11 of 17 for 199 yards and 3 TDs (1 int); Terry Metcalf, 0 of 1 for 0 yards
Rushing:
DAL: Preston Pearson, 8 for 20 yards and 1 TD; Robert Newhouse, 7 for 28 yards; Roger Staubach, 6 for 61 yards; Doug Dennison, 4 for 9 yards and 1 TD STL: Jim Otis, 21 for 88 yards; Terry Metcalf, 14 for 86 yards; Jim Hart, 3 for 0 yards; Steve Jones, 3 for -1 yards and 1 TD; Jerry Latin, 2 for -4 yards
Receiving:
DAL: Preston Pearson, 8 for 61 yards; Drew Pearson, 4 for 74 yards; Charley Young, 4 for 42 yards; Robert Newhouse, 4 for 32 yards; Jean Fugett, 3 for 38 yards; Billy Joe DuPree, 1 for 17 yards; Doug Dennison, 1 for 4 yards STL: Ike Harris, 4 for 71 yards; Mel Gray, 4 for 65 yards and 2 TDs; Terry Metcalf, 1 for 30 yards and 1 TD; J.V. Cain, 1 for 17 yards; Steve Jones, 1 for 16 yards
Kick returns:
DAL: Doug Dennison, 2 for 45 yards; Preston Pearson, 2 for 42 yards; Cal Peterson, 1 for 10 yards; Thomas Henderson, 1 for 3 yards STL: Terry Metcalf, 2 for 47 yards; Gary Hammond, 1 for 20 yards
Punt returns:
STL: Terry Metcalf, 1 for 5 yards
Interceptions:
DAL: Randy Hughes, 1 for 0 yards STL: Roger Wehrli, 3 for 31 yards
Punting:
DAL: Mitch Hoopes, 1 for 36 yards STL: Jeff West, 2 for 79 yards
Field Goals:
DAL: Toni Fritsch, 1/1 STL: Jim Bakken, 1/1