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Members, the GDT is open! If there is anything specifically that you want researched and a question answered, shoot me a note. HNY! - PutMeIn
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Game Day Thread ARI @ DAL, January 2, 2022
Hello and welcome to the Forum’s 16th Arizona Cardinals Game Day Thread (GDT). For over 61 years, the Cardinals and Cowboys have been battling on the gridiron and in a vicious rivalry. The Cowboys lead the overall series, 56-33-1. Some really good football games have been played between the two teams. QB Murray has beaten the Cowboys one time in their house, and has never lost a football game at AT&T Stadium dating back to his high school days. QB Dak Prescott is 1-0 versus the Cardinals, last beating the Cardinals at Arizona in a forgetful 2017 season.
CARDINALS FAN WARNING – The Dallas Cowboys knew they had earned the NFC East Division crown prior to the December 26th Sunday Night Football game with the Washington Football Team. So, did the Cowboys then ease up on the gas, tap the brakes, play only a few starters to get some video laughs, send in the young backups, or lack concentration, forget discipline, and take mental rest? Hell no! The Cowboys were all in all 60 minutes and routed the WFT, 56-14, and at the same time sent a clear message to future competitors – either put up or shut up on game day. The Cowboys put up at SNF. The WFT shut up at SNF. What will the Cardinals do at Dallas? Put up, or shut up? The Cowboys and Cardinals teams are in the playoffs but clearly the Cowboys acted at SNF like they have much more to prove to playoff teams.
The Cardinals have lost 3 games in a row and are 3-5 in their last 8 outings after a 7-0 start to the season, but they clinched a playoff berth thanks to losses by the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings on December 26th. The Cardinals also lost the NFC West Division lead with a Los Angeles Rams victory Sunday.
The Cowboys are coming off a massive 56-14 win over the Washington Football Team on December 26th. QB Dak Prescott was super-hot for 3 quarters before sitting down and being relieved by backup QB Cooper Rush. Together, the two QBs engineered 497 yards in total offense. Two of the Leagues top defenders, CB Treavor Diggs and DE DeMarcus Lawrence, picked off passes.
This next game will be just the second game ever between the Cardinals and the Cowboys in the month of January, and the second game played on the exact same date of January 2nd. In the year 1999, see
www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199901020dal.htm, in a very rare playoff game, the Arizona Cardinals shocked the Dallas Cowboys by the score 21-7. The Arizona Cardinals were led by QB Jake Plummer and RB Larry Centers and the defense almost shut out the Cowboys, allowing a QB Troy Aikman TD pass in the 4th quarter with just 3:33 to go. That day, Cardinals easily won the playoff game, and in doing so, shocked the football world to its very foundation!
Since 2002, when NFC Divisions were last realigned, the teams have played 10 games, with the Cardinals winning 6 games. The last game was played on October 19, 2020, and the QB Kyler Murray-led Cardinals crushed the QB Andy Dalton-led Cowboys by the score 38-10.
The teams played 6 OT games across history, with the Cardinals winning the last 4 OT games in a row, and the super-hot last OT game on December 4, 2011.
The lowest scoring game was Dallas 6, Arizona 9, in OT, and played @ ARI on October 20, 2002. QB Jake Plummer was 23/46, no TD, no INT, and 64.8 rating.
The highest scoring game was Dallas 20, STL 52, and played at Saint Louis on December 9, 1962. Cardinals head coach was Wally Lemm. Cowboys head coach was Tom Landry. Cardinals scoring by quarter was 0, 14, 17, and 21. The Cowboys led the game at halftime, 20-14, but failed to score again. The Big Red went on a rage in the second half, scoring a whopping 38 points. STL QB Charley Johnson was 13/27 for 302 yards, 5 TDs, and 2 INTs. DAL QBs were Eddie LeBaron and Don Meredith combining for 13/31 for 217 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs. DAL suffered 3 more fumbles, or 5 turnovers total.
As crazy as this sounds to me, across the 90 games played since 1960 there was just the one shutout game, played at Dallas on November 16, 1970, and won by STL, 38-0. Every old-timer Cardinals fan remembers that game and many of us watched in awe as the Cardinals totally dominated the feared NFC rival on national TV and Monday Night Football.
MNF factoid. Familiar faces and voices from Howard Cosell, Keith Jackson, and Don Meredith called the infamous Cardinals v. Cowboys game. All three men were flabbergasted as the QB Jim Hart-led Cardinals on O/D/ST completely dominated the mistake-prone Cowboys and QB Craig Morton. 1970 also was the inaugural year for the ABC MNF schedule. ABC made a risky $8M bet with the NFL that pro football could beat out rival NBC and CBS G-rated nighttime shows. The ABC nighttime NFL bet paid off handsomely.
