IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- Emmitt Smith was treated like "trash" in his homecoming.
Making his return to the place where he spent 13 years and set the NFL's all-time rushing record, Smith was stuffed for minus-1 yard on six carries before leaving with a shoulder injury as the Cowboys rolled to a 24-7 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
It marked the first time in 206 NFL games that Smith failed to gain at least one yard on the ground. And the Cowboys (3-1) added injury to insult, knocking Smith out of the game in the second quarter with a sprained right shoulder.
"It's not like they tried to twist my ankle or spit on me," Smith said. "It was a competitive ballgame and they were just playing football."
Not part of Bill Parcells' rebuilding program in Dallas, Smith incensed his former teammates when he was quoted in a Sports Illustrated article as saying he felt "like a diamond surrounded by trash" in his final season in Dallas. Smith later apologized for those remarks, but the Cowboys (3-1) were determined to make him pay on Sunday.
The 34-year-old Smith was surrounded by a bevy of defenders each time he took a handoff from Jeff Blake and caught just two passes for two yards. Hard-hitting safety Roy Williams administered the knockout blow, leveling Smith with a hit to the left shoulder early in the second quarter.
"We got after Emmitt," Williams said. "I hope he's alright, but we got after him."
Smith has a sprain of the AC joint and will undergo further tests on Monday.
Along with shutting down Smith, Dallas held the Cardinals (1-4) to nine first downs and 151 total yards and recorded two safeties.
"Today, we just put the pedal to the metal," said Cowboys safety Darren Woodson.
While Dallas' defense dominated, Quincy Carter completed 20-of-31 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. He hit Terry Glenn with a 51-yard scoring play on a flea flicker in the first quarter and connected with fullback Richie Anderson on an 18-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
"He (Carter) is a work in progress," Parcells said. "He is doing well, but if I have to be critical he still needs to work on his accuracy and being more precise on his second and third reads."
Troy Hambrick, the successor to Smith in Dallas, rushed for 48 yards on eight carries in the first half. He had just 11 yards on 15 carries in the second half. Afterwards, Hambrick praised Smith.
"Emmitt taught me everything I know," Hambrick said. "I talked to him and he said, 'You're doing the right thing, keep your head up.'"
Texas Stadium was filled with fans wearing blue No. 22 jerseys and there were many welcome back signs, including a huge one that read "Once a Cowboy, Always a Cowboy."
"The chance to play in front of the Cowboys fans again was just wonderful," Smith said. "The most dramatic part of today was walking on the field before warmups."
But that would be the only highlight for Smith, who lost yards on four plays. His best effort was a six-yard catch on a 3rd-and-8 swing pass. But he fell after making his other reception of the game for a four-yard loss.
On the first play from scrimmage, defensive tackle La'Roi Glover anticipated the handoff to Smith and threw him for a four-yard loss. On Smith's next carry, linebacker Dat Nguyen dropped him for a one-yard loss.
Smith rushed for 17,162 yards and 153 touchdowns in 13 glorious years with the Cowboys, winning three Super Bowl titles. Last October 27, Smith passed Walter Payton (16,726) on the NFL's all-time rushing list, but his streak of 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons also came to an end in 2002, when he rushed for 975 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 3.8 yards per carry.
The decision to jettison Smith has proved to be the right one for the Cowboys, who have a three-game winning streak for the first time since they started 3-0 in 1999. Meanwhile, Smith has produced 192 yards on 65 carries for the Cardinals, an average of just under 3.0 yards per carry. Hambrick has 299 yards on 84 carries.
The Cowboys got on the board when Carter hit Glenn with a 51-yard touchdown on a perfectly executed flea flicker with 3:33 left in the first quarter.
"You just hope that the defense falls for the play action," said Glenn, who had four catches for 104 yards. "When they see the play action, you can;t get excited. I got excited at first but you have to calm yourself down so they buy out on the play."
"We blitzed and they got it," said Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson of the flea flicker.
Josh Scobey returned the ensuing kickoff 63 yards to the Dallas 31. Three plays later, Blake hit Bryan Gilmore with a 24-yard touchdown with 1:52 remaining in the quarter.
The Cowboys responded with a six-play, 66-yard scoring drive. Carter completed three passes for 48 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown to Anderson, who beat linebacker James Darling to the corner of the end zone 1:12 into the second quarter.
Billy Cundiff kicked field goals of 33 yards in the second quarter and 36 yards in the third quarter for Dallas.
Glover and Daleroy Stewart tackled Blake in the end zone for a safety with 6:46 left in the third quarter after rookie Anquan Boldin field a punt at his own 4.
The Cowboys added another safety when Kenyon Coleman chased Blake out of the end zone with 3:34 remaining in the quarter.
Blake was 14-of-28 for 121 yards with two interceptions.
"Our biggest problem was establishing the running game," Blake said. "Right now I'm very frustrated and just want to keep quiet."
Boldin, who had set an NFL record with 30 catches for 464 yards in his first four games, was held to three receptions for 33 yards.
