The Baltimore Ravens are like a guitar with an E-string wound too tight—and it snapped in the middle of a second-half comeback attempt in Dallas.

Playing without their best cornerback Jimmy Smith (back) proved fatal as nobody in the secondary could ultimately match up with Dez Bryant or Jason Witten when it counted. And then Cole Beasley bled them to death.

Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes, two to Dez Bryant, in the first game with Tony Romo as his backup, and the Dallas Cowboys set a franchise season record with their ninth straight win, beating the Baltimore Ravens 27-17 on Sunday.

It was looking bright for the Ravens as the Cowboys (9-1) punted on their first four possessions — a first this season — against the NFL’s No. 1 defense. But they marched 92 and 88 yards on their first two drives of the second half to break a 10-10 tie. Both drives ended with TD passes to Bryant , who had six catches for 80 yards.

(Romo, who broke a bone in his back in a preseason game, was active for the first time since Thanksgiving last year, and was the Dallas backup for the first time in 10 years. The 36-year-old never took off his baseball cap, although he was watching with interest as medical personnel surrounded Prescott after the rookie went down hard on a late hit by C.J. Mosley after throwing his first touchdown pass , to Cole Beasley, in the second quarter.)

Prescott bounced off the bench moments later and finished 27 of 36 for 301 yards for another 300-yard game a week after his first. He was 14 of 15 in the second half after the sluggish start for the Dallas offense.

The Ravens (5-5), who lost to Dallas for the first time in five games in franchise history, controlled the tempo most of the first half. Baltimore stayed close on Joe Flacco‘s 5-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter to Steve Smith, who became the 14th player with 1,000 career catches.

But Dallas’ third possession of the second half took more than six minutes beforeDan Bailey‘s 21-yard field goal for a 10-point lead with 1:50 remaining.

NFL rushing leader Ezekiel Elliott broke the Dallas club rookie rushing record of 1,007 yards set by Tony Dorsett in 1977. That’s the same year the Cowboys set the previous franchise mark with an 8-0 start. Dallas won the Super Bowl that season.

Elliott had 97 yards to give him 1,102 this season.

To put it simply, the Cowboys on offense just wore down the Ravens defense, who were on the field way too long to even have a prayer of competing at the end.

Elliott didn’t have a touch in the second quarter, but had 10 for 70 yards in the third. That included an 8-yard catch when he did what’s becoming his customary hurdle over Tavon Young, one of the cornerbacks filling in with Jimmy Smith sidelined by a back injury.

Baltimore receiver Steve Smith’s 1,000th career catch came on the first play of the second half, a 22-yarder over the middle. His 999th was a toe-tapping gem on the sideline in the first half and held up after a review challenge from Dallas coach Jason Garrett. The 16th-year pro finished with 99 yards on eight catches, putting him at 1,005 for his career.

Terrance West had an 18-yard run for Baltimore’s first touchdown and 42 yards rushing at halftime, but one carry for zero yards in the second half. … Flacco was 23 of 35 for 269 yards.

UP NEXT for the Ravens: A key AFC North matchup with Cincinnati in the first of consecutive home games. Surging Miami follows.

TEAM	W	L	T	PCT	F	PA
Baltimore	5	5	0	.500	199	187
Pittsburgh	5	5	0	.500	238	215
Cincinnati	3	6	1	.350	199	226
Cleveland	0	11	0	.000	184	325

Final:

	1	2	3	4	T
BAL	7	3	0	7	17
DAL	0	10	7	10	27

Matchup
1st Downs	17	27
Passing 1st downs	10	19
Rushing 1st downs	6	6
1st downs from penalties	1	2
3rd down efficiency	3-9	7-12
4th down efficiency	0-0	0-0
Total Plays	52	67
Total Yards	368	417
Total Drives	10	9
Yards per Play	7.1	6.2
Passing	267	299
Comp-Att	23-35	27-36
Yards per pass	7.4	8.1
Interceptions thrown	0	0

Sacks-Yards Lost	1-2	1-2
Rushing	101	118
Rushing Attempts	16	30
Yards per rush	6.3	3.9

Red Zone (Made-Att)	2-2	3-5
Penalties	12-136	5-45
Turnovers	0	0

Fumbles lost	0	0
Interceptions thrown	0	0
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	0
Possession	24:21	35:39

Baltimore Passing

	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	QBR	RTG
Joe Flacco	23/35	269	7.7	1	0	1-2	56.8	98.4
TEAM	23/35	267	7.7	1	0	1-2	—	98.4

Baltimore Rushing

	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Terrance West	8	42	5.3	1	18
Kenneth Dixon	6	40	6.7	0	20
Mike Wallace	1	13	13.0	0	13
Joe Flacco	1	6	6.0	0	6
TEAM	16	101	6.3	1	20

Baltimore Receiving

	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	TGTS
Steve Smith Sr.	8	99	12.4	1	22	9
Mike Wallace	5	62	12.4	0	27	10
Kamar Aiken	3	35	11.7	0	18	5
Kyle Juszczyk	3	32	10.7	0	13	3
Dennis Pitta	3	30	10.0	0	18	5
Terrance West	1	11	11.0	0	11	2
Kenneth Dixon	0	0	0.0	0	0	1
TEAM	23	269	11.7	1	27	35

Baltimore Defense

	TACKLES				MISC
	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HTS	TD
Zachary Orr	11	8	0	0	0	0	0
Lardarius Webb	8	7	0	0	0	0	0
Brandon Williams	8	2	0	0	0	0	0
Shareece Wright	7	6	0	0	2	0	0
C.J. Mosley	7	5	0	1	0	1	0
Eric Weddle	6	4	0	0	0	0	0
Michael Pierce	5	2	0	0	0	0	0
Albert McClellan	4	3	1	1	0	1	0
Terrell Suggs	3	2	0	1	0	2	0
Tavon Young	3	2	0	1	0	0	0
Jerraud Powers	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Patrick Onwuasor	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Za’Darius Smith	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lawrence Guy	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Timmy Jernigan	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Matt Judon	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
TEAM	70	44	1	4	2	5	0

Dallas Passing

	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	QBR	RTG
Dak Prescott	27/36	301	8.4	3	0	1-2	95.2	127.2
TEAM	27/36	299	8.4	3	0	1-2	—	127.2

Dallas Rushing

	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Ezekiel Elliott	25	97	3.9	0	14
Dak Prescott	2	16	8.0	0	12
Alfred Morris	2	3	1.5	0	2
Lance Dunbar	1	2	2.0	0	2
TEAM	30	118	3.9	0	14

Dallas Receiving

	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	TGTS
Dez Bryant	6	80	13.3	2	26	8
Cole Beasley	5	59	11.8	1	17	6
Brice Butler	2	49	24.5	0	41	2
Jason Witten	5	37	7.4	0	11	7
Ezekiel Elliott	4	30	7.5	0	17	5
Gavin Escobar	2	21	10.5	0	14	3
Lance Dunbar	2	14	7.0	0	8	3
Terrance Williams	1	11	11.0	0	11	2
TEAM	27	301	11.1	3	41	36