REPORT CARD
Passing offense: C
Carson Palmer was effective early, but his protection and his accuracy diminished during the crucial points of the game in the second half. He threw 19 incompletions in finishing with 325 yards. The offensive line needs to play better, even if it was missing two starters. Palmer blamed himself for a couple of his six sacks, but everyone needs to share in the blame. Larry Fitzgerald was golden, however, and Andre Ellington helped out a ton on throws out of the backfield.
Rushing offense: D
Chris Johnson started the game, as expected, but just like last week’s game the Cardinals went to a backup – Ellington – in the second half. He led the way with 22 rushing yards on five carries – a decent 4.4 average – and Bruce Arians hinted Ellington will get more reps on Sunday against the 49ers. Johnson finished with just 17 yards on 12 carries and for the third straight week, the Cardinals came nowhere near 100 yards, finishing with just 49 rushing yards overall.
Pass defense: C-
It wasn’t awful, but the Cardinals’ pass rush didn’t generate nearly enough pressure or harassment of Dak Prescott. Chandler Jones recorded Arizona’s only sack of the evening and Prescott was hit only four times overall compared to the 11 times Dallas hit Palmer. Justin Bethel got beat on a deep touchdown pass from Prescott to Bruce Butler and one of the safeties appeared to be out of position on 53-yard completion to Butler that led to a back-breaking touchdown run.
Rush defense: C+
There were times where this group looked as good as it has all season, but Ezekiel Elliott broke off just enough long runs to help turn the tide and open up the passing game for Prescott. The Cowboys finished with 99 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns on the ground, including a 10-yard keeper by Prescott in which he leaped at the goal line and, after making contact with Bethel and Antoine Bethea, flipped end over end into the end zone.
Special teams: D
Simply not good enough. Phil Dawson missed another field goal, a 36-yard attempt early in the second quarter, for his third miss in three games. Punter Andy Lee could not help flip field position because of a couple of uncharacteristic short punts with not enough hang time. The return game was basically moot and the gunners didn’t distinguish themselves, either.
Coaching: C
Arians blamed himself for faults in the running game, but I don’t blame him for sticking with Chris Johnson for as long as he did. There wasn’t much to question in terms of play calling, in my opinion, but offensive line coach Harold Goodwin and special teams coach Amos Jones should be awfully busy this week trying to clean up their units because those two groups, especially, let the team down on Monday night.