NFL: Dallas Cowboys look to bounce back as they host Arizona Cardinals on Sky Sports
Sunday 2 November 2014 15:39, UK
A pair of surprise division leaders open up Sunday’s week nine NFL action Sky Sports as the Arizona Cardinals travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys.
The Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-20 at home last Sunday to stretch their record to 6-1, a result that seemed set to allow the Cowboys to extend their advantage at the top of the NFC East on Monday night.
However the Washington Redskins scuppered those plans by toppling Dallas 20-17, the first defeat suffered by Jason Garrett’s squad since they were beaten at home on opening weekend by the San Francisco 49ers.
Now the Cowboys will be looking for some home comforts against an Arizona franchise that leads the way in the NFC West but has not tasted victory in a regular season fixture staged in Texas since 1989.
Quarterback questions
There are no issues over who should be starting under centre for either team. The problems, though, have been about health.
Tony Romo suffered a back injury against the Redskins that briefly forced him out of the contest. He did return, but has not practiced all week and is listed as ‘questionable’ on the Cowboys’ injury report.
Both Garrett and team owner Jerry Jones have stated Romo will be a game-time decision, though this current problem is not apparently a recurrence of a back injury that required surgery in the off-season. If he can’t go, Brandon Weeden will make his first start in almost a year.
As for the Cards, Carson Palmer has missed three games this season due to a shoulder injury. He showed his value against the Eagles last time out when connecting with John Brown on a stunning 75-yard touchdown that proved to be the game-winning score. At least Arizona do know Drew Stanton can cope if called upon – the back-up steered the team to two wins in Palmer’s absence.
Defensive strength
Despite injuries to key players, Arizona’s defence has been impressive this season. While they give up on average 380.7 yards to opponents (ranking them 25th in the NFL), they have conceded only 139 points in their seven games.
Their cause has been helped by 10 interceptions and even without leading cornerback Patrick Peterson due to concussion, they still stood firm to deny a potent Philadelphia offence in the closing stages last Sunday. No team blitzes more often than the Cards, while running on them has proven tough so far (more on that later).
While the Cards were perhaps expected to be solid defensively, the pre-season predictions had Dallas likely to be leakier than a colander, particularly with DeMarcus Ware’s departure for cap reasons and the injury suffered by Sean Lee that ended his campaign before it had even begun.
Instead, though, the Cowboys have been better than anyone could have expected. While they do give up over 26 points per game, resurrected linebackers Justin Durant and Rolando McClain have impressed and the secondary has held up so far.
Keep on running
Dallas has built their offence to run – and that’s exactly what they’ve done so far. DeMarco Murray has 1054 yards on the ground so far, nearly 300 more than his nearest rival in the entire league.
Murray has been aided by a line in front of him that has been the focus of Jones in the draft in recent years. Centre Travis Frederick was a first round selection last year, while Zack Martin has been given the responsibility to start at right guard in his rookie season.
They will be made to work to rush the ball this weekend; only the Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions give up fewer yards against opposing running backs than the Cardinals.
Their defence is now bolstered by the return of fit-again captain Calais Campbell, whose return is welcomed to a front line that is without end Darnell Dockett for the rest of the year. 2013 sack leader John Abraham is also out, yet still Arizona find ways to clog up the field.
What they said...
"He's moving around, and he’s doing stuff in the back there to get the stiffness out – kind of like a bicycle-type thing. He’s moving around, been in the meetings today," Jerry Jones gives an update on Tony Romo
"He’s a guy that you could tell was going to play right away and wasn’t going to be sitting on the sidelines with enough talent to play but not enough brains to play," Carson Palmer on wide receiver John Brown
