The lights came on, the tension seemed to be lifted once the Cardinals chose to lock arms and not kneel for the national anthem, and then Carson Palmer started dealing like it was 2015 again. The Cardinals made the Cowboys look pretty beatable in those first 15 minutes, and the Cards looked like a new team. But there was a missed field goal in there too, which wasn't ideal, and like the Detroit game, it was a situation where the Cards should have been ahead by a lot more but weren't.
When it was over, Dak Prescott showed why he's already on the verge of quarterback stardom — as good as Ezekiel Elliott is, to me, there is no question who the guy is that will make the Cowboys a contender, and it's all about the quarterback — and the Cards were left trying to figure out how to keep their own QB upright. According to Pro Football Focus, both tackles, Jared Veldheer and John Wetzel, gave up one sack and eight pressures.
Palmer said he held on to the ball too long a couple of times, and that is true. But the pocket is collapsing much too fast too often. "Block better," was Bruce Arians' response on improving the protection. And hey, Dan Dierdorf is not walking through that door.
"We only have seven guys out there, so they're the only ones that can play," Arians said.
D.J. Humphries is walking around a lot better so hopefully he has a chance to return this week against the 49ers. But Alex Boone got hurt late in the game, Palmer said (no word on what it is or severity), so the injury thing is still a thing.
-- Chris Johnson did indeed get the start at running back. He could not find any room nor create anything, gaining just 17 yards on 12 carries. We will see what happens but Andre Ellington looked like the best back out there, and who knows? Maybe there will be a fourth different starter in four games next week. (My early guess is still CJ2K for another week, but we'll see.) Still, Arians was asked if Ellington would get more touches next week.
"I don't think there's any doubt," Arians said, after Ellington got 59 yards on five catches and 22 yards rushing (leading the team) on five carries.
-- There was time to recover but the 15-play drive that ended with no points was a gut punch. You think you get a second Palmer-to-Jaron Brown TD pass but a Veldheer holding call wipes it out. (To be fair, I don't know if Palmer is able to get outside the pocket to make the play without the hold, so it is what it is.) Then Phil Dawson misses another field goal inside 40 yards. A 14-0 lead would've been huge. Making sure Dawson gets right, quickly, is probably even more important.
-- Patrick Peterson was targeted just once all night, according to Pro Football Focus, and none when he was guarding Dez Bryant. Peterson gave up a two-yard catch to Elliott.
-- I was surprised Arians went for it on fourth down at the end of the game down 11 points. A field goal makes it eight points and you'll have to get an onside kick regardless. That said, with the Cardinals at the Dallas 2 and their pass protection doing poorly, I can see the argument that you go for the TD being so close.
-- You could tell J.J. Nelson wasn't himself with the sore hamstring. He got a couple of late "go" routes and nearly had an incredible sideline catch. But when he couldn't go deep, it hurts. Between the injured speed receivers and the pass protection problems, the Cards aren't going to scare many teams down the field — even with Fitz making crazy jump-ball grabs.
