The Unlikely NFC Team That Gives Dallas the Most Trouble
In this year's schedule, the Dallas Cowboys were granted the opportunity to play in two Monday Night Football games, both being in a three-week span. One of them, they’ll fly out to Las Vegas to play the Raiders for the first time in eight seasons. The other team they will face has been a persistent challenge for them over the years. Although the Arizona Cardinals have not consistently been a top-performing team, they have a tendency to give the Cowboys trouble for reasons that remain unclear. Dallas hopes this season they can handle the team that many would consider a “trap game” on their schedule.
Since 2008, the Cowboys are a surprising 1-7 versus the Cardinals, with their standalone win coming in 2017 off the backs of a great Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott performance on Monday Night Football. Dallas would not lose in horrible fashion for the most part; however, Arizona would simply just get the better of them in most of these matchups. Four of these games would be decided by one score or less, with two of them heading into overtime. The most recent game in 2023 is a prime example where Dallas came in as favorites against backup Josh Dobbs but would shockingly lose 28-16. Dallas historically owns the series, having a record of 56-35-1, but history hasn’t helped them much in recent times.
To win this matchup this go-around, the Cowboys obviously need to be able to contain Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. Running quarterbacks are usually a vulnerability for the Cowboys, so it is important that Matt Eberflus and the defense keep Murray in check. The second key is to play complementary football on offense. Since Arizona ranks in the bottom half of the NFL in total defense, the Cowboys' new offense must perform at a high level to avoid any potential mishaps. Lastly, Dallas cannot find ways to keep Arizona in the game with dumb mistakes. Keeping a team that is expected to be weaker than Dallas on paper in the game due to costly mistakes is the exact opposite of what the Cowboys should aim for if they want to secure a victory. The Cowboys will look to turn around this stretch of games versus the Cardinals and end Murray’s undefeated streak in the city of Dallas.
