3 things we learned about the Cowboys from the Cardinals game

The Dallas Cowboys lost a heartbreaker to the Arizona Cardinals. Here is what we learned.

It's possible for the Cowboys defense to start fast but can't finish

Dallas forced a punt and had a goal line stand on the Cardinals first two drives, respectively. On the third drive, Shemar James snagged the first interception of his young career, creating a seven-point opportunity on the Cardinals five-yard line. The offense would go on to score a touchdown on a wild fumble recovery by newly elevated James Mitchell.

Tyler Allgeier, however, decided it was time to explode in the third quarter after the quarterback switch to Gardner Minshew. It was exceptionally confusing considering the state of the Cardinals offense. Jeremiyah Love was out, the offense just switched to the backup quarterback. Injuries were ravaging the Cardinals.

But once Arizona finally put up a touchdown, they were not stopped again until the first drive in overtime. It was certainly a disappointing finish on the day for a defense that started out strong as strong as they did. They just can't put a complete game together.

Brian Schottenheimer and the offense once again kept the ball on the ground at a high rate for the second straight week. The offense left some points on the board, and the run game wasn't explosive, but the balance allowed them to be efficient enough through most of the day, putting up 30 total points.

That should have been enough. Somehow, it wasn't.

When the defense allowed Allgeier to break off a massive touchdown run in the third quarter, the Cowboys didn't panic. They continued to run the ball and pass the ball at nearly a 50/50 ratio on the following touchdown drive. When the defense again gave up a touchdown on the next drive, the Cowboys offense immediately stepped in and chewed up nearly seven minutes, finishing with a field goal and going up by two scores.

They ran the ball nine times on that drive. That's the kind of offense you can run to shut out games on any normal week. Unfortunately, as we know, games against the Cardinals are far from normal. It's hard to quantify just how Dallas lost this game.

This two decade long Cardinals nightmare continued the day after Halloween. It looked like Dallas was going to run away with this one, going up 24-10 in the fourth quarter. Then again at 27-17 and just 3:54 to go in the fourth, the game should have been locked up. But the Dallas defense rolled over and allowed the Cardinals to score four back-to-back touchdowns in the second half, tying the game at 30-30 (thanks to a missed Arizona extra point).

And then in overtime, after forcing an Arizona three-and-out, the Cowboys offense had one last shot to go put the game away. They returned the favor by going three-and-out themselves. The defense completely fell apart again on the ensuing drive, allowing a game-winning field goal to the Cardinals.

This was a game that Arizona had no business winning. Yet, as we know, this 2026 Cowboys team just isn't good enough to trust in any game situation. And with that loss, the Cardinals curse continues.