Tag: Dallas Cowboys vs Arizona Cardinals

Cowboys’ report card, snap counts vs Arizona in Week 17

Dallas had a rough go against the Cardinals, unable to get a big win and secure playoff seeding with just one regular season game left. | From @Zeke_Barrera

The Dallas Cowboys came up just short in their chance to earn a statement win against one of the league’s premier teams. In a flip of the script from the week before, Dallas was outclassed in nearly every phase of the game, committing penalties, a turnover, and allowing the Cardinals to hog the ball and put up points.

Every unit this week ranged from average to poor, despite a few inspiring individual performances. While this Dallas team can likely hang with anyone, it’s definitely concerning they haven’t found themselves on the winning side against most of the best competition they’ve faced this season.

Here’s how the Cowboys graded out in Week 17, along with the playtime percentage breakdown.

‘He said he felt it pop’: ACL tear confirmed for Cowboys WR Michael Gallup

The fourth-year wide receiver made an acrobatic catch even after suffering the injury. MRI results have confirmed a clean ACL tear. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Elation over Michael Gallup’s acrobatic touchdown grab late in the second quarter of the Cowboys’ Week 17 game against Arizona was quickly tempered by the realization that he had injured himself making the catch.

Now frustration over the team’s eventual 25-22 loss to the Cardinals is compounded by the confirmation that whatever Dallas does in the postseason, it will have to do without their talented fourth-year receiver. NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday afternoon that Gallup’s MRI results show a clean ACL tear.

Gallup’s injury looked immediately serious as the Colorado State product lay on the turf, clutching at his left knee. While he was able to make it to the sideline with assistance, he was ruled out for the rest of the contest in short order, with suspicions of the worst coming from the sideline.

Those suspicions were echoed by team owner Jerry Jones following the game, but were not confirmed until Monday’s MRI.

Gallup finished the day with three catches and 36 yards- including the Cowboys’ first touchdown of the day- on four targets from quarterback Dak Prescott.

“It was tough,” Prescott said after the game of losing Gallup. “It was very tough. And then obviously, just coming in at halftime and going to see him. Just unfortunate. He’s a guy that I love, a teammate. Can’t get a better teammate that M.G. Sick about it. I mean, obviously, [he] did a hell of a job going up and getting the touchdown. Honestly, I haven’t seen it, I haven’t seen the play, [I] don’t know how he did it. I didn’t see the replay of the catch. But I know I put it up there, and he went and did what M.G. does.”

“You saw his play-making ability,” fellow wideout Amari Cooper explained to reporters. “He said that he felt it pop before he caught the ball. He’s tough enough to go up and still make the play, and he knew he was hurt. It speaks to how tough M.G. is and how much of a baller he is. It’s unfortunate that he went down like that. He’ll be all right, and I know he’ll come back better.”

Gallup ends the season with just 35 receptions for 445 yards and two touchdowns. He suffered a calf injury in the season opener and missed Weeks 2 through 9 as a result.

While the “clean tear” of his ACL will make for an easier rehab, the former third-round draft pick will now prepare to test the free agent waters while seriously injured.

On Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said Monday that the injury would not change the team’s approach to Gallup this offseason.

“I know he was looking forward to what free agency was going to bring & hopefully right here in Dallas,” he said per a tweet from USA Today’s Jori Epstein. “We know we have our (cap) challenges here but no one thinks more of Michael Gallup than the Dallas Cowboys, his teammates, the coaching staff and the organization. Just a class act all the way.”

Gallup himself was on Twitter before Sunday’s game was even over, voicing his support of Cedrick Wilson, the teammate who replaced him in the second half and scored a fourth-quarter touchdown.

Jones called Gallup’s injury, “obviously…a very difficult blow,” as per Epstein, adding, “he’ll come back strong & better than ever & ultimately Michael will get his.”

Whether or not it comes from the Cowboys or another club remains to be seen.

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Good, Bad, Ugly: Special teams mishaps, confusion come back to bite Cowboys in the end

Cedrick Wilson and Micah Parsons couldn’t save the Dallas Cowboys from an embarrassing 25-22 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17. | From @BenGrimaldi

The 2021 Dallas Cowboys remain a difficult team to figure out. Just when it appears they’ve righted the ship and gotten back to their dominant ways from earlier in the season, the Cowboys turn around and give another uneven game.

In losing 25-22 to the Arizona Cardinals, the Cowboys played more uninspired football where they didn’t match the intensity of a winning team. The knock on the Cowboys these last few weeks was they were beating down on inferior opponents during their four-game winning streak and critics wanted to see how they fared against a good team.

Dallas fans couldn’t have liked the response from their team. In what several members of the team referred to as a measuring-stick game, the Cowboys fell short, at home, to an undermanned team that was reeling. The Cowboys, especially their offense, played an ugly game for most of the first three quarters before turning it on in the end to give themselves a chance.

Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly from a disappointing loss in Week 17.

Sluggish Cowboys get act together too late, fall to Cardinals 25-22

The Cowboys couldn’t get right on Sunday, falling to the Cardinals and ending their four-game winning streak.

With about 10 minutes left in the early games, it looked like the Dallas Cowboys were going to have a shot at a beautiful Sunday. Both the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the two teams Dallas was tied with for second place in the NFC playoff race, were trailing on their contests. Once both teams completed late comebacks, it may have felt to Cowboys fans that Sunday was not going to be a good day.

Those feelings were confirmed when Dallas came out flat in their contest against the Arizona Cardinals. Dallas found themselves down 22-7 prior to starting a fourth-quarterback comeback. The Cowboys closed it to three and appeared to make their defensive stand, but the referee ruled no fumble when replay showed it clearly was. As Dallas had no timeouts they couldn’t challenge, and the NFL refused to intercede as they have done in several other games this season. With the two minute warning gone, Arizona QB Kyler Murray was left to kneel down three times to end the game. Dallas’ 25-22 loss drops them to 11-5 on the season.

With Green Bay still to play on Sunday Night Football, the Cowboys now sit in the No. 4 slot in the NFC with one more game for them to go. Dallas is assured of hosting a Wild Card game at AT&T Stadium, and the way the seeding is now, it appears Murray and Arizona will be right back in two weeks to play that contest.

Arizona (11-5) is currently the fifth seed and the top wild-card entrant in the conference.

Things didn’t start out great for the Cowboys, who struggled to get their top receivers involved. Once they did, as Dak Prescott found Michael Gallup on a back-shoulder fade for a touchdown, it was still bad news.

Gallup twisted his left knee and was immediately ruled out. It appears the pending free agent may have suffered a season-ending situation.

Dallas mounted a furious comeback and made the game close, but weren’t able to close the deal as their four-game winning streak ended. While the referees had yet another atrocious game, the Cowboys didn’t do much to stem the tide themselves. Prescott finished with thee scores and no picks, but a late fumble gave Arizona their final three points and he routinely missed receivers in totaling just 226 passing yards.

The run game struggled as well with just 45 yards on the ground and Prescott being the leading rusher with just 20 yards on scramble plays. It didn’t help that Dallas missed an early field goal as Greg Zuerlein’s struggles continue.

Dallas will travel to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 18 as the Eagles are now firmly in the playoff picture. They haven’t clinched, but at 9-7 can earn a spot through a victory over Dallas or through a combination of losses by other teams still in the hunt.

WATCH: Cowboys’ Wilson trickery leads to Cooper TD

The Cowboys cut the lead to three with some trickery from Cedrick Wilson, leading to an Amari Cooper touchdown and two-point conversion. | From @CDBurnett7

With an opportunity down eight in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys took another blow to their comeback hopes with quarterback Dak Prescott fumbling the ball in friendly territory, setting up Arizona to make a field goal and make it a two-possession game.

The chances looked bleak but Kellen Moore got back in his bag to drive Dallas down the field without much resistance from the Cardinals. Prescott and company put together an 8-play, 75-yard drive to cut the lead to just a field goal. Wide receiver Cedrick Wilson started the momentum with a pass of his own to running back Tony Pollard, setting up Dallas near the red zone.

Three plays later, Prescott found wide receiver Amari Cooper for the touchdown then went back to Wilson for the two-point conversion, making it a three-point game with 4:42 to play.

WATCH: Cowboys cut into 4th quarter lead with Cedrick Wilson TD grab

Dallas took the short field thanks to the defense and special teams and converted it into a Prescott-Wilson touchdown to chop into the lead. | From @CDBurnett7

The Dallas Cowboys found themselves down 22-7 late in the third quarter, having struggled on both sides of the ball for most of the game. After another three-and-out from the offense, Dallas got some help from their opportunistic defense. Defensive ends Randy Gregory and Dorance Armstrong combined on a pressure of Kyler Murray and Armstrong finished the job to give the offense back the ball.

Adding to the help, the special teams has been impressive and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who has just a single catch, returned the short punt 17 yards to the Arizona 31. Quarterback Dak Prescott put together a solid drive, albeit didn’t look pretty but a huge 4th-down conversion from Prescott led to a touchdown throw to wide receiver Cedrick Wilson.

Dallas had a delay-of-game on the 2-pt conversion attempt and kicker Greg Zuerlein came out and snuck in the extra-point after missing a 43-yard field goal early in the contest. Now, the Cowboys sit eight points behind with over 13 minutes left to come back.

WATCH: Cowboys WR Gallup injures knee on insane TD catch

Cowboys receiver Michael Gallup came down with a huge TD catch but injured his knee on the play and is ruled out for the rest of the game. | From @CDBurnett7

Following a nuclear-level explosion from the offense against Washington in Week 16, the Dallas Cowboys had heavy momentum going into a clash with the 10-win Arizona Cardinals. The first drive was stalled out and the second looked like sure points until kicker Greg Zuerlein pushed the 43-yard attempt wide left to leave the Cowboys empty on their first two drives.

