Dallas Cowboys Game Preview: Week 9 vs. Arizona Cardinals

Photo: Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott trying to make a play against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 24, 2023. The Cardinals won the game 28-16 and have won the last three meetings between both clubs. Photo credit: Smiley N. Pool, DallasNews.

The Dallas Cowboys will look to rebound from a Mile High 20-point Week 8 defeat (44-24) when they take on the Arizona Cardinals from AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Monday Night Football to finish up Week 9. 

The 3-4-1 Cowboys, with the NFL’s No. 2 offense (384.1 yards per game) and No. 31 defense (404.6 yards allowed per game), host a Cardinal team, 2-5, that is 22nd in the NFL in yards per game (310.3) and 19th in yards allowed per game (335.7). The Cardinals, coming off of their bye week, are losers of five straight games.

In Week 8’s loss to the Denver Broncos, Cowboy quarterback Dak Prescott turned in his worst performance of the season - 19/31, 188 yards, and two interceptions. Running back Javonte Williams was limited on the ground to just 41 yards on just 13 carries, while wideouts CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens were held without touchdowns. Bronco signal-caller Bo Nix threw for four touchdowns and running back J.K. Dobbins ran for 111 yards. 

The Cardinals are a banged up group, with running backs James Conner and Trey Benson currently on injured reserve. Quarterback Kyler Murray has not played since Oct. 5, and Jacoby Brissett will start against the Cowboys. No. 1 wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. has been up and down (disappointing, perhaps) this season, with just 24 catches for 396 yards and two touchdowns in seven games. Bam Knight, a 24-year-old running back who played seven games with the New York Jets in 2022 and two games with the Detroit Lions in 2023, will get the start in the backfield on Monday night. He has rushed 29 times for 102 yards in five games this season. 

Brissett, Knight, Harrison, and tight end Trey McBride (47 catches, 421 yards, four touchdowns in 2025) will face a Cowboy defense that has promised changes and improvements as the weeks have progressed but have failed to show improvements. The unit is 29th in rushing defense (146.0 yards per game), so at the very least it is a good thing for them that they do not have to face the injured Conner, who averaged 4.6 yards per carry in 2024. 

The Cardinal defense, 24th against the pass at 234.9 yards per game allowed, have a challenge ahead of them with the quartet of Prescott-Williams-Lamb-Pickens. If anything, this is a defense that the Cowboy offense should be able to get back on track against. The Cardinals though are 12th against the run, giving up 100.9 yards per game. Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson, and veteran Calais Campbell are a strong group up front that will provide resistance to the Cowboy offensive line. Sweat’s five sacks lead the team. Budda Baker, a 7-time Pro Bowl safety, has long been one of the best defensive backs in the NFL and controls the Cardinal back end.

Donovan Wilson (safety) remains out with elbow and shoulder ailments, while Jack Sanborn (linebacker) was placed on injured reserve with a groin injury. Defensive back Alijah Clark injured his ribs against the Broncos and is out for Monday night, leaving the Cowboys thin at safety with Juanyeh Thomas questionable due to migraines. On a positive note, center Cooper Beebe will play for the first time since Week 2.

Monday night’s game should on paper be an easier test for the Cowboys as Week 8, with the Cardinals possessing no momentum thanks to their current losing streak. The Cardinals started the season 2-0 with wins, 20-13 and 27-22, over the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. As we have seen with the Cowboy defense, though, it does not really matter who they play. Russell Wilson threw for 450 yards against their defense and was benched after a poor performance the following week against the Kansas City Chiefs. Chicago Bear quarterback Caleb Williams carved the Cowboy D up for 298 yards and four touchdowns.

Harrison Jr. is very talented, and Brissett has been a quality NFL backup for nearly a decade (he was a 2016 third-round draft pick of the New England Patriots). While Knight is averaging less than four yards per carry this season, that could increase against the Cowboy defense. Bronco backup R.J. Harvey, for instance, ran for two touchdowns against the Cowboys, 46 yards on 6.6 yards per carry.

The Cowboy offense figures to put up points with a bounce back effort, while the Cardinal offense will be reliant on Harrison Jr. and McBride in hauling in Brissett offerings. Harrison Jr. tallied 98 yards receiving in Week 5 against the Tennessee Titans, while McBride totaled 74 in the team’s 27-23 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 7. Both weapons will be difficult matchups for the Cowboy corners - as Trevon Diggs remains on IR with his concussion issue - and Cowboy linebackers, namely Kenneth Murray Jr., who struggles in coverage. The defense does dodge a proverbial bullet by not having to go up against the dual-threat Murray, but as mentioned above, Brissett is a veteran who has performed well this season - 599 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. 

Both franchises are old NFC East rivals, dating back to 1970, and remained so until 2002, at which time the league reorganized the divisions, creating four per conference instead of three. The Cowboys lead the all-time series 56-35-1, but the Cardinals have won the last three meetings - 28-16, 25-22, and 38-10. The last Cowboy win over the Cardinals came on September 25, 2017, a game that the Cowboys won 28-17 in Arizona. 

The Cowboys figure to score on Monday night. Harrison Jr. and McBride figure to make plays on a Cowboy defense that still does not have it together. A few more plays will be made by the home team. 

Prediction: Cowboys 31 Cardinals 23