The did not get off to a very good start on "Monday Night Football" in Week 3. But as the Cowboys well know, it's not about how you start, it's about how you finish.And boy, did they finish this one in style. They turned an early deficit into a 28-17 victory, despite the fact that they were absolutely blown off the field for the first 15 minutes of the game.Once the first quarter ended, the Cowboys proceeded to slowly but surely take over. They were helped by two Arizona drives that stalled deep in their own territory, allowing Dallas to march down the field for two touchdowns on drives that totaled 79 yards combined. They
Edwin Diaz Jersey were helped also by a mi sed field goal from kicker , who was brought in to fix the kicking game that so plagued Arizona last season.Those few Arizona mistakes were all , and company needed to put their stamp on the football game. Dak got off to a slow start, but eventually wound up having an three-touchdown evening. Zeke was bottled up for much of the early part of the game, but ripped off runs of 30 yards and 20 yards, and later added a game-sealing touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. made plays deep down the field. won his matchup with . made a huge play on third down. made plays in the return game.And the much-maligned Cowboys defense, after a horrid start, stepped up and did its job. dominated the game (more on that below), but , , and especially, third-year safety , sophomore defensive tackle , and rookie corner all played big roles in the Cowboys slowing down an Arizona offense that looked like it was going to have a field day in the early going. That clamping down, plus a few timely bursts of offensive effectivene s (the ball-control Cowboys only had the ball for 23:45), was all Dallas ultimately needed.Here are a few more things to know from the Cowboys' 28-17 win.National anthem updatePlayers and teams all around the demonstrated in various ways during the national anthem on Sunday, and to a certain extent that carried over to Monday night. Nobody on either the Cowboys or
Lenny Dykstra Jersey Cardinals kneeled or sat during the actual singing of the national anthem by Jordin Sparks -- both teams stood locked arm in arm, along with coaches, owners, and executives.Prior to the anthem, however, every member of the Cowboys, along with Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones, Jerry Jones Jr., Jason Garrett and the rest of the coaching staff, A portion of the crowd on hand at University of Phoenix Stadium booed that gesture, but the Cowboys were on their feet by the time the anthem actually started. ESPN reported on broadcast that Arizona's Fitzgerald reached out to Witten about teams coordinating something. But talks today led to this. Kate Hairopoulos (@khairopoulos) The Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones locked arms and took a knee in unity prior to the national anthem Sports Illustrated (@SInow) Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) Jerry Jones and
Dwight Gooden Jersey Cowboys, after kneeling prior to anthem, then stood with locked arms. MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) Fans booed as Cowboys kneeled before the national anthem Jon Machota (@jonmachota) The Cardinals, meanwhile, locked arms while standing side-to-side along the goal line. Cardinals are lining up in the end zone, and not the sideline. All are standing. Linked arms. Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) Anthem view from the pre s box. Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) Dak and Zeke bounce backDak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott were absolutely bottled up by the last week. Dak was picked twice and threw for only 238 yards on 50 attempts, while Zeke ran for a career-low eight yards on nine carries. The kids were alright in this one, bouncing back to score all four Cowboys touchdowns in the victory.Dak was not called on to throw 50 times like he was last week, going 13 of 18 for 183 yards with two touchdowns, but the game was very much in his hands. He ran the read-option several times (three carries for 16 yards), including once down near the goal line for Dallas' first score of the game. . FLIPS INTO THE END ZONE!TD ! NFL (@NFL) He made a bunch of incredible plays outside the pocket, showing off his ability to make pinpoint throws on the run. Brice Butler was the beneficiary on the two most miraculous of those plays, pulling in a sweet touchdown grab as well as another long catch down the sideline. Incredible arm strength. throws a dart DEEP to in
Wilson Ramos Jersey the end zone! NFL (@NFL) Dak Prescott's longest completion outside the pocket in his career (37 yards) ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) He was ruled down before the TD...But this to connection is NFL (@NFL) Late in the fourth, Elliott capped the evening with his first rushing touchdown of the season. His first TD of the season. runs in the TD! NFL (@NFL) Zeke wound up with only 80 yards on 22 carries, but that was a major improvement on last week's effort. He'll get going soon enough.No. 1 vs. No. 1 has faced as tough a slate of cornerbacks during the first three weeks of the season as anybody in football. He started with the ' in Week 1, dealt with the Broncos' in Week 2, and on Monday went toe-to-toe with the Cardinals' . Dez was neither explosive nor efficient in the first two games, catching nine pa ses for 102 yards and a touchdown ... on 25 combined targets. (He probably should have had another touchdown against Jenkins but Dak airmailed a throw about 10 feet over Dez's head.)Going into Week 3, he had his work cut out for him against Peterson. Heading into tonight, no cornerback has been tougher to complete a pa s on than Patrick Peterson
New York Mets Jersey Pro Football Focus (@PFF) At halftime, Dez had just one catch for negative-three yards, and Peterson's numbers looked even better. Patrick Peterson season as of halftime:93 coverage snaps2 catches allowed22 yards allowed0.24 yards per coverage snap(league best) Nathan Jahnke (@PFF_NateJahnke) Early in the second half, though, Dez made some magic happen. I mean, just look at this and try not to be impre sed. You won't be able to stop yourself from throwing up the X when you see what Dez did. . will NOT be denied!WOW. NFL (@NFL) Dez scored on this play Sports Illustrated (@SInow) You can count the amount of WRs in the NFL that would score from where Dez Bryant caught this on one hand Mike Renner (@PFF_Mike) Moral of the story: Throw it to Dez. The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) That touchdown catch was the 69th of Dez's career, the sixth-most all time in a player's first 100 career games (tied with a guy named ). Dez finished the night with only those two catches for 12 yards and that score, so Peterson did a heck of a job, but Dez certainly made the most impre sive play of the evening.Cardinals injury-riddled OL vs. Cowboys maligned DLThe Cardinals came into this game without two of their five starting offensive linemen, as
%20TPCC2.jpg)
.png){kind=logo}