Cowboys’ factoid. The Dallas Cowboys shrugged off the Cardinals 38-0 beating, resumed winning the next week, and ultimately advanced to the 1970 season playoffs. In the playoffs, the Cowboys defeated 49ers in the NFC Conference game, 17-10, and advanced to the Super Bowl V where the Cowboys finally lost to the Baltimore Colts, 16-13.
Cardinals’ factoid. The Cardinals earned some more fame at the MNF game. Already this season, the Cardinals had shut out two teams and held the former Super Bowl winner Kansas City Chiefs to just 6 points in a 6-6 tie game. However, weeks after the Dallas game, the STL Cardinals dropped 3 games in a row throughout December and barely missed the playoffs. The team flew high and then crashed and burned, ending the season with a good 8-5-1 record but in 3rd place behind the Cowboys and Redskins in the NFC East Division. The Cardinals season ending loss to the Redskins by the score 28-27 cost the Cardinals their first playoff berth since 1948 and also cost HC Charlie Winner his job just days later.
Cardinals fans are also aware that certain teams seem to totally dominate the Cardinals team on the scoreboard for endless years. In the recent past, it is the Los Angeles Rams greatly irritating the Arizona Cardinals by winning 8 of the last 9 regular season games. That pain continues in 2021.
However, the Cowboys take the cake for rival’s dominating win streaks. From December 16, 1990 to November 15, 1998, or a total of 17 straight games, the Cowboys absolutely owned the Cardinals. Only at the game on September 7, 1997, did the Cardinals break through and finally win a game, 25-22, in OT! It took 5 quarters and a lot of luck to win that November Sunday.
HOF QB Troy Aikman was an average human that November day, throwing 0 TD and 0 INT. True to form, the Cowboys defense did score a TD on a 4-yard fumble recovery and runback for 6 points. The Cowboys added 4 FGs and were coasting with a comfortable lead in the 4th quarter. Then a Cardinals miracle happened: the Cardinals scored on a short TD pass (WR Frank Sanders 7-yard pass from QB Kent Graham) and made the 2-point conversion (trick play – QB Kent Graham backward pass to WR Pat Carter, 2nd backward pass to Graham, then forward pass to WR Bobby Moore for the 2-point conversion) tying the score in the 4th quarter with just 1:44 to go. In OT, the Cardinals won the coin toss and drove the entire length of the field, and at 8:30, K Kevin Butler kicked a 20-yard FG to win the game. Those 8 long years were some of the hardest years for the Cardinals and the famous dynasty years for the Cowboys and so-called “America’s Team.”
QBs. On Monday, December 27th, QB Dak Prescott is in a Cowboys facility, soaking his right shoulder and arm in a trainer’s massage tub. On December 26th, the Dallas Cowboys smashed the Washington Football Team at Sunday Night Football, 56-14. Prescott passed 28-39 for 330 yards and 4 TDs. The game was over at the 12:43 mark of the 1st quarter with the Cowboys ahead, 21-0. The score had ballooned to 42-7 by halftime and 56-7 by the start of the 4th quarter! Prescott’s favorite target was WR Amari Cooper with receptions for 85 yards and 1 TD. Prescott will be 100% ready for the Cardinals Swiss suspect defense on January 2nd. If the Swiss cheese holes line up again, the Cardinals should expect another QB Prescott plastering job. Meanwhile, RB Ezekiel Elliott rushed 9 times for 37 yards and 1 TD.
Last Sunday versus the Colts, QB Murray was obviously uncomfortable and inconsistent in either the Shotgun or under Center position, and lost his 3rd game in a row. Following time off for injury recovery in October and November, Murray’s performance continues to sink at the wrong time. Ranked in the middle among all starting QBs, Murray is now 16th with 3,284 yards passing, 11th with 21 TDs, tied 13th with 10 INTs, and has a QBR of 55.4. Murray’s statistics freefall seems endless. His season’s work is not anywhere near MVP caliber as it once was at games 1-7. At Murray’s last 5 games, (2 wins and 3 losses) his performance is 181 pass attempts, 151 completions, 64.8% completed, 1,282 yards, 4 TDs, 6 INTs, and 83.2 rating. At just 1 game, versus the Bears, did Murray the Cardinals offense break the 30-point barrier. Something is definitely very wrong with the Cardinals offense these days. The QB, WR, RB, Oline parts are out of sync, players are making mental errors and are penalized, and constantly outguessed and overmatched by defenses.
Injury Reports. See FLCF’s post. Moderators will post player injury data provided by the Cardinals medical or coaching staff no more than 24 hours prior to the game. It is NFL policy that, “If any player has a significant or noteworthy injury, it must be listed on the practice report, even if he fully participates in practice and the team expects that he will play in the team’s next game. This is especially important for key players whose injuries may be covered extensively by the media.” Moreover, the policy also reads, “The information must be credible, accurate, timely, and specific within the guidelines of the policy, which is of paramount importance to maintaining the integrity of the game.” Teams found in violation of the policy face the risk of being fined or forfeiting Draft picks.
