The Arizona Cardinals defense, particularly the front seven, continue to demonstrate the improvement we've been seeing for the last several weeks. The front line got pressure on Tony Romo (three sacks) and did a solid job against the run which helped keep the game close while the Arizona offense tried to find its footing.
The Cowboys were the first team to get into scoring position but missed a 53-yard field goal on a kick that went wide left. The Cardinals used the good starting field position to drive 27 yards and put their own three points on the board.
Neither side was able to do much offensively although the Cowboys did tie the game with a 50-yard kick with about six minutes left in the half. From there a series of poor possessions twice forced the Cardinals to punt from their end zone.
On the second sequence, the Cowboys started their drive from the Arizona 33 and eventually scored on a 15-yard pass from Romo to Dez Bryant for the first touchdown of the game which game Dallas a 10-3 lead which is where the first half ended.
Kevin Kolb made a few decent throws in his first game back but he also missed open receivers and was sacked four times. He hasn't shown his previous propensity to flush himself out of the pocket and he's not forcing passes that aren't there. Unfortunately, that's led to him holding the ball longer than his protection can hold up.
Kolb is 7-11 on mostly short passes with a total of 44 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. The Cardinals have a total 49 yards offense. Romo went 11-20 for 135 yards with one TD pass. Defensively, Arizona held Dallas to 48 yards on the ground.
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