The Dallas Cowboys suffered their first loss of the season with a putrid performance against the Arizona Cardinals, falling 28-16.
Coming into the game, the Cowboys were without three starters on the offensive line, but they were still expected to beat the Cardinals, who were 0-2 on the year. As always with this franchise, though, expect the unexpected.
The Cowboys lost on Sunday, but their frustrating week began with the news of cornerback Trevon Diggs’ injury. It’s difficult to know if losing Diggs for the year took a toll on the team emotionally, but Dallas didn’t look anything like the team they had been over the first two weeks of the season.
Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly in 28-16 defeat at the hands – well, feet – of the Cardinals.
The Good: Running game
Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
It might have been hard to predict the Cowboys would be able to excel on the ground without three starting offensive linemen, but the running game was able to rush for 185 yards. The Cardinals were giving up less than 110 yards on the ground per game, so the Cowboys had success pounding the ball, despite playing from behind the entire game.
RB Tony Pollard led the group, rushing for 122 yards on 23 carries, while backups Rico Dowdle and Hunter Luepke pitched in for 30 yards as well. Pollard and Dowdle averaged 5.3 yards per carry as they paced the effort on the ground.
The rushing attack was a positive on a day where many felt it would be difficult for the makeshift offensive line to help move the ball.
The Bad: The pass defense
The news from earlier in the week hurt, but the Cowboys still expected to have success with a strong group in the secondary. In their first opportunity to prove the pass defense could hold up without Diggs, it was a failing effort.
New No. 1 cornerback Stephon Gilmore was beaten too often, including on a third-and-goal for a touchdown when the defense desperately needed to hold the Cardinals to a field goal. The entire unit allowed Joshua Dobbs, a winless quarterback in four starts, to complete almost 81% of his passes and find open receivers on his limited throws.
The worst moment for Dan Quinn’s pass defense came when the Cowboys cut the lead to five points in the fourth quarter. When the Cardinals got the ball back, their first play was a 69-yard pass play to rookie wide receiver Michael Wilson, who was wide open. The Cowboys blew the coverage on one of the biggest moments in the game and allowed Arizona to move into scoring position in just one play.
Three snaps later, the Cardinals scored a touchdown to put the Cowboys in desperation mode, down two touchdowns.
When the Cowboys defense needed it most, they failed. A 69-yard pass to Michael Wilson set up a Josh Dobbs TD pass to Marquise Brown. Cardinals lead, 28-16, with 7:22 to play.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) September 24, 2023
It was an embarrassing effort from a pass defense that led the league in yards allowed a game coming into the contest.
The Good: Rico Dowdle
One of the players of the game for the Cowboys was Dowdle, who made the most of his limited work. Dowdle scored the lone touchdown on a short pass in the second quarter, proving the team can run an effective screen.
Dowdle totaled 49 yards on six touches and showed his toughness late in the game. With the Cowboys down two scores in the fourth quarter, Dowdle caught another screen pass, only this time he was swarmed by would-be tacklers. Dowdle turned what looked like a loss into a gain of nine yards by eluding defenders and breaking tackles.
It was an incredible effort from Dowdle, one that was lacking by most of the Cowboys during the rest of the game.
The Bad: Rushing defense
Joe Rondone-USA TODAY Sports
A major weakness for the Cowboys in the last few seasons reared its ugly head against the Cardinals, and it began early. On Arizona’s second offensive play, Dobbs got outside for a 44-yard run, an indication of how the day was going to go.
The Cardinals ran the ball for 222 yards and two scores against a defense who thought they had things figured out through two weeks. RB James Conner ran for 98 yards on just 14 carries and added a touchdown.
Dallas also allowed a 45-yard scoring run to wide receiver Rondale Moore.
The Cardinals ate up the Cowboys’ defense, rushing for 7.4 yards a carry. It was an embarrassing show from a defense that talks about being the best in the NFL. They didn’t look physical, or anything like the unit that showed up in the first two weeks of the season.
The Ugly: Penalties
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The Cowboys had played disciplined football in the early going, but it was anything but that in this loss. Mike McCarthy’s group was called for 13 accepted penalties, 10 of which came in the first half. The infractions extended drives and allowed the Cardinals to put points on the scoreboard.
During one defensive series, just before halftime, the Cowboys jumped offsides twice, allowing the Cardinals 10 free yards and helping them preserve timeouts. The result: kicker Matt Prater was able to make a 62-yard field goal before half.
Know how that 62-yd FG wouldnt have been good? Without 2 offsides penalties giving 10 free yards & saving Az timeouts. No one to blame but themselves
— Ben Grimaldi (@BenGrimaldi) September 24, 2023
The defense had five penalties that helped extend drives in which the Cardinals scored. That’s an unacceptable number and made it more difficult to win the game.
The Ugly: Red zone offense
Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic
A problem that began last week came back to bite the Cowboys in the Week 3 loss. Dallas’ offense moved the ball well considering the circumstances but failed miserably in the red zone. Scoring touchdowns on just 20% (1-5) of your red zone trips is a recipe for disaster.
The only score was on the offense’s first trip in the first half. Things took a turn for the worst in the second half, where the Cowboys were skunked on touchdown tries, going 0-4.
4 trips to the red zone (All inside the 10) in the 2nd half and the #DallasCowboys walked away with 6 points.
1 drive turnover on downs.
1 drive int in the endzone.
2 drives need with a FG.Momma said there would be days like this.
— ✭ Your_Guy_Nix ✭ (@Your_Guy_Nix) September 24, 2023
You cannot have four goal-to-go situations, fail to score touchdowns, and come away with only six points. The Cowboys lost by 12, and those unproductive trips to the red zone were a main cause.
The play calling was a big reason for the failures. Too many runs on first and second downs put the Cowboys in predictable third-down passing situations near the goal line. That’s a tough way to go about your business.
This was especially the case late in the fourth quarter. When the Cowboys needed to conserve time and stop the clock, McCarthy inexplicably elected to run instead of pass. The offense ran the ball on five straight plays down 12 points with just over five minutes to play inside the Cardinals’ 18-yard line.
It’s hard to imagine a worse sequence of play calling, but it was par for the course in the loss. The red zone offense for the Cowboys was atrocious, and it cost them in Week 3.
