The Week 17 game between the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals could serve as a potential playoff preview. Both teams earned NFC postseason spots last week. The Cowboys (11-4) clinched the NFC East, their first division title since 2018. They enter this weekend as the No. 2 seed with a chance to catch the Green Bay Packers for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Cardinals (10-5) hope to put a wrench in those plans, stopping their three-game losing streak that’s left them trailing the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West. Arizona, one of the NFL’s most prolific offenses, put up just 28 points combined the past two weeks while several of their stars remain hampered by injuries. Despite their recent slump, the Cardinals remain the No. 5 seed and can’t fall any lower than No. 6. Despite any hope of a first-round bye fading away, recapturing momentum is key for a team that started the year with seven straight wins. A victory against the Cowboys could cement them as the top wild-card team while dropping Dallas to the No. 4 seed, setting up a 4-5 matchup between them just a few short weeks from now.
Can the Cowboys keep the good times rolling after a season-best 56 points scored last week? Or, will a Cardinals team with the NFL’s best road record (7-1) vanquish their December demons?
Here are three things to look out for, as to how this game might unfold .
1. Who’s healthy and who’s not?
It’s unfortunate that health and availability are the biggest factor for this highly anticipated matchup but that is the landscape we live in during a global pandemic. With the Omicron variant sweeping the country, several NFL teams have been swept up in the spike in cases and Arizona is no exception. Among those players currently on the Reserve/COVID-19 list are two of their top outside linebackers, Markus Golden and Devon Kennard. Kennard landed there Wednesday, meaning he’s guaranteed to miss Sunday’s game despite the reduced quarantine time from 10 days to five after a positive test. Golden, along with cornerback Breon Borders, still has a chance of being able to play in Sunday’s contest; but, there’s uncertainty over who could be next with this many cases seeping into the locker room.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, are in far better shape after losing head coach Mike McCarthy, among others, earlier this month. They have just two practice squad players in Covid-19 protocol but everyone else is pretty much healthy . Even Pro Bowl offensive tackle Tyron Smith, hampered by an ankle injury the past few weeks, appears to be in good shape to play on Sunday.
2. Is the Dallas Cowboys Offense back on track.
The team itself sure seems to think so. Fresh off being excluded from the Pro Bowl roster, quarterback Dak Prescott had arguably his best game of the year against Washington, throwing more touchdown passes (four) than he had in the previous three weeks combined. He was the catalyst for a record-tying 42 first-half points last Sunday night as the Cowboys rolled to a 56-14 rout, their most points scored in a game since 1980. Prescott spread the ball around, throwing touchdown passes to a receiver (Amari Cooper), tight end (Dalton Schultz), running back (Ezekiel Elliott), and offensive tackle (Terence Steele). He kept the ball moving while the run game struggled some, averaging just 3.9 yards per carry while posting zero rushes over 13 yards. Cowboy fans are hoping this was the official end of the recent offensive slump and not a random anomaly.
The Cowboys offensive potential will be a test for the Cardinals’ fifth-ranked passing defense which is allowing just 210.7 yards per game. They have yet to allow a 300-yard passer all season while racking up 39 sacks, good for ninth in the NFL. With Golden potentially out, the play of Chandler Jones (9.5 sacks) will be crucial as the Cardinals look to put pressure on Prescott and keep him off balance.
3. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.
The Cowboys’ defense continues to shine in this category, leading the league with 33 takeaways. Trevon Diggs tied a team record last week with his 11th interception of the season. Teammate DeMarcus Lawrence also impressed, taking one to the house with a pick-six of Washington’s Taylor Heinicke.
Taking the ball away from the Cardinals will be a stiffer challenge for this defense than their most recent opponents. The Cardinals’ three fumbles lost are the fewest in the NFL through 16 weeks while 14 giveaways overall rank fourth. Even during this three-game losing streak, quarterback Kyler Murray has coughed the ball up just three times and remained composed despite a sputtering offense.
But the few mistakes Murray has made? They’ve been costly. Two interceptions against the Rams turned into 14 points, the difference in a heartbreaking 30-23 defeat. The next week, a third-quarter Murray interception after the defense recovered a fumble led to a touchdown that put the Lions game out of reach. Finally, a safety given up in the Colts game left the Cardinals down two possessions instead of one in the fourth quarter, a deficit that proved too much to make up for Murray and the Cards.
Murray is having a stellar season. Unlike Dak Prescott, he was selected to the Pro Bowl; but, in only his third season, he still has a relatively unproven track record. The Cowboys’ defense, led by the young Lion Micah Parsons, will be hungry and anxious to exploit that.
Final Prediction: Dallas Cowboys 31 Arizona Cardinals 17
*Photo by Joe Glorioso; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode