The Dallas Cowboys came maddeningly close to winning their first preseason contest since the third game of the 2019 exhibition season, but it wasn’t meant to be. Fourth-string quarterback Ben DiNucci led Dallas on a drive to take a three-point lead in the fourth quarter, but two late Arizona Cardinals field goals kept the Cowboys out of the win column as they fell, 19-16.
DiNucci had a chance to lead Dallas to their own tie-breaking score, but seemed rattled under zero blitz pressure by the Cardinals as Dallas punted the ball away with less than one minute remaining, leading to Matt Prater’s last-second field goal.
The Cowboys’ backup QBs were not very impressive on an evening when their receivers did them little favors with multiple drops in a sloppy performance.
While preseason scores mean nothing, it would have been a nice victory for a club that suffered numerous injuries on the game. Dallas lost a starter and several key backups to potential long-term injuries in the contest. DT Neville Gallimore, TE Sean McKeon, OT Ty Nsekhe, WR Malik Turner and LB Anthony Hines III all left the contest with various ailments. Their status will be determined as the team returns to Dallas following the conclusion of their training camp but following the game, head coach Mike McCarthy labeled Gallimore’s arm injury as significant.
The Cowboys will next prepare for their dress rehearsal game, next Saturday against the Houston Texans.
Top Passer: Cooper Rush 7/13, 89 yards, 75.5 passer rating
Top Rusher: JaQuan Hardy 8 rushes 32 yards
Top Receiver: Cedric Wilson 2 receptions 40 yards
Top Defender: Dorance Armstrong 5 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 pass deflection