It’s a match-up out of the old NFC East when the Arizona Cardinals travel to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday Night to take on the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3 of the NFL Preseason.
The third week of the exhibition slate is usually the best, as teams are getting their starters fully up to speed and prepared for opening week. This isn’t the game to figure out your depth chart or get bubble guys in for work. This is the week you kick the tires on your actual offensive and defensive starting roster. However, that will not be the case in this game.
Related: NFL Preseason Betting Guide
Odds:
Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys (-3, Over/Under 43.5)
Arizona Cardinals (2-0)
Like the New York Jets, the Cardinals have their own quarterback quandary but it’s not so easily solved. If Josh Rosen is the future of the franchise, then the sooner they can get him in real game action the better. The problem there is, of course, they signed Sam Bradford before they drafted Rosen and there’s no way, barring injury, the rookie will ever see the field unless Arizona’s postseason hopes are done.
Rosen was a good prospect, but people forget that Bradford was an elite prospect coming out of Oklahoma. Not only that, when he’s healthy, Bradford absolutely performs like a franchise quarterback. But there’s always that caveat, “when he’s healthy.’ He’s not been healthy much.
Bradford finished 6-for-6 for 61 yards in the Cardinals’ 20-15 victory over the New Orleans Saints. Rosen was good too, going 10-for-16 for 107 yards and a touchdown. If new head coach Steve Wilks feels like he has a possible playoff team on his hands, and he might, he’ll probably only play Bradford for the first quarter and not risk anything crazy happening to the brittle signal-caller. That means Rosen will go most of the way before handing fourth-quarter mop-up duty to Mike Glennon or camp arm Chad Kanoff.
The Cards have been a great bet this preseason. They were -2 favorites in their Week 1 game against the Chargers and covered, winning 25-17. Last week they were a +5.5 dog to the Saints and won it outright.
Dallas Cowboys (0-2)
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has laid down the law this week and decreed from his mountain top that Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott are both done for the preseason. That’s probably smart, considering two starting offensive linemen, center Travis Frederick and guard Zack Martin, have both been banged up in the two exhibition games. They should be ready for Week 1, but Jones is tired of watching his good players hobble off the field.
Elliott has yet to take a snap in the preseason. Prescott has played all but four series. Last week the third-year quarterback played about a quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals in the team’s 21-13 loss, looking sharp. He was 10-of-15 for 86 yards and a touchdown.
That means second-year quarterback Cooper Rush out of Central Michigan will likely go most of the way Sunday night, with Mike White, the rookie out of Western Kentucky, taking the field in the third or fourth quarter. Rush was 6-of-9 last week for 37 yards. White was 8-of-16 for 76 yards.
Dallas still has plenty of talent carrying the ball with rookie Bo Scarbrough and fouth-year pro Rod Smith toting the load out of the backfield.
The Cowboys were underdogs (+3.5) in their opener against the 49ers and lost by three and were favored by three points against the Bengals and lost by eight in Week 2.
The Pick
With Prescott and Elliott sitting out this one, there’s no reason to place any money behind the Cowboys at -3. Rosen and Bradford will get plenty of work and should find the Dallas defensive reserves, especially in the second half, very accommodating. I like the Cards and the vver, but just barely. Cardinals 24, Cowboys 10
