NFC Game Of The Week
Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys
Cardinals: Just a month ago, they were in control of the NFC. They were in the one spot in the playoff picture. Because of their recent skid, they’ve now dropped to the Wild Card standings and have lost their last three games. One of the losses came at the hands of the Detroit Lions who have struggled this year. Kyler Murray has been in the MVP talks for most of the year and rightfully so. He’s been great and I’ve seen him also take accountability now when things don’t go right for the team. Last year, I called him out whenever he’d throw a pick and he’d pout and distance himself from the team instead of trying to fix the problems. However, I feel the Cardinals’ true valuable player is DeAndre Hopkins. He’s truly that safety valve for the quarterback and he allows everyone to play in their natural spots. Kyler can just heave the ball up and number ten is there to catch it. This is the worst time for the Cardinals to slip up and struggle. The Rams are clicking right now and have taken over first place in the NFC West, the division the Cardinals have been in control of for most of the season. They will look to snap their losing streak on Sunday against the NFC East division champions.
Cowboys: On the radio the last few weeks, I stated I was concerned about their offense and it just appeared that they weren’t all on the same page with one another. There’s no excuse for them to struggle, especially with Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, and Michael Gallup as their receivers. Each of them can get you over 70 yards receiving on any given Sunday. This past week against the Washington Football Team, they let it all unfold and dominated from the first quarter to the final whistle in the fourth quarter. Sunday night was the most complete win I’ve seen from them in a while. Dak Prescott threw four touchdown passes in the first half. He did such a great job of spreading the ball around to the open receiver. The defense was also active. I’m still wondering why teams elect to throw in the direction of Trevon Diggs. He either shuts down an entire side of the field or he’s intercepting it. This guy continues to show why he’s one of the favorites for Defensive MVP. When the Cowboys play how they did on Sunday, they can beat anybody. It was good to see an all-around effort on both sides of the football. They’ll welcome Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals to town on Sunday.
Cardinals X-Factor: Isaiah Simmons– His future is so bright. I loved watching him at Clemson and I know I’ll say the same while he’s in the NFL. Isaiah is a rangy linebacker that can drop back in coverage and make plays on the football. While he can rush the passer, they don’t need him to be that guy to get to the quarterback because they have Chandler Jones and others. They will use him in so many ways in this game on Sunday.
Cowboys X-Factor: Dalton Schultz– I feel he gets lost in the mix at times. That’s understandable because you’re playing around Cooper, Lamb, Zeke, and Dak. It’s not a difficult thing to go under the radar playing with those guys. I like what he brings to this Dallas offense. Dalton can run block and in the passing game, he’s usually found wide open on play-action passes. Not many defenders account for him in the passing attack.
Final Thoughts: We have a division winner against a team who’s looking to snap their losing streak. This quarterback battle screams intrigue to me between Kyler and Dak. I love this Arizona front seven. They’re quick, athletic, and find different ways to pursue the football. What worries me about them is their run defense and the secondary. Outside of Byron Murphy, they have no other shut-down corners. The last thing you want to see is an offense with the speed the Cowboys do in their receiving group. Look for Dallas to attack that weakness as often as they can. I would also try to run the ball more because the Cardinals have struggled to limit ground attacks this year. Can these Arizona receivers step it up for Kyler? He can’t do everything on his own.
Prediction: Cowboys 29, Cardinals 27
