More miscues, mistakes prove costly in Dallas Cowboys’ 38-10 loss to Arizona Cardinals
When it comes to the Dallas Cowboys, do you want the good news first or the bad news first?
Let’s start with the good news.
The Cowboys remain in first place in the awful NFC East with a mark of 2-4.
And that’s pretty much it for the good news.
The bad news is that the Cowboys are simply not a good football team, a fact that was never more evident than in the 38-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals (3-3) Monday night before a COVID-19 record crowd of 25,174 at AT&T Stadium.
Former TCU star quarterback Andy Dalton started in place of Dak Prescott, who’s out for the season with a fractured ankle he sustained a week ago. Prescott had started 69 straight games dating back to his rookie season in 2016.
But the turnover woes that have plagued the Cowboys all season proved to be their undoing again with Dalton under center. And unlike Prescott, Dalton didn’t have the comeback magic in his arm to make the game close.
He completed 34 of 54 passes for 266 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in his first game as a starter in 2020 after nine seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals.
“We are hurting ourselves with the turnovers,” Dalton said. “We got to get this fixed. The ball is the most most important thing. We can’t be handing it to the other team. I got to be better. I got to do a better job. There are things I can do better. I know that.”
It definitely wasn’t what they hoped for.
“I have no assessment for you tonight,” coach Mike McCarthy said when asked about Dalton. “We know what the score was. We didn’t didn’t play very well on offense, defense and special teams. I didn’t coach very well tonight. I’m not getting it done right now.”
“I thought our preparation coming into the game was the best of the year. But that doesn’t account for anything.”
The Cowboys were down 21-0 in the second quarter and 31-3 in the third quarter thanks to four turnovers, including fumbles by running back Ezekiel Elliott on back-to-back drives in the first and second quarters and interceptions thrown by Dalton in the third and fourth quarters.
The Cardinals turned the first three turnovers into touchdowns and settled for a field goal on the fourth takeaway, which has become another horrid hallmark of the 2020 Cowboys. Of their 15 turnovers, 13 have resulted in opponent scores, including 11 touchdowns.
McCarthy said the Cowboys aren’t going to be able to turn their season around until they get the turnovers under control.
“We are not playing well enough to overcome those critical errors,” McCarthy said. “The turnovers changed the game. We are the worst in the league in taking care of the football. We are not taking it away. We are the worst in the league in giving up points off turnovers.”
The Cowboys have allowed 74 points off of turnovers this season, the worst mark by any NFL team over the last 20 seasons.
Monday’s loss was the fifth straight game that the Cowboys have trailed by at least 14 points and the fifth straight game the league’s worst scoring defense allowed at least 31 points in a game.
The Cowboys could do nothing against the run and the quick feet of Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, the most decorated high school football player in Texas history, who kept his record spotless at AT&T Stadium.
Murray is now 7-0 at the venue, including three state championships at Allen High School and a Big 12 title during a Heisman Trophy-winning campaign Oklahoma.
He rushed for 74 yards against the Cowboys and a touchdown. He also passed for 188 yards and two scores, a 6-yard toss and a 80-yard play to former Texas A&M standout Christian Kirk.
Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake led the way with 20 carries for 164 yards and two touchdowns. His 69-yard romp with 1:49 left in the game added insult to the embarrassment for the Cowboys defense.
The Cowboys entered Monday’s game hoping to lean on Elliott and take some pressure off Dalton. But Elliott couldn’t hang on to the football.
Elliott now has five fumbles, including four lost for the season. Coming into 2019, he had 15 fumbles and five lost for his entire career. He was benched following his second fumble and split time with backup Tony Pollard the rest of the way.
“I want to say that I’m sorry, and this one’s on me and I just need to be better for this team,” Elliott said. “When you’re fumbling, obviously teams are going to lock in on it and they’re going to go for it even more. I’ve got to figure it out, man.”
Dalton started poorly as well and it didn’t get much better, despite throwing a 1-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper with 2:48 left.
It didn’t help Dalton that All-Pro guard Zack Martin left the game in the first quarter due to a concussion.
He was replaced by Connor McGovern putting backups at four spots on the offensive line from what the Cowboys hoped to start the season with. Tackles La’el Collins and Tyron Smith are out for the season and center Joe Looney is on injured reserve.
Dalton was sacked three times in the game and was under constant pressure.
The Cowboys will try to regroup with two division games on the road over the next two weeks, Sunday at the Washington Football Team (1-5) and then Nov. 1 at the Philadelphia Eagles (1-4-1).
