Ladies and gentlemen, FOOTBALL IS BACK. With the NFL Hall of Fame game occurring today and preseason lurking on the horizon, there certainly is a lot to be hyped about for football fans. The Arizona Cardinals took on the Dallas Cowboys in a high-tempo exhibition game that celebrated the careers of 2017 Hall of Fame inductees LaDainian Tomlinson, Kurt Warner, Terrell Davis, Morten Andersen, Kenny Easley, Jason Taylor, and Jerry Jones. Let's take a closer look at some of the first football action of the new season: the game itself.
ARIZONA CARDINALS:
The Cardinals are known for their potent defensive combination of players like CB Patrick Peterson, S Tyrann Mathieu, LB Chandler Jones, and talented depth, which includes first round-pick LB Haason Reddick and second-round pick S Budda Baker. Note that this game is meant for the depth players to prove themselves and make cases for positions on the final 53-man roster the Cardinals can bring into the regular season.
What needs to be seen is the offensive depth. Second- and third-stringers sitting behind the likes of QB Carson Palmer, RB David Johnson, and WR Larry Fitzgerald get an early opportunity to make themselves known and solidify roster spots for themselves. Today, backup QB Blaine Gabbert got the start for the Cardinals. Although his career on the Jaguars and 49ers has been lackluster, he was cooking early on, throwing 11-of-14 and grabbing 185 yards before letting RBs Kerwynn Williams and Andre Ellington punch the rock into the endzone on the first and second possessions. Gabbert even carried the football into the endzone himself for a 2-point conversion that put the Cardinals up 15-0 before the Cowboys had a chance to rally back. However, their offense started faltering after the first quarter; the Cards only managed to punch in a field goal for the rest of the game, which is partially second-half QB Trevor Knight's fault as he only completed 5-of-14 passes for 68 yards. Gabbert needs to scramble in the pocket or risk getting sacked like he did today (twice in the first half).
DALLAS COWBOYS:
One thing is for certain: the Dallas Cowboys are absolutely STACKED at the RB position. With Ezekiel Elliott (who is currently in hot water in regards to a legal issue revolving inappropriate and sexual abuse) not playing in this game to preserve his health, backup RBs Alfred Morris and Darren McFadden are primarily splitting time in the backfield. Keep in mind that these are extremely capable players who used to start for the Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders, respectively. Morris finished with 7 carries for 42 yards while new name Rod Smith hauled in 18 carries for 64 yards.
Backup QB Kellen Moore kicked off the first half as the starting player while Cooper Rush took the field during the second half of the game. While Moore struggled early on, throwing an endzone interception, the Cowboys got their act together and strung together a 20-point performance, led by Moore's 12-of-17 performance for 182 yards and a passing TD to WR Rico Gathers (who has the perfect last name for a receiver). Rush needs to up his throwing percentage (he was only 9-of-18 for 87 yards), although he did throw a beautiful dime to WR Uzoma Nwachukwu during his tenure on the field. The Cowboys lined up 2 important field goals to steal the lead.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Preseason is always a great time of year to hype up football fans. Players constantly exclaim that training camp battles determine successful teams, and the NFL Hall of Fame Exhibition Game has shown the progression that some of these players are talking about. The Cardinals have demonstrated explosive firepower out of the gate but need to find a way to maintain that high-tempo offense throughout the remaining three quarters of the game. The Cowboys got off to a slow start but gradually started to gel on both sides of the ball and played a balanced game. Hopefully the next few preseason games on August 9th can maintain the hype train. Please share this post and follow me for upcoming content regarding noise around the league!