If the Dallas Cowboys hope to make a postseason run, they're going to need a healthy Tony Romo. With their starting quarterback sidelined with a back injury, the Cowboys' offense fell flat against Arizona in an ugly 28-17 loss that propels the Cardinals to the top spot in the NFL.
Cardinals vs. Cowboys 2014 final score: 3 things we learned from Arizona’s 28-17 win
Arizona is 7-1 after dispatching the Romo-less Cowboys.
Dallas managed just 266 yards and didn't score an offensive touchdown until the final two minutes of the game. DeMarco Murray was shut down by the Cardinals' strong run defense and Brandon Weeden threw a pair of picks as the Cowboys fell to 6-3 on the season. Arizona improves to 7-1 and becomes the league's top seed for the first time in franchise history.
Here’s what we learned from the game.
1) Dallas needs Romo back ASAP.
With the run game bottled up, the pressure shifted to Brandon Weeden to carry the offense. That didn't go well. Weeden, whose last NFL start was Dec. 1 of last year, went 18-for-33 passing for 183 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He looked out of sync with his receivers, not completing a pass to Dez Bryant until the final drive. Both of his picks came in the second half, ending promising drives and effectively icing the game (GIF via The Cauldron)
There are mixed reports about when Romo will return. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network said Sunday morning that the Cowboys are preparing for the possibility that Romo could miss next week’s game in London, though Fox reported that the team expects him to make the trip and play. The good news for Dallas is that it gets a weak opponent in Jacksonville and then a bye week to let Romo heal up.
Romo’s injury is reportedly just a pain tolerance issue, meaning he should be good to go down the stretch. But any type of setback would be disastrous for the Cowboys’ division title hopes.
2) Arizona’s run D won the heavyweight matchup.
The Cowboys came in with the league’s best rushing attack. The Cardinals came in with the third-best rushing defense. Something had to give.
It was the Dallas run game. Outside a pair of first-half runs, the Cardinals bottled up Murray, limiting him to a season-low 79 yards. That snapped Murray’s record-breaking streak of eight consecutive 100-yard games to start the season.
It's not as though the Cowboys have just been shredding bad defenses this season either. When they faced the Seahawks in Week 6, they piled up 162 rushing yards on a defense that came in allowing just 62 yards per game. The Cardinals' run D is legit, and it could help carry them deep into the playoffs.
3) The Cowboys’ defense is making strides.
Remember before the season when people were speculating that Dallas could have the worst defense in NFL history? That’s not happening.
A unit that was ravaged by suspensions and injuries is slowly getting healthier, and it showed against the Cardinals. The defense kept Dallas in the game, scoring the team’s only first-half touchdown on a first-quarter pick-six and keeping the Arizona offense in check until late in the second half. The Cowboys came in ranked in the top 10 in points allowed per game, and the 28 points that the Cardinals hung on them Sunday had as much to do with the offense’s turnovers as it did the defense.
If Romo returns and the offense gets back on track, the Cowboys’ improving defense could make them a scary team down the stretch.
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