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By Jon Machota 3h ago
Dallas’ second preseason game was a lot like its first. Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, Ezekiel Elliott, Tyron Smith, Zack Martin, DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory did not play. The defense again took the ball away on their first series. But there was too much sloppy play, and the Cowboys exited with another loss.
“This was clearly not as clean as you would like,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “You would like to take a bigger step there. We have a lot to clean up. A lot of our young guys played a ton of football, so it will be great video to evaluate.”
To break it down, here are five bad things and five good things that came out of the Cowboys’ 19-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Friday night.
Bad
1. Neville Gallimore injury. The starting defensive tackle was in a lot of pain as he grabbed his left arm after attempting to make a tackle on a first-quarter run play. McCarthy said after the game that Gallimore suffered a “significant” left arm injury. Further evaluation will happen this weekend as the Cowboys return to Texas to determine the severity and potential timetable for his return. This is a major blow to a position group that is arguably the weakest on the team.
Trysten Hill remains on the physically unable to perform list from the season-ending knee injury he suffered last year in Week 5. Veterans Carlos Watkins and Brent Urban, who were both signed in March, will have to take on even larger roles. Behind them, it’s rookies Osa Odighizuwa and Quinton Bohanna. Both have played most of the first two preseason games because they need as many NFL reps as possible. This is a position the Cowboys will likely need to address by either a trade or signing a veteran player who is cut by another team if Gallimore is going to be out for the majority of the season.
“You talk about players taking a second-year jump, (Gallimore) definitely illustrated that,” McCarthy said. “You could see it in the spring. He had a great offseason and was having a great camp. It’s just unfortunate.”
2. Connor Williams at center. The Cowboys would love for Williams to emerge as their backup center option, but the experiment hasn’t been working well. Williams has had a difficult time throughout camp and the preseason of accurately snapping the ball. He got the start at center on Friday and it didn’t last long. The inconsistent snaps made it difficult to run any kind of an offense. Tyler Biadasz is the starter, but the backup is either going to have to be someone like rookie Matt Farniok, who has been working as the third-team center, or they’re going to have to find a veteran.
“Am I concerned about it? Yeah,” McCarthy said. “I mean, any time the ball is on the ground it’s of concern. That’s the starting point. That’s why you start practice every day with quarterback-center exchange. It can’t happen. There’s no excuse for it. We can talk until we’re blue in the face about it. It has to be corrected.
“But more importantly, it’s important for us to give Connor game-day reps, in particular with the guys he would be in there with, so I was glad we were able to get him in there with the first line.”
3. Kelvin Joseph’s growing pains. Joseph’s goal is to start Week 1. The Cowboys would be just fine with their second-round pick earning that job, but as of right now, they can’t start him over Anthony Brown against Tom Brady and the loaded Tampa Bay passing attack in the season opener.
Defending former Texas A&M star Christian Kirk with Colt McCoy at quarterback, Joseph had back-to-back poor plays early against Arizona. First, he was called for defensive holding while defending Kirk, which led to an automatic first down on third-and-16. On the next play, McCoy put an extremely accurate ball over Joseph’s head and right into Kirk’s arms for a 34-yard gain. Joseph has the ability to be a good pro, but it seems like he needs a lot more work before he’s ready to win a starting job.
4. Other injuries. OT Ty Nsekhe (knee), TE Sean McKeon (ankle) and WR Malik Turner (foot) also suffered injuries that caused them to leave the game. None of those are considered to be as serious as Gallimore’s, but they are notable. Nsekhe is the team’s veteran swing tackle. He started Friday at left tackle. McKeon, a second-year player who made the team last year as an undrafted rookie free agent, had worked himself into the No. 3 spot on the tight end depth chart with his strong showing in training camp and the preseason. Turner has performed well enough in camp and the preseason that he has put himself in the conversation for the final wide receiver spot on the 53-man roster.
Defensive end Randy Gregory (foot) and tight end Dalton Schultz (ankle) were not at the game. The Cowboys figured it was best for them to go directly from Oxnard, Calif., to Dallas to get treatment.
5. Too many critical penalties. The Cowboys committed eight penalties that cost them 50 yards. The Cardinals committed five for 35 yards. But it wasn’t just the number of calls or the yards as much as when they happened. Four occurred on third down, extending possessions.
Joseph’s holding on third-and-16 eventually led to Arizona getting a field goal on that drive. Facing third-and-6 on the next possession, defensive end Bradlee Anae was called for roughing the passer. The Cardinals then got a field goal on their opening possession of the second half after defensive lineman Ron’Dell Carter was flagged for being offsides on third-and-3. And then on the game-winning drive, Bohanna was called for encroachment on third-and-3 from the Dallas 36-yard line with 21 seconds remaining.
“This wasn’t our best week leading into this game,” McCarthy said. “We need to come out of this, we just got to rally, get healthy and we need to have a better week of practice going into Houston. It just wasn’t very good this week. The Rams (practice) was a little sloppy and the last two days weren’t very good. I thought some of it carried over into the game (Friday night).”
Brandon Smith catches the 1-yard TD pass from Ben DiNucci (Billy Hardiman / USA Today)
Good
1. Keanu Neal. He got the defense off to an excellent start by forcing a fumble and then recovering it on the defense’s third play of the game. Neal also made a nice tackle to hold Cardinals running back Jonathan Ward for no gain on second-and-1 late in the first quarter.
“That was one of the big emphasises for (defensive coordinator Dan Quinn) going into this game, getting the ball, finding a way to get the ball back,” Neal said. “That’s kind of one of the things that I’m about is forced fumbles and getting the ball back for the offense. That’s kind of what my career has been about. So having the opportunity to do it, taking advantage of it and making it happen.”
Neal, who forced eight fumbles during his first two seasons in the NFL, is expected to have a significant role at the linebacker position, especially on passing downs. Quinn has often been using Neal alongside rookie Micah Parsons on third-and-long situations. It should be interesting to see how the rotation ends up working out between Neal, Parsons, Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith if all four are able to stay healthy all season.
2. Dorance Armstrong. It was an impressive showing by the fourth-year pass rusher. He recorded two sacks and nearly hauled in a tipped pass for an interception. Lawrence and Gregory have the two starting edge rusher spots locked up, but Armstrong is expected to see a lot of snaps working behind both. John Fassel has raved about what Armstrong brings on special teams, perhaps he’s ready to make a similar impact on defense.
“I’ve just been putting in the work for this,” Armstrong said. “My get-off, my awareness, my hands, just more aware of being a better player and student of the game. It’s just all making sense now.
“I got big dreams for this game and I just got to work for them.”
3. Prescott throwing before the game. The franchise quarterback didn’t play Friday night, but he was throwing before the game, targeting players like Cooper and Elliott. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones gave the following update on Prescott and his injured throwing shoulder during the 105.3 The Fan pregame show.
“He is really coming along well,” Jones said. “He feels really good about where he is. He’s putting some real heat on the ball now. He’s not throwing long yet, but we’ll obviously progress to that. We certainly haven’t ruled out seeing him in the preseason.”
4. Young defenders flashed at different times. Anae had the inexcusable penalty in the first half, but he also had some noticeable moments when he was flying around in the second half. He’s a player worth keeping an eye on in these final two preseason games. Rookie LB Jabril Cox ended up with a team-high eight tackles, including two tackles for loss. He showcased his outstanding closing speed a few times while defending Arizona’s mobile QB Chris Streveler. Rookie CB Nahshon Wright had a nice pass breakup on a deep ball and also made an outstanding open-field tackle on kickoff coverage.
5. There was finally a touchdown drive. The Cowboys got their first touchdown of the preseason when Ben DiNucci connected with undrafted rookie WR Brandon Smith from one yard out in the fourth quarter. DiNucci helped orchestrate the 14-play, 65-yard drive to give Dallas a 16-13 lead with 9:36 remaining. DiNucci wasn’t nearly as productive on the next two possessions, including with a chance to win the game in the final two minutes. He finished 6-of-14 passing for 46 yards, one touchdown and a 75.3 passer rating.
“I’m just really trying to focus on making the simple play and the big plays will come,” DiNucci said. “The second drive I was in, the last third down before we punted, just had a simple slant and I put too much on it. That’s a throw I got to make. That’s a simple play that you make, it keeps the chains moving on third down.
“There were a few throws that I’d like to have back, but all in all I thought that it went well.”
