The Cowboys could win it all this year or get knocked out at home in the first round of the playoffs. I wouldn’t be surprised either way. That is the kind of blood pumping, head scratching, frustrating, exhilarating, exhausting, up and down season that they are having. After their opening night loss to the Bucs, the Cowboys were dominant, winning 6 in a row. I thought their season would be terminating in Inglewood California’s SoFi Stadium on February 13th for sure. I was in the process of making travel plans before the Omicron variant and the meat of the AFC West part of the schedule hit.
The Cowboys have a dominant offensive line that protects Dak. They have two really good running backs that complement each other along with a bevy of good receivers. Finally, they have a high paid quarterback. Defensively the Cowboys were playing great ball earlier in the season, but there has been a regression to the mean lately that’s concerning. Is it just a regular season malaise or the fact that the Cowboys already have the division and playoff berth locked up, so they are bored with these regular season games?
This was encapsulated by the opening drive of the Cardinals. The Dallas defense allowed them to go right down the field with chunk plays, but then bowed up and kept them out of the endzone, holding them to three. It’s like they weren’t focused, but then they moment they put their mind to it, they were able to stop the high-powered Cards offense. The Cowboys are the only team in the NFL with 3 home games with 80+ penalty yards. Trevon Diggs has been great at taking the ball away, but he has given up 1,000 yards plus in coverage. He is not the only one. Kirk and Green were cooking Lewis and Joseph all game on Sunday. Micah Parsons was blowing up plays and creating tackles for loss, but Kyler Murray was carving up his teammates behind him. The Cardinals also ran for 127 yards on the day and led from start to finish. I still believe in the Cowboys and their ability to win a championship, but they must start playing with better discipline and maximizing the on-field talent advantage that they usually have over their opponents. They can’t allow successful fake punts and ESPN top play catches to Jonathan Ward.
Kyler Murray and the Cardinals were once thought of as the best team in the NFL. Their recent slide has knocked them down a peg or two. However, they are still a very dangerous team that the Cowboys need to take seriously come playoff time. Today was a statement game for them and they dominated a lot of the matchups without their best receiver Hopkins on the field. Today showed that the Cardinals are a team built to potentially beat the Cowboys.
Arizona has a dominant defensive line and can keep up with Kellen Moore’s offensive prowess. The Cowboys need to watch the All 22 film of this game and improve on their play execution so that they can make the deep playoff run we expect them to. There was one point near the end of the first half that the Cowboys had a 3 to 1 time of possession advantage and it still felt like they were getting drastically outplayed by the Cardinals. The last thing we need in as another overrated Dallas team getting dispatched early in the playoffs. Let’s end this season on the right note by crushing Philadelphia and ending their playoff dreams. Get well soon Michael Gallup.
