Cardinals Defense Shines in Win over Cowboys

By Zach Alvira

For the second week in a row the Arizona Cardinals found themselves in control at the end of the first half. 

Last week, it was a 20-point lead over the New York Giants. But a monumental collapse by the Red Birds allowed the Giants to come from behind and steal a victory in the closing seconds. 

The defense was unable to hold the Giants, resulting in the loss. The complete opposite happened Sunday in the Cardinals 28-16 win over the Dallas Cowboys at State Farm Stadium. 

“They fought and they played hard,” Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said. “It’s what we’ve been doing for two weeks. I told them right there the difference in the game was we didn’t beat ourselves and we made some plays.”

The win for the Cardinals ends a 15-game losing streak at home, which dates back to Oct. 24, 2021. And it came against one of the best teams in the NFL this season. 

Most things went right for the Cardinals from the start. 

Quarterback Joshua Dobbs led them to score points on all five of their first-half drives. Prater connected on a 39-yard field goal for the game’s first points. The second drive was capped off by a 5-yard run by running back James Conner. 

Wideout Rondale Moore lined up in the backfield on the Cardinals’ third possession and took it up the middle for 45 yards and another touchdown. To end the half, Prater hit a 62-yard field goal. 

“Obviously, he’s premier to bang that one through,” Gannon said. 

Early on, the Cardinals defense found ways to slow down the high-powered Cowboys offense. 

The defensive front pressured Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott. Linebackers Zaven Collins and Victor Dimukeje both recorded sacks on the Cowboys’ second possession, which forced them to settle for a field goal. 

Prescott found a rhythm, though, in the second quarter. He led the Cowboys down the field and connected with wideout Rico Dowdle for a 15-yard touchdown. But that came as the Cowboys were already down two scores after the Moore run. 

Dallas was only able to add on two more field goals in the second half. Even as Dallas drove down the field, the Cardinals found ways to come up with key stops. 

“We just told each other bend but don’t break,” Cardinals linebacker Kyzir White said. “We didn’t have a turnover all game so we knew if we got a turnover, we could seal the deal. That’s what we tried to do.”

White was partially responsible for two of the most notable plays for the Cardinals defense Sunday. 

On fourth down from the 5-yard line with Prescott running out of the pocket to avoid pressure off the edge from linebacker BJ Ojulari, White broke away from coverage to stop Prescott in his tracks. It resulted in a turnover on downs as Prescott tried to force a pass to one of his wideouts in the end zone, but it fell incomplete. 

White then came up clutch in the fourth quarter by picking off Prescott in the end zone. He said postgame he had trouble with the defensive formation during practice all week but prayed when it came up Sunday, he would be able to make the stop. 

He did just that. 

“I told myself this morning, ‘If (defensive coordinator Nick Rallis) calls that defense and that play call, I won’t mess it up,’” White said. “I think I was 100% on it all game. I was proud of myself in that regard.”

The performance by the defense allowed the offense to take command of the game. Dobbs was poised in the pocket and showed off his ability to run, pulling a read option to get around a rushing Micah Parsons for a 44-yard gain early in the first quarter. 

The Cowboys’ talented pass rusher got to Dobbs just once on the day. He was able to get into the backfield at times, even forcing Dobbs to absorb hits while throwing from inside the pocket. But the Cardinals took advantage of his and the rest of Dallas’ aggressiveness on that side of the ball. 

Dallas was flagged for offsides twice in the game. As a team, the Cowboys recorded 13 penalties for 107 yards. They dominated time of possession by nearly 10 minutes compared to the Cardinals, but Arizona was more efficient with the ball and took advantage of mistakes. 

That was made apparent when broken coverage by the Cowboys left Cardinals wideout Michael Wilson wide open for a 69-yard connection in the fourth quarter. A few plays later Dobbs hit Brown for a 4-yard score to extend the Cardinals’ lead. 

The win was a first for many. Not only for the Cardinals as a team this season, but also for Gannon and General Manager Monti Ossenfort, who greeted the team on the field after the win. It was also the first win for Dobbs against the Cowboys, the team he debuted against last season when he was with the Tennessee Titans. 

He called Sunday a “full-circle moment.” 

“First dub against the Cowboys, it’s a good feeling,” said Dobbs, who was 17-of-21 for 189 yards and two touchdowns. “It was a great fight by the team. Great finish. We talked about it last week, ‘What can we improve on?’ We played a good three quarters, but we need to finish. 

“We did a good job finishing in the fourth quarter on both sides of the ball.”

The Cardinals travel to San Francisco to face Brock Purdy and the 49ers next Sunday.