The Cowboys are 2-0 in the preseason for the first time since 2007, and Saturday night’s 34-13 win over the Cardinals gave them plenty to like.
Joe Milton headlined the night. Malik Davis helped himself in the RB2 race. And Dallas’ defense again held the opponent to just one touchdown, making this another clean-looking preseason outing for a team that has started to stack some good tape.
Dallas opened with Milton at quarterback, just as planned with Milton and Sam Howell splitting preseason starts. Howell got the nod in Seattle, so this was Milton’s turn to run the show.
The first drive leaned heavily on Davis, with rookie Drew Shelton starting at left tackle, and it moved the offense into the red zone. But the series stalled when Milton and Zack Kuntz couldn’t connect on a dump off on fourth-and-short. That turned the ball over on downs.
Arizona tried to answer from deep in its own end, but the Cowboys’ defense immediately made life difficult. Shavon Revel was flagged for illegal contact on a deep shot, and rookie Jaishawn Barham, making his team debut while wearing the green dot, wasted no time making his presence felt. He read a run, attacked it, and finished with a tackle for loss.
Then Milton and Davis got Dallas on the board. Milton hit Davis for a touchdown, and the Cowboys were rolling.
Arizona went three-and-out, and Dallas quickly got back to work. Jaydon Blue flashed with a hurdle over a defender, then Milton delivered the big strike, finding Jonathan Mingo for a long touchdown.
The Cardinals eventually put together a longer drive, but penalties kept undercutting them. They had two touchdowns wiped out on the possession and had to settle for a field goal.
Milton kept the pressure on. Camden Brown nearly scored on one snap, then Milton finished the job himself moments later.
SCORE: COWBOYS 21, CARDINALS 3
Arizona kept moving the ball at times, but the flags kept piling up. After a false start made a touchdown even tougher, LT Overton blew up the drive with a sack, aided by strong coverage, and the Cardinals settled for another field goal.
Dallas had one more chance before halftime and pushed for more points. The drive came up short of the end zone, but Brandon Aubrey knocked through a 50-yard field goal.
Arizona then lined up Chad Ryland for a 62-yard attempt, and the kick drifted far right.
Dallas went into the locker room in control.
The Cardinals finally got something going in the third quarter. Corey Kiner finished off Arizona’s first touchdown of the night, and it was also the first touchdown the Cowboys defense had allowed in the preseason since their first possession in Seattle.
SCORE: COWBOYS 24, CARDINALS 13
Dallas slowed things down after that, leaning more on the run with the big lead. The drive didn’t end in the end zone, but Aubrey added another field goal.
In the fourth quarter, Arizona punted early and Brian Schottenheimer gave Sam Howell more chances to throw. That didn’t go well. Howell drove Dallas into scoring range, then threw a rough interception that turned the ball over.
Arizona couldn’t capitalize, stalling at its own 38-yard line, and Dallas took over on downs with 5:30 left to finish the job.
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For Dallas, the details are almost beside the point. Any time a division rival invests premium draft capital and then sees the early returns wobble, it invites the kind of unflattering comparisons that stick around, and Stowers has already been mentioned in the same breath as JJ Arcega-Whiteside, another second-round Eagles pick who never lived up to the billing. The bigger issue for Philadelphia is immediate pressure, because the injuries around him leave the rookie with even less margin for error as the season approaches. [Read more 🡒]
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Todd Archer of ESPN projects that possibility, and it speaks to how much the backup battle has shifted from a routine depth issue to a real decision point. The Cowboys still have not settled the spot behind Prescott, and with the preseason winding down, the outcome is less about naming a favorite and more about deciding whether either Howell or Milton has done enough to force an extra quarterback onto the roster. [Read more 🡒]