For once, the Dallas Cowboys made a promising start to the defense, but it didn’t matter as they were knocked out by the Arizona Cardinals with a final-10 final score at the AT&T Stadium, missing Dak Prescott in the first game. They beat Killer Murray and Co. in the first quarter. Pushed, Dandre Hopkins and Murray bottled in the process, but it didn’t last long. When the second quarter arrived, so did the Cowboys’ aggressive turnover difficulties. Ezekiel Elliott flinched twice and lost both, giving the Cardinals a short field, which cost them a lot.
Murray paid them to killer Murray with a touchdown flip and gave Kenyan Drake a big play scamper after putting him in the position of putting the rest of the one-yard position after the second capture. And for good reason, after two failed attempts, Murray finally joined connected, hitting an 80-yard dagger to Kirk for a touchdown to break the half, and the Cowboys put three touchdowns to the Cardinals before halftime before advancing to the field goal.
To add insult to injury, the Cowboys lost perennial all-pro right guard Zack Martin in the first quarter – then hit him in the head – and in his absence, four backups were taken in the Dallas offensive line. From there, it was all about pushing Andy Dalton, and the Cardinals did it smoothly, pushing for more turnover and polishing their route on Monday night.
Why the Cardinals won
Watch the ball, take the ball, score the ball.
That’s the motto for every team in the NFL when they take the field weekly, but the teams against the Cowboys that run it the way they want, and the Cardinals were no different. They forced Elliott to spin twice – losing both – and turned them into a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. They went ahead on the score again and entered the halftime with a 28-3 lead and when the Cowboys got the ball to start the second half, Dre Kirkpatrick put the ball back into Murray’s hands. And for the third time in the game, the Cardinals made a touchdown from the Cowboys’ Giave. The third shouldn’t have happened, or if the authorities had intervened a defensive pass on Kirkpatrick to face CD Lamb before the INT, but this isn’t the first time Mike McCarthy has seen a questionable call / no-call this season.
It’s also not the first time he has put his team on the ground several times, and the same Cardinals really gave the win – not looking back from two touchdown leads after the first two blunders. Murray was dynamic in the run game (carrying 20 for 164 yards and two rushing)
Why the Cowboys lost
Giving the ball away is pretty bad, but doing so makes it worse when you can’t stop the knockbild.
A rare good start for the Cowboys defense, primarily at the hands of Elliott, wasted by offensive errors. Normally, the Cowboys find themselves recovering from a major loss, but Dak Prescott did not exit the tunnel on Monday night, and will not return until September 2021. Now this is Andy Dalton’s show, and his lack of athleticism gave him zero chance to king the defense issues the press made this season. Dalton was knocked out three times and the Cardinals landed on eight quarterback hits that night, forcing him to demand and force him to play restless football.
Without Prescott’s magic, and after hating Martin for the game, Dalton didn’t have a chance against the Cardinals defense. You’d think things would have been easy-absent, All-Pro Chandler Jones – who moved to IR this week – but not as fast. Dalto made two interceptions to match Elliott’s two fumbles, and the Cowboys mailed him early.
Turn
Buddha Baker himself had a day. He not only led the team in the fourth quarter and intervened to help the Cowboys coffin the nail in the coffin, but also forced Elliott to set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Cowboys never looked like one after hitting the ball to the ground.
Play the game
Has anyone ordered a backbreaker? With extra sauce ??
The order is up.
The value of Dak Prescott is rising
“How do you feel about Dak Prescott now?” – Mike Leslie WFAA Channel 8 Dallas
What’s next
The Cowboys will now head to the NFC East clash with the Northeast and Washington football team, with the Cardinals running their own divisional fight when they host the Seattle Seahawks.
Catch all the highlights and action you missed in the live blog below.