After Arizona dominated the time of possession, keeping the ball away from the Dallas offense, quarterback Dak Prescott put together a key drive late in the first half. Battling against the Cardinals and offensive line penalties, Prescott marched the ball downfield and capped off the drive with a 21-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Michael Gallup.

While he made the big catch, Gallup injured his left leg and needed assistance from trainers to walk back to the sideline. It took little time for Dallas in the medical tent with Gallup and he was immediately helped to the locker room and his return has been ruled out.

Gallup is in the midst of a contract year on a playoff team and if the injury is serious as it appeared, receivers Cedrick Wilson and Malik Turner will be asked to replicate the production of the fourth-year receiver.

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Tyron Smith active for Cowboys as Cardinals without RB James Conner

The Cowboys will have their starting offensive line on the field while the Cardinals will miss four offensive starters in Dallas. | From @CDBurnett7

After missing the last two weeks with an ankle injury, the Cowboys welcome back Pro Bowl right tackle Tyron Smith to the fold and will have their starting offensive line on the field together against Arizona. In fact, Dallas will now have their projected offensive starting lineup together when they take the field against the Cardinals.

On the defensive side, linebacker Keanu Neal was added to the COVID/Reserve list. Safeties Jayron Kearse and Donovan Wilson will be asked to play a bigger role in the box as hybrid linebackers due to the absence.

The five inactives are reserve players for Dallas, with all offensive starters on the field for Kellen Moore in a game with big seeding implications.

The Cardinals will be without four offensive starters in AT&T Stadium, with wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and left tackle DJ Humpries out before gameday while running back James Conner and wide receiver Rondale Moore are two of Arizona’s six inactives.

Conner’s impact will be missed for the Cardinals, who has totaled a career-high 16 touchdowns during the 2021 season in 14 games played.

 

Advanced Stats: Cardinals first real Cowboys competition in months

Cowboys and Cardinals split in four critical win indicators with both teams featuring explosive offenses and stingy defenses. | From @ProfessorO_NFL

It’s Week 17 in the 2021 NFL season and the Dallas Cowboys are NFC East Champions. With the division wrapped up, Dallas can focus on seeding from this point onward.  Currently the No. 2 seed via a three-way tiebreaker with the L.A. Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Cowboys have the potential to finish anywhere in the top four with two games remaining.

Coming off of a 56-point decimation of the Washington Football Team, the Cowboys are on a four game winning streak and sit at 11-4 on the season. Dallas will host the Arizona Cardinals in a Sunday afternoon game and at home, the Cowboys have averaged 38.4 PPG and 426.1 YPG.

Arizona is 10-5 on the season but have lost five of their last eight games after an impressive 7-0 start to the season. They are one game behind the Rams in the NFC West and currently hold the No. 5 seed. The Cardinals have played particularly well on the road this year with a 7-1 record, averaging 30.3 points per game and 2.5 takeaways in those games.

Each week we open up the Advanced Stat Notebook to analyze how each team ranks in EPA, DVOA, ANY/A and Toxic Differential. These four key metrics have a high correlation to win probability.

Coverage map for updated kickoff time of Cowboys-Cardinals in Week 17

The game was flexed from it’s original slot, check out the updated coverage map and new kickoff time, along with wager and ref info in our game preview. | From @CDPiglet

The Dallas Cowboys played their best game of the season Week 16, beating the Washington Football Team in all three phases of the game and putting up 42 first-half points on the way to a 56-14 victory. The question for Dallas is can they carry this momentum through the rest of the regular season and into a playoff run.

The defense has been very consistent, but Kyler Murray is a different kind of QB than Dallas has faced in their recent hot streak. The Arizona Cardinals’ signal caller has elite mobility that might limit Micah Parsons to a quarterback spy, but unlike Taysom Hill has the arm talent to equally make a team pay in the passing game. The Cowboys defense must remain disciplined within their pass rush, and the defensive backs have to be able to stick to the man or zone a little longer to help negate Murray’s playmaking ability.

The Cardinals defense has two defensive players the Cowboys must account for on every play. Chandler Jones is arguably the best pass rusher in the league the last few seasons, and Budda Baker might be the best playmaking safety in the NFL. After that they have many players considered to be great talents in the draft who haven’t quite lived up to expectations. Guys like Isaiah Simmons, Zaven Collins, Zach Allen, and Leki Fotu are all still waiting for the light to stay lit.

If Dallas can neutralize the impact of Jones and Baker, they should be able to put up plenty of points on the Arizona defense that has allowed 27 points per game during their three-game losing streak, and who just gave up 30 to the Detroit Lions. Here is how to watch, listen, stream, and bet on the Week 17 match up.