NFL
By: Greg Rector
Arizona Cardinals (10-5) vs Dallas Cowboys (11-4) 4;25 PM Sunday, Jan 2nd, 2022
The Dallas Cowboys will host the Cardinals in week 17 in their first game of the new year. After the dismantling of the No Name team (56-14), the Cowboys hope to continue that type of success against Arizona. The second seed in the NFC will be looking for their 5th win in a row, while the former top-seeded Cardinals have been struggling having lost three straight games. Needless to say, there weren’t any No Name fans on social media screaming “We Want Dallas,” after Sunday night. The Cowboys answered the critics, from within the fanbase, and oh yeah the talking heads can sit down and shut the hell up too. Plenty of starters had an early night for Dallas as they had racked up 49 points before the third quarter was over against Washington, the best part of that is they appear to be healthy for the Cardinals game. Just for good measure, the COVID cases all appear to be on track to return as well as left tackle Tyron Smith. Let’s look ahead to the first of two straight games where the Cowboys want to ‘Clip bird wings.”
Dallas Cowboys Offense vs Arizona Cardinals Defense
The question is, Who is number one in the NFL in total yards, yards per game, and points per game? The answer is the Dallas Cowboys. Yes the Cowboys despite their non-elite quarterback, the oh-so-washed running back, wide receivers that just aren’t as good as they think they are, right all you “experts?” That’s for the folks constantly focusing solely on the negative. While the numbers got exaggerated against a weak No Name team, the efficiency and more importantly the urgency of the Cowboys’ offense was beautiful to see. That must keep going as the regular season winds down and the playoffs loom. The Cardinals defense is a good unit, however, they’re on a downward spiral after being so very good for most of the season. The Cowboys converted 10/15 of third downs, extending drives and keeping the defense well-rested also. This has been the issue for the Cardinals’ defense lately, they aren’t stopping anyone on 3rd downs. It leaves them on the field and with this Cowboys offense we see what happens especially at home when they extend drives. Remember the red-zone disparity I wrote about last week between the road and home games? Well, “home sweet home.” saw an awesome 6 for 6 in the red zone for the Cowboys against Washington. For only the 2nd time in NFL history, a quarterback threw TDs to a WR, TE, RB, and an OT. In other words, this group that so many have attacked for weeks justifiably in some aspects had an amazing game. Most importantly even without Tyron Smith the offensive line imposed their will against the No Names and protected both Prescott and Cooper Rush. With Smith expected back for Sunday that will be a key factor as the Cardinals love to use Budda Baker on safety blitzes especially off the left edge. We didn’t see as much from Elliott or Pollard running, just 9 carries for Zeke, and 8 for Pollard, so there wasn’t much wear and tear for either back. Hopefully, that translates into a better day of production against Arizona. Playing for just over a half only this late into a season is a huge bonus that definitely was a welcome sight as this prevented anyone from going down with an injury. This will be a battle and the Cowboys being as healthy as they’ve been all season could tip the balance in their favor.
Dallas Cowboys Defense vs Arizona Cardinals Offense
As with the offense, here’s another question? After 16 weeks who has the number one defense in the NFL? Well, if you said the Dallas Cowboys, you would be correct. This isn’t supposed to be the case by any means. However the best defense in football right now overall is indeed the Cowboys, league leaders in turnovers, leaders in 3rd down efficiency, coming off a 5 sack, two more turnovers, and scoring a touchdown of their own, this group as Micah Parsons said last week is “Not just one lion anymore, it’s a pride of lions.” Parsons added to his impressive rookie season, Diggs chipped in with interception number 11 (tied for the most in a season since 1981), and Demarcus Lawrence with a tremendous pick-six, this was sheer heaven for me. Now Kyler Murray is indeed a weapon unto himself, add in a returning James Connor to the backfield, and keeping the Cardinals out the red zone will be very important Sunday afternoon. The Colts, Rams, Lions, and other teams though have done a good job containing Murray lately. Since his ankle injury, he isn’t as explosive but the real key as it is with other good running quarterbacks is setting a solid edge (Lawrence) staying in your lanes, and pressuring him up the middle. The Cardinals’ passing game really misses DeAndre Hopkins one of the most well-rounded receivers in the game. They simply aren’t as dangerous as they were early in the year. Washington wasn’t able to expose a makeshift secondary after Jourdan Lewis had to miss the game with COVID, the rookie 2nd round pick Kelvin “Bossman Fat,” Joseph, stepped up and performed well, what a positive for the future that would be for the cornerback room. It will be vital for the Cowboys to prevent the Arizona offense from getting into any rhythm. Stay just as hungry as they’ve been for the last month.
Intangibles and Prediction
As always avoiding the hype and buying into it has to be prevented by the players. They’ve been very good at staying focused on the task at hand. One of the best things about the 2021 season by far. This is supposed to be the team that could “test,” the Cowboys. It will be important to once again establish early and often, not today, not in our house. This is a double-digit winning team for a reason, treat them as such. It will be a battle, the Cardinals will be playing with purpose, they don’t want to be in the on-the-road club for the wild-card round, they want to get back into at least being a home team for one playoff game. I have little doubt that they won’t be doing everything possible to do just that. It will be up to the Cowboys to not have a letdown, to instead keep showing the fans, the critics, and the haters, that the Dallas Cowboys mean business in 2022 just as they have in 2021. Definitely, this game will have a playoff feel to it. A desperate opponent is a dangerous opponent. That can’t be taken lightly by Dallas. At this point the Cowboys are the healthier roster, playing at home, and at a higher level. I am taking the Cowboys in a 27-20 score. The top-seed in the conference is still alive, play like it.
As always you can find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
