The Cowboys scored just three points against the Steelers in the HOF game. Can we expect anything more from Dallas against Arizona, on the road?
Friday, August 13, 2021 – 10:00 PM EDT at EST State Farm Stadium
The Cowboys were embarrassed in Week 0’s Hall of Fame game, putting up just three points in the entire game. With Dak Prescott’s shoulder injury and, of course, ankle injury, it’s important for the Cowboys to find their backup quarterback. Garrett Gilbert went 9-for-13 for 104 yards while Ben DiNucci went 7-for-17 for 89 yards. DiNucci threw an interception and both quarterbacks were sacked twice.
Arizona will always bring the pressure on defense and that’s going to take both of these quarterbacks out of rhythm. Both were already sacked twice last week and that could be the same case scenario this week. Just like Pitttsburgh, Arizona’s defense should be able to get the job done against the mediocre quarterbacks of the Cowboys.
For the Cardinals, it’s obviously Kyler Murray’s job but as of now, Colt McCoy is the backup in front of Chris Streveler. This will be a competition worth watching through the pre-season. Murray might get a chance in the first drive but beyond that, it’ll be McCoy and Streveler throwing the passes. It’ll be fun to watch their connection with newly drafted wide out Rondale Moore who, when healthy, was one of the most explosive players in football thanks to his speed, agility and quickness.
On the other hand, Dallas will have to develop their secondary a little bit and will likely throw both of their rookies in Kelvin Joseph and Nahhson Wright into the fire against Christian Kirk, Andy Isabella and Rondale Moore. The Cardinals run their offense with five wide and look to get their receivers in space. That’s one of the reasons why Moore was selected by the Cardinals in the first place. It’ll be interesting to see first-round pick Michah Parsons of the Cowboys in action against this type of offense. Parsons is an elite athlete with tons of salivating traits that make him stand out on the football field.
The Cowboys’ offense should continue their struggles and I’m not so sure their secondary on defense can handle the receivers on the Cardinals’ side. We watched last season that without Prescott, the Cowboys are basically toast. Prescott won’t touch the ball in this game and that doesn’t bode well for the Cowboys if they’re going to send out Gilbert and DiNucci against a Cardinals defense that brings the pressure and forces quarterbacks to make mistakes.
For my NLF picks, I’ll take the Cardinals -1.5 in this one. There’s no trusting Dallas right now… not after the HOF game.
NFL Pick: Cardinals -1.5 (-110) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
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