In what was expected to be a close, high-scoring game, the Arizona Cardinals manhandled the Dallas Cowboys on their way to a 38-10 victory on Monday night. Vance Joseph‘s defense smothered Andy Dalton behind a backup-filled offensive line, and the rushing attack made the most out of the Cowboys porous defense.
Arizona Cardinals
Arizona started the game with three consecutive three-and-outs. Kyler Murray was struggling with accuracy issues early in the game. After that, Arizona’s offense exploded for 21 unanswered points thanks to two Ezekiel Elliott fumbles. Despite only having a 37.5 percent completion rate and nine completions, Murray had 262 total yards and three touchdowns, including one on the ground. Christian Kirk had both of Murray’s passing touchdowns as those were the only two catches Kirk had in the game. Kenyan Drake finally had a great game with 20 rushing attempts for 164 yards and two touchdowns. DeAndre Hopkins didn’t need to have a big game this week for Arizona to win against Dallas.
Defensively, the Cardinals were unstoppable. Even without Chandler Jones, the defense haunted Dalton all game. Haason Reddick, Budda Baker, and Dennis Gardeck were after Dalton all game. The trio of Baker, Patrick Peterson, and Byron Murphy Jr held the trio of Dallas receivers in check until garbage time. Baker and Dre Kirkpatrick picked off Dalton, and Murphy and Jordan Phillips recovered Elliott’s fumbles.
Dallas Cowboys
After Elliott’s fumbling woes, Dalton had to force some throws. He ended up tossing 54 passes for 246 yards, two interceptions, and a touchdown that went to Amari Cooper. Elliott caught the most passes for Dallas with eight, and Cooper and CeeDee Lamb each caught seven. Once again, Dallas lost another starting lineman as Zack Martin left the game with a concussion. Mike McCarthy’s play-calling was predictable, the reason why he got his walking papers from Green Bay during the 2018 season. Defensively, the Cowboys were no match for Arizona’s high-powered offense with playmakers everywhere.
Highlights
What an awful game by Dallas. Thankfully, they are in the awful NFC East and play the Washington Football team next week. For Arizona, they are now tied with the Los Angeles Rams for second in the NFC West and just a game back of the Seattle Seahawks, who Arizona plays in what will be a wild game next week.
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