Jason Witten makes 200th career start, second most in team history

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten started his 200th career game when he took the field against the Chicago Bears Sunday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Witten’s 200 starts are the second most in team history. Ed “Too Tall” Jones holds the record with 203 career starts. Emmitt Smith is third at 199.

It was also Witten’s 210th career game played, which ranks third in team history. Jones is the leader with 224. Bill Bates is second with 217.

For his career, Witten has played in 206 consecutive games out of a possible 2010 games.

Witten has two catches for 25 yards at halftime.

Dallas opened the game with a 75-yard touchdown drive. Rookie Dak Prescott scored on a 1-yard touchdown. Prescott was three of three passing for 34 yards. Dez Bryant and Cole Beasley were both injured during the drive, but returned to the lineup.

After forcing a punt, the Cowboys drove 44 yards to the Bears’ 31 where Dan Bailey made a 49-yard field goal to make it 10-0.

Lance Dunbar scored on a 1-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to push the lead to 17-0 at the 11:11 mark. The big play on the drive as a 29-yard catch by Beasley at the 1. Dunbar scored on the next play.

The Bears got a spark on their third possession when Jordan Howard had a 37-yard run as part of a 59-yard drive that ended with Connor Barth’s 34-yard field goal that made it 17-3 with 7:47 left in the first half.

The Cowboys followed with another methodical drive, 12 plays over 73 yards, with Alfred Morris running the final 3 yards for a 24-3 halftime lead.

This story was originally published September 25, 2016 at 8:55 PM with the headline "Jason Witten makes 200th career start, second most in team history."