Arizona Cardinals jackstomp Dallas Cowboys

After the first quarter, the Arizona Cardinals ran away with the game thanks to the best defensive effort of the season

The Arizona Cardinals scored 38 points.  The score at the end of the first quarter was 0-0.  The Cardinals defense came alive and the Cowboys offense was inept as the Cardinals came away with a huge win in front of the Monday Night Football audience.

It wasn’t the best game from Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray in the air but everything else was working.  Murray had 74-yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground.

Despite only throwing the ball 24 times, completing just 9 passes, he threw two huge passes.  The first was an 80-yard bomb to receiver Christian Kirk to put the Cardinals up 21-0 in the second quarter.

The second one was a beautiful catch and run by DeAndre Hopkins that went for 60-yards late in the game.  The stars of the game though were on defense.

Safety Budda Baker had a career game, which included his first career interception.  He also had 7 tackles, including a sack and forced a fumble.

Haason Reddick played well.  He ended the evening with 2 sacks of Cowboys quarterback Andy Dalton.  Dalton threw two interceptions and Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliot fumbled twice, both in the second quarter.

Then there was Kenyan Drake.  He was already having a decent night when he ran off a 69-yard run late in the fourth quarter to seal the deal at 38-10.  He ended the evening with 174-yards rushing.

The Cardinals still have some things to clean up despite the blowout.  They left a few receivers open that again dropped passes that greatly helped, something that came up against the New York Jets last week.

They also had a few more passes they could have picked off.  Then the penalties reared their ugly head again, especially late in the game when the defense was called for four critical pass interference and illegal contact calls on the Cowboys only touchdown drive.

Now the Cardinals have a short week to prepare for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at State Farm Stadium.  The Seahawks are coming off their bye.