Cowboys vs. Cardinals 2017: Scores, highlights, and results from ‘Monday Night Football’

Cowboys 28, Cardinals 17: Arizona needed two scores to win, but failed to get one after trying for the touchdown instead of going for the field goal then an onside kick. The Dallas defense held up, and the Cowboys’ offense was able to run out the clock.

Cowboys 28, Cardinals 17: Ezekiel Elliott punched it in from 8 yards out after Brice Butler’s big catch put the Cowboys in scoring position. He’s up to 83 yards and a touchdown against Arizona.

Cowboys 21, Cardinals 17: Dak Prescott and Brice Butler already hooked up for one big play Monday, and did it again midway through the fourth quarter for a play that was nearly a touchdown. Review revealed that Tyrann Mathieu had touched Butler before he made his run to the end zone, so the ball was brought back to the 22-yard line. Still, it put Dallas in striking position right after the Cardinals trimmed their lead.

Cowboys 21, Cardinals 17: Despite the brilliance of Larry Fitzgerald putting the Cardinals into field goal position, they weren’t able to take advantage with a touchdown. Phil Dawson, who missed a 36-yarder earlier, nailed the 37-yard field goal attempt to cut the lead to four points. Arizona will still need to get into the end zone again to avoid defeat in this one.

Cowboys 21, Cardinals 14: Larry Fitzgerald’s miraculous night continued by not only preventing an Orlando Scandrick interception, but managing to catch the ball as he fell to the ground. The coordination and patience on display to be able to locate and get his hands on the ball in real time is unbelievable. The Cowboys challenged the ruling of a catch, but referees went with the call on the field.

Right after J.J. Nelson was just short of a huge catch, Fitzgerald came through to keep his offense moving.

Cowboys 21, Cardinals 14: Arizona’s J.J. Nelson nearly made an incredible 44-yard catch that could’ve ignited a big drive, but it was ruled incomplete. A challenge of the ruling on the field by the Cardinals was unsuccessful as review determined Nelson didn’t retain possession of the ball all the way to ground. That costs Arizona a timeout that could be needed later on.

Cowboys 21, Cardinals 14: Dak Prescott started slow on Monday Night Football, but now he’s rolling. The quarterback delivered a strike on the run for a 37-yard touchdown pass to Brice Butler to take back the lead. The Cardinals will be in trouble if they can’t contain the Cowboys’ offense going forward.

Cowboys 14, Cardinals 14: Larry Fitzgerald is truly timeless. The veteran wide receiver powered the Cardinals to a game-tying touchdown with a pair of monster catches. First, he beat out the secondary to make an incredible 37-yard reception in coverage that immediately put the offense in field goal position. Then he executed a double move on a perfect route to set up a 15-yard touchdown that tied the game.

Fitzgerald is up to 10 catches for 98 yards and a touchdown.

Cowboys 14, Cardinals 7: Arizona’s defense came up with a huge stop that was almost something bigger as Dak Prescott scrambled from the back of the end zone on third down looking to make a play that didn’t come together. The resulting punt gave the Cardinals very solid position near midfield to try to tie the game.

Cowboys 14, Cardinals 7: Yes, the Cowboys had strong field position, but did you see that Dez Bryant touchdown?! The wide receiver caught the ball near the 12-yard line then juked and battled with multiple defenders hanging off him to get into the end zone. It was an impressive one-man effort to give Bryant his 69th career NFL touchdown. Nice!

Cardinals 7, Cowboys 7: Dallas needed a big play to get on the scoreboard, and punt returner Ryan Switzer delivered with a 21-yard return that allowed the Cowboys to start possession at the Cardinals’ 33-yard line. Dak Prescott wrapped up the three-play scoring drive with a 10-yard touchdown run punctuated by the quarterback leaping over a defender into the end zone. The Cowboys have just 57 yards of offense, but this game is all tied up.

