Murray Gets Home State Win, Obliterates Dallas 31-10
Arlington, TX – It was the coming home party that Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray had always dreamed about, as his Cardinals absolutely railroaded the Dallas Cowboys at Jerry’s World, winning 31-10 under the Monday Night Football Lights. The Texas native was 6-0 when playing in AT&T Stadium during his high school years coming into Monday night, and that streak proved prophetic, as Murray shredded the Cowboys defense with both his arms and his legs for 262 total offensive yards and three total touchdowns.
Welcome home, Kyler Murray
AT&T Stadium is Kyler Murray’s home away from home. The Bedford, Texas product grew up just 20 minutes away from Jerry’s world, where he cemented himself as a rising football legend. On the high school level, Murray led Allen High School to three consecutive high school championships, going undefeated under center for the Eagles. As a college quarterback, Murray beat the Texas Longhorns 39-27 in AT&T Stadium to lead his Oklahoma Sooners to a 2018 Big 12 Championship win. And now, as a starting NFL quarterback, Murray looked to keep that level of dominance going. And he did not disappoint (sort of).
The first quarter started off weary for Murray, only completing 5/13 of his passes (38% completion) for 31 yards, along with 38 rushing yards on 6 carries. Thankfully, the Cowboys were just ineffective (more on that later), so the game was 0-0 at the end of the first quarter. Come the second quarter, though, and it’s like an entirely different Murray (and Cardinals team as a whole) walked out onto the field. In the passing game, Murray was still somewhat lacking; only attempting 11 more passes for the rest of the game, completing four of them, for 157 yards. He did find the endzone twice through the air though, with both scores coming by way of third-year wideout Christian Kirk (2-86-2). He scored the first one on a shovel pass on a designed jet sweep in the RedZone for a 6-yard score, while the second one was a straight go route down the middle of the field for an 80-yard score. Murray’s top target, star wideout DeAndre Hopkins (2-73), was relatively quiet for the night, but managed to rip out a 60-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter during garbage time. On the ground, Murray was second on the team with 74 rushing yards on 10 carries, including a one-yard touchdown that he literally scampered into the endzone for on a read-option play. Kenyan Drake led the way with 20 carries for 164 yards and two scores, the second of which came off a 69-yard rush he ripped off out in the Cards’ last drive of the game.
On defense, Vance Joseph’s unit played like the 2000 Baltimore Ravens defense; pushing Dallas’ offense around like schoolyard bullies. They forced two interceptions against Andy Dalton and caused halfback Ezekiel Elliott to fumble on back-to-back drives. Each turnover led to an Arizona scoring drive (three touchdowns and a 26-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez). The unit’s leader, strong safety Budda Baker, was looked like Ed Reed out there; registering seven total tackles, a sack, two QB Hits, a pass deflection, a forced fumble, and his first career interception. There’s a reason Baker is the highest-paid safety in the NFL, earning every cent of the four-year, $59 million contract he signed earlier this off-season.
2-14 can win the NFC East
Let’s face it; the NFC East in 2020 is the worst division in football, arguably in contention for the worst of all time. The New York Giants (1-5), Philadelphia Eagles (1-4-1), Washington football team (1-5), and Dallas Cowboys (2-3 going into Monday night) are a combined 5-17-1 in six weeks. There are six teams in the league with five wins individually. That’s how pathetic this division is. And Dallas is the most mercurial of them all. Going into week six, the Cowboys offense was first in average yards per game (488.0) and passing yards per game (381.4). Quarterback Dak Prescott was the reason Dallas ever had a chance of winning any of the last five games they’ve played in. He was on pace for 5,939 passing yards and 38 total touchdowns (29 passing touchdowns, nine rushing touchdowns). That is, until he suffered a season-ending compound fracture against the Giants in a Week 5 win.
Many in the football cognoscente believed that quarterback Andy Dalton would be capable to fill in just fine for Prescott, as both quarterbacks had similar career numbers through the first four seasons. But the man affectionately known as the “Red Rifle” looked aimless and defeated from the first snap of the game against the Cardinals on Monday. Dalton often checked down to his underneath receivers, with his longest completed pass traveling only 21 air yards. He finished the night completing 34/54 of his passes (63% completion) for 266 yards, a touchdown, and those two ugly interceptions. The three-headed receiver corps monster that is Amari Cooper (7-79-1), Michael Gallup (2-23), and CeeDee Lamb (7-64) were kept in relative check by the Cardinals secondary, with Cooper being the only Cowboy to register a touchdown on the night. A touchdown that came on an UGLY 18-play drive, in which Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy kept trying force the ball in through the air, instead of trusting his bell-cow back in Ezekiel Elliott to punch it in (flashbacks to Super Bowl XLIX, anyone?)
As for the defense, what can be said about this unit that hasn’t already been said? Good news; star linebacker Leighton Vander Esch returned from his IR stint. Bad news; the defense played just as bad, if not worse, than before. Dallas’ lone sack of the night came when Murray tripped over his right tackle for a loss of 11. It was a gimme-sack, essentially. Dallas, as a unit, only registered two tackles for loss and two pass deflections. Mike Nolan’s return to coaching defenses is looking like an instant regret for McCarthy, as Dallas ranks in the bottom half for total defense.
What’s next?
Arizona is riding a two-game win streak against awful teams in the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys. Their real test as to whether or not they’re a real team comes in week 7, as Arizona is set to host the NFC West division leader Seattle Seahawks, who are coming off a bye and are still one of three undefeated teams left in the NFL at 5-0.
As for Dallas, the Cowboys have a chance to get right next week as they travel East to face a Washington Football Team that has no identity, no direction, and no clear answer at quarterback.
Writer
-By: Juan Guarin-Camargo