Kyler Murray comes home to North Texas as his Arizona Cardinals (2-5) face the Dallas Cowboys (3-4-1).
Dallas hopes to regain its offensive firepower back on its home turf, while Murray, an Allen and OU product, put his unbeaten streak at AT&T Stadium on the line.
How will it all shake out Monday night? Our columnists and beat writers at The Dallas Morning News give their predictions:
Tim Cowlishaw
Cowboys
The Marvin Harrison Era hasn’t really gotten off to a bang up start, not what you would expect from a No. 3 overall pick, anyway. This feels like a game — against the Cowboys’ forever depleted secondary — that the son of the Hall of Famer gets going. The assumption that Dallas wins at home is a dangerous one. Cowboys will get their usual four touchdowns at home but maybe not quite enough against an Arizona team that has been on the wrong side of five straight close calls.
Cardinals 34, Cowboys 31
Joseph Hoyt
Until the Cowboys slow down at home, I’m going to keep picking them to score a lot of points. And until they prove that they can sustain some type of streak — they haven’t had the same result in back-to-back weeks — then I’m going to keep picking the opposite of what happened the previous week. At least until they go to Las Vegas. The Cowboys offense finds its swagger again, the defense does just enough, and Kyler Murray falls for the first time at AT&T Stadium.
Cowboys 38, Cardinals 31
Damon Marx
Instead of the rollercoaster analogy we’ve been using for weeks, let’s try this: The Cowboys are the Jekyll (home) and Hyde (road) of the NFL. On the fast surface at AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys’ offense will continue to pile up the points. Can the defense make two or three stops against the Cardinals? That’ll be the deciding factor on Monday night.
Cowboys 40, Cardinals 32
Abraham Nudelstejer
A Monday night loss to the Cardinals would be near-fatal for the Cowboys’ playoff hopes. Arizona is, at best, mediocre on both sides of the ball, so Brian Schottenheimer’s team must capitalize on the opportunity to secure its fourth win of the season. The Cowboys can’t afford to slip up, especially playing at home and in front of a national audience.
Cowboys 27, Cardinals 23
Kevin Sherrington
I don’t feel good about this, but I’m saying that Kyler Murray’s 8-0 streak at JerryWorld comes to an end. The fact that the Cowboys don’t have a pass rush might actually help. No one will chase Murray. They’ll just wait for him somewhere along the line of scrimmage.
Cowboys 31, Cardinals 27
Calvin Watkins
Kyler Murray is 8-0 at AT&T Stadium. That’s going to end Monday, thanks to the Cowboys’ offense putting up plenty of points. This might be a game where George Pickens goes off. Again.
Cowboys 31, Cardinals 20
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