Cowboys vs. Cardinals: Game recap and highlights

The Dallas Cowboys got a big 28-17 road win on Monday Night Football against the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Arizona in Week 3.

The Arizona Cardinals started out with the ball and made quick work of the porous Dallas Cowboys secondary. Quarterback Carson Palmer threw for 53 yards and a touchdown on the opening drive, with it ending in a 25-yard touchdown by Jaron Brown. He was like a surgeon as he sliced his way through the secondary, completing passes to five different receivers.

After recording negative-one yard in the first quarter, Dallas finally caught a break. A drive was extended by a questionable offsides call on fourth-down and then the Cardinals found the end zone again. This touchdown pass was negated by tackle Jared Veldheer getting called for holding on defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, and a missed field goal followed. However, the bad play from Dallas continued as another three-and-out ensued. Palmer continued his monster start as he was 12-of-12 at one point before the defense finally tightened up and forced a punt.

Dallas was able to flip field position thanks to running back Ezekiel Elliott getting free for a 30-yard run. A sack from defensive tackle Maliek Collins forced the Cards to punt and rookie Ryan Switzer set them up with great position. Quarterback Dak Prescott missed an open Cole Beasley for a touchdown, but took advantage of a couple Arizona penalties to flip his way into the end zone for a 7-7 tie just before the half.

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The second half saw the momentum swing continue to go Dallas’ way. After a short drive, they punted the ball down to the seven-yard line. Lawrence recorded another sack to set up a third-and-long and Dallas capitalized on the three-and-out. Prescott found receiver Dez Bryant in the middle of the field and he broke a couple of tackles before dragging about four Cardinals into the end zone on a 15-yard touchdown that made it 14-7 for the Cowboys — giving them their first lead since Week 1.

The lead didn’t last long as a couple punt exchanges led to Arizona having great position near the end of the third. Palmer continued to show what makes them a dangerous team as he went right to work and shook off a rough stretch in hitting wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald for a 15-yard touchdown fort the star wide out on their side as they notched things up at 14.

Prescott answered Palmer’s heroics on a fantastic drive in the fourth. They finally got the ball to Cole Beasley as the slot receiver made a third-down reception, which put them in field goal range. Three points weren’t enough as Prescott unleashed a deep ball for wide out Brice Butler, who came down with a 37-yard touchdown — hist first of the year.

Again the fireworks kept coming after a slow start. On a third-and-18 Palmer let one fly for Fitzgerald. It looked like Dallas corner Orlando Scandrick was about to come up with a potential game-sealing pick but Fitzgerald ran full-speed to get there just in time for a leaping snag. Scandrick didn’t know what hit him as Fitz simply stole the ball from him. The drive ended in a field goal, but made sure it would come down to the wire as it was a four-point game with 6:35 to go.

Dallas put it away after that with some sensational play calling. With everyone and their mother expecting a run with Elliott to kill the clock, they went 53 yards on a play action pass to Butler. It was originally ruled a touchdown, but then Butler was confirmed to be touched down on the play. It didn’t matter much because a run by Dak and a couple by Zeke led to a score anyway and Dallas went up 28-17 with under five minutes to go.

Despite some penalties on Dallas, the Cardinals final drive ended on a deflected pass from safety Byron Jones. Demarcus Lawrence was big on the final series as well, getting his third sack on the night and another couple pressures late.

Next: Power Rankings: Raiders, Seahawks fall after tough losses

Next week the Cowboys will take on the red-hot Los Angeles Rams at home in Arlington, Texas. For the Cardinals, they will stay home and face the San Francisco 49ers who have yet to win a game in the 2017 season.