The Dallas Cowboys fell to defeat against the Denver Broncos last week, to leave them with an even 1-1 record so far. They now head to Arizona, to face a Cardinals team that are also 1-1, but only because of an overtime victory against the very poor Indianapolis Colts. Without David Johnson, the Cardinals are not the same team and that gives the Cowboys a great chance to bounce back and beat them on Monday night. Over at the leading US online sportsbook Bovada, the Cowboys are a 3.5 point favorite while the total sits at 47 points.
The Cowboys opened up their season with a very good win over the New York Giants, although last weekend their defence was exposed by the Denver Broncos. Not only that, but the Broncos defence also managed to stop pretty much everything the Cowboys tried, giving them a landslide victory over the Cowboys. However, with the Cardinals not in the same league as what the Broncos showed us last weekend, I think we are going to see the Cowboys perform much better here.
Despite showing almost nothing against the Broncos, Ezekiel Elliot still has over 150 yards of offence this season, although he is yet to register a touchdown. Another player with over 150 yards to his name is veteran tight end Jason Witten, who also has two touchdowns to his name. With the run game from Elliot, and the passing threat of Witten and fellow star Dez Bryant then the Cowboys have many weapons to go to war with and not many teams are going to be able to stop them.
The Cardinals backfield is all over the place right now, I don’t think they know what to do to replace David Johnson. Kerwynn Williams, Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington were all tried at some point last weekend, and they need to sort out just who is going to lead them and make the vital yards that David Johnson used to. JJ Nelson has been the standout target for Carson Palmer in the air so far, racking up two touchdowns and over 160 yards in his two games. There isn’t too much behind him, other than an ageing Larry Fitzgerald, so I expect Nelson to receive a lot more of the ball from Palmer.
The Cardinals just don’t have the offensive threat that many other teams do and that is going to hurt them while David Johnson is out. I think the Dallas Cowboys have a great chance of winning this one,