Roster Information. The Cardinals team roster information (updated weekly) can be reviewed at
www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/depthchart/ARZ . Roster Rules 2021 (COVID-19): (1) Expansion of practice squads to 16 players, including up to 6 who have more than 2 accrued seasons; (2) The ability to protect up to 4 practice squad players per week from being signed by other teams; (3) Elevation of up to 2 practice squad players to the active roster, without removing any current players, before 4 p.m. ET the day before a game; (4) Elevation of 1 additional practice squad player within 90 minutes before kickoff in the event of a late COVID-19 positive test result; (5) Players placed on injured reserve can return after 3 weeks, rather than 6 weeks as in normal seasons; (6) Removal of the limit for how many players can be activated from injured reserve.
Odds. Per the sports media and Las Vegas professionals, the Cowboys are from 3.0 to 4.5-point favorites over the Cardinals. The Cowboys, playing at home, are giving the Cardinals 3 to -4.5 points. The O/U is sitting right at 49.5 points. Interestingly, slightly more bets are coming in for the Cardinals to cover the spread, meaning a closer game is expected than the points given by Dallas. I like the Cardinals to win straight up. Why? The team’s 3-game losing streak will end on Sunday. Both teams clinched playoff spots last weekend, so some pressure is off. The Cardinals are still in the Division title race with the Los Angeles Rams.
Referee Crew Information - see
www.footballzebras.com/2021/06/officiating-crews-for-the-2021-season/ . Referee assigned to today's game is Scott Novak. Novak was promoted to Referee in 2019. He last worked a Dallas Cowboys game in late 2019. He last worked a Arizona Cardinals game in early 2020. For Novak's officiating history, see
www.pro-football-reference.com/officials/NovaSc0r.htm . Other officiating information: For 2020, NFL games averaged 156.4 plays; there were 40,032 total plays; 99.1% of the plays were officiated on the field without Instant Replay Booth involvement; only 364 of the plays were reviewed; the most commonly reviewed plays were pass completion (82), incomplete pass (47), and runner broke the goal line plane (44).
Weather. A cold front will pass through Dallas on Saturday, January 1, significantly reducing north Texas temperatures and humidity by Sunday morning. Game time temperature will be about 45F with clearing and sunny skies, or about perfect for 200–300-pound football players wearing gear. Dallas’ AT&T Stadium is open air, making for decent conditions for most fans who have partial cover from the elements.
Stadium Information. I cannot think of another stadium site and team that riles up and excites Cardinals fans more than AT&T Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys. The Cardinals have enjoyed the best and worst of times at Dallas over many decades. And the only thing bigger than AT&T Stadium is the ego of Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones--oh gawd, gag me with a rusty pitchfork! So, it is particularly pleasing for me when the Arizona Cardinals stomp on the Cowboys necks in their owner's super-sized house. AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, TX. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL and was completed on May 27, 2009. It is also the home of the Cotton Bowl Classic and the Big 12 Championship Game. The facility, owned by the city of Arlington, can also be used for a variety of other activities such as concerts, basketball games, soccer, college and high school football contests, rodeos and motocross and Spartan races. The stadium is sometimes referred to as "Jerry World" after Dallas Cowboys owner, who originally envisioned it as a large entertainment venue. The stadium seats 80,000, making it the 4th largest stadium in the NFL by seating capacity. The maximum capacity of the stadium with standing room is 105,000. The record attendance for an NFL regular season game was set in 2009 with a crowd of 105,121. AT&T Stadium boasts the world's 31st largest high-definition video screen. Size matters in Texas, as we all know, and JJ's now smaller screen size has to endlessly bug him. For more information on AT&T Stadium, see
attstadium.com/.
Game Broadcasts. Game will be carried by FOX and 98.7 FM. Kickoff at AT&T Stadium is 4:25 ET. The game was flexed by the NFL to the later Sunday afternoon time slot and may be the nationally broadcast game. Check your local schedules.
Next week's game: SEA (5-10) visits ARZ (10-5) for the season finale and probably HC Pete Carroll’s last game as Seahawks’ field boss. This might also be QB Russell Wilson’s last game as a Seahawks player as he made clear that 2021 was an assessment year and a new team venue probably is best for him in 2022. The NFC West Division 4th place Seahawks lost to the also go-nowhere Chicago Bears on December 26th by the score 25-24.
Odds and Ends. The Cardinals backed into the playoffs in 2021, the team’s first post-regular season appearance since 2015. Backing into the playoffs is not how a team wants their successful season story to be told. But here the Cardinals are anyway, and I will take it.
