The Dallas Cowboys went into the desert of Glendale, Arizona, and flew back home to Texas with their tails between their legs.
A thorough bashing at the hands of the Cardinals has Cowboys Nation in an uproar.
Like every loss the Cowboys experience, it’s being over-analyzed, over-criticized, and just plain over-exaggerated.
Fans (that’s what they are calling themselves, anyway) are going to the furthest extent of hyperbole on social media.
Some are calling for Dak Prescott to be benched.
Others think the defense is doomed after the loss of All-Pro CB Trevon Diggs to an ACL tear.
Others want Dallas to give up even more draft capital to acquire Atlanta Falcons TE Kyle Pitts in a trade.
The craziest part about that last one is that the Falcons have not expressed any thoughts of moving off of their young tight end.
Cowboys Nation and the most unreasonable of fans created that narrative and ran with it.
It went so far as to generate a response from the Falcons, who expressed that Dallas has not called, and if they did call, there would be no way the team would entertain a trade offer.
Bad things happened in Arizona, but I choose to focus on positives that we can take from the loss.
Michael Gallup Returns
We have been hyping up the return of Michael Gallup since last season.
Now nearly a full two years removed from a torn ACL suffered at the tail end of the 2021 season, Gallup put up a solid stat line of six receptions for 92 yards.
His six receptions were the most since December of 2020, where he registered seven catches versus the Ravens.
The 92 yards are the most he’s accumulated since late November of 2021, where he racked up 106 yards on Thanksgiving versus the Raiders.
Gallup was the team leader in receptions (6), yards (92), average per catch (15.3), and shared the lead with targets (7) with CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, and Jake Ferguson.
It wasn’t just the stats that we can take forward from this game.
Gallup just looked different out there on the field.
His first catch was a screen pass behind the line that he took upfield for 19 yards.
We even saw a GO route up the sideline that he finished with his patented toe tap magic.
Gallup might be back to his old self, and that’s good news for this offense.
The Rushing Attack
One of the flukiest aspects of the loss on Sunday in Arizona was how effective the running game was.
Dallas rushed for 185 yards, with 122 of those yards coming on the legs of Tony Pollard.
What is even more encouraging is the Cowboys were able to rack up those rushing yards with three backup offensive linemen in the game.
Usually, rushing for 185 yards, 26 first downs, and winning the time of possession by nearly 10 minutes results in a win.
The offense averaged 5.6 yards per rush with contributions from Rico Dowdle, Hunter Luepke, Dak Prescott, and even CeeDee Lamb.
A good running game is always something that can be carried over from one game to another.
2nd Half Defense
Simply looking at the box score of this game doesn’t tell the tale of how the game transpired.
Dallas gave up 222 yards on the ground, but 187 of those yards came in the first half.
Arizona also only scored seven of their 28 points in the second half, and it took a 69 yard reception in the 4th quarter after a blown coverage to get across midfield for the first time in the half.
That 69 yard reception helped the Cardinals finish with 134 yards in the second half, and would have been only 65 total yards without that big play.
Whatever Dan Quinn told the team during halftime, it worked in the second half.
The adjustments made at the half to curb the Cardinals offense, namely the read option attack, are positives to move forward with.