It wouldn’t be a criminal football act if the Cowboys won’t play Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot in this game. After all, their statuses as starters next season are safe. For the meantime, the Cowboys are likely to deploy the backups with Kellen Moore, Zac Dysert, and Cooper Rush rotating to handle the signal-calling duties. As for the running backs, expect plenty of action from the third/fourth stringers in Jahad Thomas, Keith Smith, and Rod Smith.
But perhaps what Dallas would like to see more in this game is the performance of its stop unit, particularly against the pass. The Cowboy were just 26th in the league last season with 260.4 passing yards allowed per game.
The secondary was problematic for Dallas in 2016 and with Morris Clairborne, Barry Church, and J.J. Wilcox all gone, the unit will mostly depend on newcomers like rookies Chidobe Awuzie and Xavier Woods to help cover for the losses while trying to resurrect what is arguably the Cowboys’ weakest area. Since Jason Garrett took over as head coach, the Cowboys are just 9-16 SU in preseason contests.
Betting on the Arizona Cardinals
Don’t expect to see Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald either in this game. The Cards wouldn’t risk their oldies in a no-bearing contest, let alone opposite a bunch of practice-squad quality players so for those coming down to Canton to watch the game, prepare yourselves to a heavy dose of Drew Stanton under center. Seeing Stanton taking snaps is much better than Stanton dancing on the sidelines, right?
Stanton will be sharing duties with undrafted rookie Trevor Knight out of Oklahoma and likely with veteran Blaine Gabbert as well. All three quarterbacks are still in the mix for the main backup title so this is going to be one worth watching in this contest. Last season, Arizona was ninth in passing yards per game and sixth in scoring offense.
Even on defense, it’s a stretch for Arizona to send a star in Patrick Peterson to the field. This should give other cornerbacks a chance to strengthen their cases as to who among them should team up with Peterson once the new season begins.
The Cardinals are 7-9 SU in preseason games under head coach Bruce Arians.
