Dallas Cowboys' Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott struggling in second season

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A year ago, Dallas rookie quarterback Dak Prescott and fellow rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott could seemingly do no wrong.

They played starring roles and led the Cowboys on an 11-game winning streak that resulted in an NFC East title.

Now Prescott and Elliott are struggling through the real world of the NFL after the Green Bay Packers pulled off another comeback for a 35-31 win that dropped Dallas' record to 2-3.

Prescott hasn't been able to do enough to keep the Cowboys in front in the second half the last two weeks. Both the Los Angeles Rams and Packers came from behind to defeat Dallas on its home turf.

"You're frustrated," Prescott said. "We knew how important it was for us to get this and go into the bye week 3-2. And now on the flip side, it is just about staying focused."

Elliott, who has a possible six-game suspension hanging over him off the field, actually had his best game of the season against Green Bay. He rushed for 116 yards on 29 carries and now has 398 rushing yards in three career games against the Packers.

But Dallas still couldn't make the recipe work the way it did in 2016.

"I thought the balance was good," Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said. "We were able to move the ball and score points really throughout the ballgame. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough."

While Cowboys fans might be looking at their star offensive players and wondering why they're faltering in the second half lately, there are glaring problems elsewhere.

The Rams rolled up 412 yards of total offense in their come-from-behind victory in Dallas last week. Green Bay didn't rack up the same kind of stats, but didn't need to after cornerback Damarious Randall returned an interception 21 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

And there's another problem: Dallas has given the ball away on turnovers, but the defense or special teams haven't taken the ball away from an opponent in the last three games.

"Their interception for a touchdown was a big turning point in the game," Garrett said. "Defensively, you're always trying to take the ball away. We'll continue to emphasize it and hopefully it'll start showing up in the ballgames."