Cardinals vs. Cowboys: Monday Night Football Preview and Predictions

By Timothy An

Monday, Oct. 19 at 5:00 p.m. ET

ESPN

SPREAD: Cardinals, -1.0

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals will enter Week 6 with a 3-2 record, coming off a dominating win over the New York Jets. This team started off the year strong with a victory over the 49ers but followed that with two losses to the Carolina Panthers and the Detroit Lions. The addition of DeAndre Hopkins has been helpful for this offense, but they still lack the offensive firepower to carry their lackluster defensive play.

Arizona Offense

DeAndre Hopkins leads the NFL with 528 receiving yards. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

This Cardinals offense is led by second-year quarterback Kyler Murray. His ability to escape the pocket and scramble without getting hit makes him one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the National Football League. However, his arm has not been as effective as we expected it to be. He is ranked 26th in the league in passing yards per game and has only thrown 7 passing touchdowns to go along with 5 interceptions. His QB rating is a low 87.7%, and he has shown an inability to find open receivers. Where the Cardinals offense thrives is on the ground. They are ranked 6th in the league in rushing yards per game and are surprisingly led by Kyler Murray in the running attack. He comes into Week 6, leading the team in rushing yards with 265 and touchdowns with 4. Hopefully, Kyler will be able to find his passing game against this atrocious Cowboys secondary on Monday night.

Arizona Defense

The Cardinals defense suffered a huge loss with the season-ending injury for outside linebacker Chandler Jones. Jones is widely considered the best defensive player on this roster, and his loss will just make a poor Cardinals defense even worse. The Cardinal’s defense is filled with a multitude of young defensive players like Budda Baker, Isiah Simmons, and Haason Reddick. They have shown the ability to slow down opposing teams passing attacks, but have really struggled against the run. Going up against the Dallas Cowboys, who are going to be looking to feed Zeke after the injury to Dak Prescott, the Cardinals defense must step up and force the Cowboys offense to beat them in the air. 

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys enter Week 6 coming off their biggest loss of the season. Dak Prescott. In their 37-34 victory against the New York Giants, Prescott sustained an injury that will keep him on the sidelines for the remainder of the 2020 NFL season. The Cowboys team has already been struggling, with a 2-3 record and winning both games by less than three points. Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton will make his first start with the Cowboys on Sunday night, replacing the injured Prescott. His first five years in Cincinnati were successful, as he led the team to five straight seasons above .500, but his last four years all resulted in losing records.  We will see if Dalton will be able to find his former self and lead this Cowboys offense to a victory Monday night against the Arizona Cardinals. 

Dallas Offense

Andy Dalton (14) takes over for the injured Dak Prescott (Brandon Wade/AP)

The Cowboys offense is tricky. On paper, they are one of the most dynamic offenses centered around a tremendous offensive line, flashy receivers, and Ezekiel Elliott. They are ranked 3rd in the entire league in points per game and rank 1st in both yards per game and passing yards per game. However, these statistics don’t truly tell the story of the Cowboys offense. Though they do put up stats, it is because they fall behind early in all of their games. This forces the Cowboys to push the ball downfield as defenses start to relax and play a bend but don’t break style. With the absence of Dak Prescott, the Cowboys offense is going to have to rely more heavily on Ezekiel Elliott, who has had a quiet start to the season. The Cowboys offense definitely still has the weapons to be great, but Andy Dalton must prove he is still a capable starting quarterback in the National Football League. 

Dallas Defense

The Dallas Cowboys defense is absolutely atrocious. They are ranked dead last in the league in points allowed, giving up an average of 36 points per game. To make matters even worse, they only have 8 sacks and 1 interception on the year. If the Cowboys continue this trend, their offense is going to have to score 50 points a game just to keep them competitive. Hopefully, the Cowboys defense steps up and takes the pressure off the back of Andy Dalton come Monday night.

Prediction

I think we are in for a high scoring football game on Monday night. Kyler Murray will have a big game against this poor Cowboys secondary. I think the key factor in this game will be based on Andy Dalton’s performance. The Cardinals defense will key in on taking away Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys’ running game. It will be up to Andy Dalton to keep up with the Cardinals offense to win the game. I think Dalton will have a surprisingly good performance, but come up just short and lose to the Cardinals on Monday night.

The running game has been stellar for the Packers, with Aaron Jones leading the way with 303 yards and 4 touchdowns in three games. On the other side, Todd Gurley and the Falcons running game has not been able to get much going. Gurley has only carried for 197 yards and 2 touchdowns.  This has put a lot of pressure on Matt Ryan, and since the Falcons are not able to run the ball, they can't control the clock, which allows the opposing team back into the game with a chance to make things interesting and put Falcons fans on edge.  The last two weeks for the Falcons is a perfect example. I think the team that can establish the run early and open up some play-action plays is going to win the game. This favors Green Bay because their running game has been successful and Aaron Rodgers throws one of the best deep balls in the NFL.  If the Falcons stand any chance in this game, they need the defense to show up and maybe create a few turnovers, because the Falcons offense is not the problem right now. Get comfortable though because we could be in for a wild ride on Monday, and yes Hank Williams Jr., we are ready for some football!

SHAWN’S PREDICTION: Cardinals 27 - 18

AJ’S PREDICTION: Cardinals 20 - 14

CADE’S PREDICTION: Cowboys 24 - 21

TIMOTHY’S PREDICTION: Cardinals 38 - 34

JAKE’S PREDICTION: Cardinals 23 - 21

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