Atlanta had to punt on their next drive, but Butch Johnson muffed the kick and Tom Moriarty recovered the ball for the Falcons on the Dallas 25-yard line. Three plays later, Tim Mazzetti kicked a 42-yard field goal to tie the game at 10 roughly a minute into the second quarter. Dallas responded by driving 46 yards in 10 plays to take a 13-10 lead with a 48-yard field goal from Septién. But Atlanta got a big break on the ensuing kickoff when a 15-yard personal foul penalty against Dallas turned Dennis Pearson's 36-yard return into a 51-yard gain and gave them the ball on the Cowboys 40-yard line. From there, Atlanta scored on a 7-play drive, the last one a 17-yard touchdown pass from Steve Bartkowski to Wallace Francis that gave the team a 17-13 lead. Dallas barely avoided disaster when they muffed the ensuing kickoff, managing to recover the ball in the end zone for a touchback. But on the next play, Tony Dorsett lost a fumble while being hit by Greg Brezina, and Falcons linebacker Dewey McClain recovered it on the Cowboys 30-yard line. The Dallas defense managed to keep Atlanta out of the end zone, but Mazzetti kicked a 22-yard field goal to give them a 20-13 lead with 50 seconds left in the half. Dallas then drove to the Falcons 35-yard line, but lost the ball on a fumbled snap in shotgun formation that was recovered by defensive back Tom Pridemore. To make matters worse for Dallas, Staubach was knocked out of the game on the drive due to a massive hit from linebacker Robert Pennywell, though they did manage to prevent Atlanta from scoring as a result of an interception by Randy Hughes.
