Overreaction Tuesday: Cardinals back in NFC West 1st-place contention following win over Cowboys
It was a beautiful day to be an Arizona Cardinals fan.
The Cardinals marched into Texas and absolutely handled the Cowboys on national television.
Kyler Murray threw for two touchdown passes and rushed for another without throwing an interception. Kenyan Drake looked like the back we saw at the end of 2019. Vance Joseph’s defense sans All-Pro pass rusher Chandler Jones dominated the league’s No. 1 scoring offense.
It started very shakily for the Cards. Jordan Hicks dropped a gift of an interception from quarterback Andy Dalton and Dennis Gardeck was barely unable to register a safety. Arizona got the ball at midfield and went backward 12 yards before punting.
A pair of fumbles from Cowboys’ star runner Ezekiel Elliot set the tone for the rest of the game. The Cardinals offense never felt challenged from that point forward.
Kyler Murray ran circles around the Dallas defense
Christian Kirk had a big game with two touchdown receptions, one being an 80-yard bomb from Murray
Kliff Kingsbury’s offense proved it can work around a slow day for DeAndre Hopkins (that is, until he nearly took a drag route to the house)
Kenyan Drake capped a strong performance with a 69-yard touchdown run
Larry Fitzgerald proved he’s still got it, coming up clutch early in the game and torching the secondary in the red zone on a Murray overthrow.
Haason Reddick leads the Cards in sacks and had two on Monday night
Budda Baker had a forced fumble, an interception(the first of his career!), and a sack. It would be criminal for him to not receive the NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
The Cardinals have allowed 14 QB hits at this point in the season, which is the lowest in the league. Sean Kugler and the offensive line have been tremendous to this point.
Byron Murphy had his best game as a pro. He got the better of almost every ball that was thrown his way.
I probably missed some things, but that’s just the kind of day it was for the Cardinals. This victory has put the NFC on notice that Arizona is a real threat. They are back in contention for first place in the NFC West.
Their next matchup is at home against the Seattle Seahawks, who are coming off their bye. This game now has huge implications, given that the Cards could tie the Seahawks’ win total heading into their bye. They can’t quite take the throne back with the win, but they can put themselves at a 5-2 record before some much-deserved rest.
That game will be a big test for the Cardinals. Today’s game was as well, and they aced it.
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