3 favorable matchups for the Cardinals in the final month of 2021
By Sion Fawkes
Dallas Cowboys in Week 17
Former NFL safety and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark recently said, “Mike McCarthy is the worst coach on the Cowboys’ roster.” We saw Clark’s statement reinforced on Thanksgiving with McCarthy’s decision-making. Most notably, his decision to kick a 59-yard field goal with a kicker that earlier in the game, missed an extra point. That decision would later haunt the Cowboys in their 36-33 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Meanwhile, in Glendale, Cardinals’ coach Kliff Kingsbury has all but mastered in-game management. Something he struggled with during the 2020 season. While Kingsbury has proven the critics wrong, McCarthy’s questionable decisions have hampered a Cowboys team already struggling with injuries.
Odds are, the Cowboys will get CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper before their Week 17 matchup against the Cardinals at AT&T Stadium. The Cardinals, road warriors in 2021, marched into AT&T Stadium last year and won 38-10. A game in which Kyler Murray completed 9 out of 24 pass attempts.
Coupled with the Cardinals’ explosive offense plus McCarthy’s in-game decision-making and Kingsbury’s vast improvement, the Cardinals have a more favorable matchup against their former NFC East rival than what you will see on paper.