Cardinals 7, Cowboys 0: Ezekiel Elliott found the space for a 30-yard run that took the Cowboys from their own 15-yard line to the 45, but it wouldn’t lead to anything. Dallas eventually got to the Arizona 37-yard line, but a pair of negative plays on second and third downs led to a punt.

Cardinals 7, Cowboys 0: Arizona nearly took a 14-point lead after scoring a touchdown with another long drive, but the score was nullified by a holding penalty. The Cowboys’ defense held firm from there with a huge sack on third down to force the Cardinals into a 36-yard field goal attempt from Phil Dawson that went wide right.

Dawson, who joined Arizona this year after four seasons with the 49ers, has missed a field goal in each of the first three weeks. The 42-year-old is now 4-of-7 on field goal attempts so far this season.

Cardinals 7, Cowboys 0: The Cardinals held the ball for nearly the entire first period after Dallas went three-and-out on its first drive. The Cowboys totaled just three total yards and 1:54 of possession in the first 15 minutes of the game.

Cardinals 7, Cowboys 0: Arizona came out firing with a flawless opening drive to take the lead. The offense had three different plays of at least 20 yards, including the 25-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer to Jaron Brown. It’s been a shaky start to the year for Palmer, who is in his 14th season, but he looked on point to open Monday Night Football for Week 3.

The Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals are both 1-1 with plenty of question marks after two weeks of play, and they’ll both try and answer some of those questions when they meet on Monday Night Football. The game is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN (live stream via WatchESPN) from University of Phoenix Stadium.

Arizona played its first two games of the season on the road, and it will be happy to have a home crowd after picking up an ugly win over the Indianapolis Colts in their last outing. The Cardinals barely held on in that one, and if they play the same way they did in that game, the Cowboys should have plenty opportunities to win.

The Cowboys, though, are coming off a pretty poor showing against the Denver Broncos. That game was a 42-17 drubbing that saw Ezekiel Elliott draw criticism for a lack of effort and appearing to give up at one point in the game. Elliott has his ongoing court case with the NFL over his domestic abuse-related suspension, and his performance in Week 2 had many doubting the Cowboys could compete this season.

Dallas does have one win, a victory over the hapless and directionless New York Giants in Week 1. That 19-3 win was one of the least eventful games of the season. The fact is the Cowboys are significantly worse on the offensive side of the ball this season, and that includes both Elliott and quarterback Dak Prescott.

Both teams manage to put up the offensive yardage, at least through two weeks, but neither are reliable at this point.

An appeals court will hold a hearing on Elliott’s suspension and his appeal of it on Oct. 2, essentially guaranteeing he will play in the team’s next two games, against the Cardinals on Monday and the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 1.

Both teams are playing in bad divisions, the Cowboys in the NFC East and the Cardinals in the NFC West. The Cardinals entered Week 3 third in the division, tied with the Seahawks and Rams at 1-1. The Cowboys were in the same position in the NFC East, though technically listed as second in the division behind the Philadelphia Eagles, who also sat at 1-1.

Pregame reading:

“I would say I was just very frustrated, but that’s no excuse for the lack of effort I showed on tape. I just can’t do that. Being one of the leaders on the team and being a guy that people count on, I can’t put that type of stuff on film.”

That leaves J.J. Nelson. He is the only guy that can be a threat with his speed while John Brown is out and get consistent separation from opposing defenders. If his catch rate can remain as high as it did on Sunday against the Colts, he is going to see a lot more targets come his way. After all, the biggest knock on him has always been his ability to simply catch the ball.

After all the talk about “quitters”, “blueprints”, and “slumps” this week, the Cowboys are probably hating that they have to wait until Monday. This is a team that was stifled in week two but that doesn’t mean they’re going fold it up. It hasn’t been the hottest start for an offense that bludgeoned teams in 2016. With great offenses like the Cowboys, we’ve seen what they can do once the ball gets rolling. They need an offensive awakening and it needs to happen against a decent defense like Arizona.