Cards 28, Cowboys 17: 7 FishTip Ways This Went Wrong
By Mike Fisher | @fishsports
ARLINGTON (105.3 THE FAN) -- Playing the game of "FishTips'' is so much more fun for 105.3 The Fan Fans when the Cowboys win.
But Arizona 28, Dallas 17 robs you of your fun … unless you take some twisted pleasure in my Seven "FishTips'' being right because the Cowboys failed to follow them.
Over the course of the week at Valley Ranch, coaches and players help me assemble gameplan concepts likely to be applicable for Sunday.
Here's how we did:
FishTip 1: What a healthy Tony Romo gave you: A 24-5 lifetime record in November games. And an 11-4 record at home in noon games. But Brandon Weeden as his replacement means Dallas doesn't change the gameplan much.
RESULT: Romo didn't play with what amounts to a broken back (that he'll attempt to play with next week in London against the Jaguars.) But our prediction held true: The Cowboys had enough faith that Weeden would execute at a high enough level to leave the general plan unchanged.
Maybe — as Weeden was dismal, with 18 of 33 for 183 yards, a TD and two picks — they should've changed it.
"Hopefully we'll get Romo back this week," said owner Jerry Jones. "Those are our plans … We're betting on him playing. If we didn't think he could play, he wouldn't be on that long plane ride."
FishTip 2: Carson Palmer is 11-2 in his past 13 starts, and has a cumulative 97.1 passer rating. In short, Arizona is as good as Dallas, from its QB on down.
RESULT: And now the Cardinals are better. Dallas drops to 6-3, while Arizona is 7-1, leading the NFC this late in the season for the first time since 1974 … and Palmer threw three TD passes to lead the charge.
FishTip 3: DeMarco entered the game with more rushing yards than 29 other teams. His seven rushing TDs were more than 20 other teams. Red-zone carries were going to be big.
RESULT: Red zone? The Cowboys barely sniffed the red zone. Murray failed to hit the 100-yard mark for the first time this season and gained 79 yards on 19 carries. Nothing wrong with that, except Arizona's Andre Ellington topped it with 95 yards on 21 carries and a TD catch.
FishTip 4: Dallas needed pocket pressure. Melton as a moving chess piece. Rookie DeMarcus Lawrence making his NFL debut as a pass-down speed-rush end. Crawford at the 3-tech. All of it.
RESULT: Melton got to the quarterback. Lawrence got to line up inside. Crawford got hurt.
Film review of the front-four's work will be better than it looks on paper today. But it's not like the Dallas D was celebrating in the postgame locker room last night.
FishTip 5: The Cards are the No. 1 blitz team in the last two NFL seasons. Dallas' cure? Hot reads to the slot over middle. Dez sometimes. Beasley lots.
RESULT: At one point late in the game, tight end Jason Witten had more tackles (two) than Dallas WR's had catches (one, for Cole Beasley). Weeden couldn't much connect with his old Oklahoma State pal Bryant, who was targeted 10 times but caught just two for 15 yards, including a meaningless late score.
FishTip 6: The Cardinals like to go downfield with their three fine WRs. Brandon Carr in particular needed to be able to hold up deep.
RESULT: Tyler Patmon got a pick-6 in the secondary, but otherwise Carr and Co. were overmatched with passes allowed of 31, 27, 20 and 18 yards.
FishTip 7: The Cowboys are bonded. 15 guys got together and rented a suite for the Mavs game last Thursday. Would the Joseph "RandleScandal'' break the bond
RESULT: I asked Dez about this specifically, especially because he was in the middle of the scandal and because he's got an OSU relationship with Dallas' goofball running back.
"Keeping us together,'' Bryant told me, "is part of my job.''
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