As ESPN tells it on Monday morning, the Cardinals chances to secure the NFC West Division completely flipped with the team’s home loss to the Colts and the Rams’ Road win over the Vikings in Minnesota. The loss was extremely costly to the Cardinals faithful at home in Arizona.
The Cardinals (10-5) dropped from 78% probability to 27% probability of winning the NFC West Division, also almost eliminating any chance for a post-season home game. The Rams must lose at least 1 game vs the Ravens or the 49ers, and the Cardinals must win two games at the Cowboys and at home against the Seahawks the next two weekends for the Cardinals to have any chance to win the NFC West Division. The Cardinals need help, and after a 7-0 start, it is a crying shame to be saying that. Shame on the shameless Cardinals team for coasting into the playoffs like they did.
How the Cardinals are playing now is how bad teams perform at the end of a long season. Is that clear? Good teams work a lot harder than the Cardinals worked in December. Good teams are hot at the end of the regular season and beat the stuffing out of rivals. Bad teams back into the playoffs exactly like this was done by the Cardinals. Last weekend, Arizona had 11 penalties for 85 yards and kicker Matt Prater missed 3 kicks – 2 field goals and a 1 extra point -- to leave 7, potentially game-deciding, points on the field. The Cardinals team got back in return exactly what the players put in to the game and earned at the end of the day. A 5th season loss and more embarrassment. If embarrassment does not motivate a professional team to play better football, I truthfully do not know what does motivate them. Execution maybe.
Cardinals Football Trivia Q&A.
I noted, above, that the Cardinals beat the Cowboys in the one and only Wild Card playoff game between the teams by the score 20-7. Q: What team did the Cardinals play the next weekend, and what was that score? A: The team was the Vikings, and the score was Vikings 41, Cardinals 21. The Vikings will not be in the 2021 playoffs—the team was eliminated from the playoffs by the Rams on December 26th.
Q: Of these 4 Cardinals Head Coaches—Coryell, Hannifan, Arians, and Kingsbury—which HC has the winningest regular season record for the Cardinals? Arians.
Q: Which coach has the most post-season wins for the Cardinals? A: Arians. Which coach has the most Super Bowl wins after he coached the Cardinals? A: Arians.
Q: Why did the HC Arians, the most successful Cardinals coach ever, leave the Cardinals? A: Arians officially retired. Unofficially, we do know there were insider conversations between the owner Mike Bidwill, GM Steve Keim, and the rumored grumpy has-been passed-up out-of-vogue HC. Perhaps upper management’s differences were just not reconcilable and Arians decided to ‘retire’ for his family and some needed R&R before signing up for a new HC gig with the Buccaneers and QB Tom Brady. It is not lost on any Cardinals fan that former HC Coryell also experienced upper management differences (“Dollar Bill” Bill Bidwill era) and left the Cardinals for another good team and then enjoyed a very successful career with QB Dan Fouts.
Cowboys Football Trivia Q&A. What Dallas Cowboy holds the NFL record for most passes to start a career without an interception? QB Dak Prescott. He completed 176 passes in a row. In 1989, the Cowboys traded RB Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings. The Cowboys would complete the 1989 season with a terrible 1-15 record. What did the Vikings trade to Dallas for the RB? 5 veteran players and 8 draft picks -- still considered today to be the trade of the century and a move that fueled the Cowboys dynasty run lasting over a decade. HC Tom Landry is credited with enhancing the 4-3 defense with something he called the "Flex Defense" in about 1964. So, what exactly is the Flex Defense? Landry never explained it. One creative sports analyst described it this way: A couple of the defensive linemen would gelt in this bizarre, four-point crouch, looking like frogs. A couple of other linemen would be backed off the line for no apparent reason; the linebackers would jump around like they had ants in their pants; the strong safety, who we thought was supposed to be back waiting for a pass, would suddenly show up right on the line of scrimmage, and everyone on the defense was shouting stuff to one another. I think Landry's intent was to give the dim-witted Offenses something else to think about. Thinking was just extra brain work and not a normal football player forte.
PutMeIn’s Bottom Line. Cowboys 50, Cardinals 10. At the Colts post-game presser, HC Kingsbury’s behavior was attentive but flat and unemotional—this, after a 3rd straight bad performance and big loss. The behavior was mirrored by QB Murray. Both men agreed that team errors had to be fixed. Neither leader offered a solution. “Get back to work” is not a fix. Therefore, I do not think the Cardinals team will put any great effort into winning the next game at Dallas on January 2nd. Dallas will likely again ‘send a message’ to the League and stomp the living daylights out of the Cardinals in the manner that the Cowboys stomped the WFT last week.
Another 50 Burger is coming right up! You want fries with that? The Cardinals backed into the playoffs on Sunday. The team will stay in their safe hidey-holes until after the end of season or start of the playoffs.