SPORTS TODAY
The Dallas Cowboyshost to the Arizona Cardinalsin the Week 9 edition of “Monday Night Football” with plenty on the line for both teams. The Cowboys are coming off a disastrous loss to the Denver Broncoswhich dropped them to 3-4-1 on the season, while the Cardinals have lost five straight games and look all but out of any potential contention.
Dallas has yet to creep above .500 this year, but it has also not dropped two in a row at any point in 2025. Arizona has fought hard but fallen five straight times since starting 2-0, dropping perhaps too far back in the race for the NFC West and the wild card spot. The Cardinals are coming off a much-needed bye in Week 8, but they’re still not fully healthy as Kyler Murray is not ready to return from the injury that kept him out of the team’s prior two games.
Will the Cowboys get back on track, or will the Cardinals finally get back in the win column? We’ll find out soon enough. But before we break down the Cowboys vs. Cardinals gamehere’s a look at how you can watch the contest.
SPORTS TODAY Where to watch Cowboys vs. Cardinals live
- Date:Monday, Nov. 3 |Time:8:15 p.m. ET
- Location:AT&T Stadium — Arlington, Texas
- TV:ESPN |Stream:Fubo(Try for free)
- Follow:CBS Sports App
- Odds:Cowboys -3; O/U 53.5 (via DraftKings Sportsbook)
SPORTS TODAY When the Cardinals have the ball
Jacoby Brissett will make a third consecutive start in place of Kyler Murray. The Cardinals offense has been both more efficient and more explosive with Brissett under center, as they have leaned into passing the ball more often and he has found a connection with star tight end Trey McBride that Murray often failed to establish. Brissett is 52 of 80 for 599 yards, four touchdowns and an interception in his pair of starts, connecting with McBride on 18 of 24 attempts for 146 yards and three scores.
The Dallas pass defense has been arguably the friendliest in the entire league, surrendering the second-most passing yards per game in the NFL while allowing opponents to complete an incredible 68.5% of their passes at an otherworldly average of 8.2 yards per attempt. Dallas has actually surprisingly gotten pressure at a slightly above-average rate, but has proven utterly incapable of converting that pressure into sacks, registering a minuscule 5.3% sack rate, according to Tru Media.
The Cowboys have also just consistently sprung leaks in their coverage, leaving pass-catchers of all stripes open all over the field as they have already yielded an incredible 15 touchdown catches to wide receivers, per Pro-Football-Reference, the most in the league. They’ve given up 41 total receptions to running backs, which ranks seventh-worst in the NFL. They’ve been better against tight ends of late, but part of that is because they’ve recently faced an unimposing tight end slate. Against McBride, their linebackers and safeties are likely to be at a significant disadvantage.
The Arizona run game has been almost entirely shut down in the absence of James Conner and Trey Bensonwith the duo of Michael Carter and Bam Knight combining to average a mere 3.1 yards per carry. The Cowboys, though, have gotten clocked on the ground to the tune of 4.9 yards per carry, and they’ve given up at least 136 yards on the ground in each of their last five games. Their leaky run defense should allow the Cards at least a chance to get going on the ground, although the poor quality of the offensive line and actual talent at running back could still hold them back.
SPORTS TODAY When the Cowboys have the ball
Up until last week against the Broncos, the Cowboys’ offense had looked nearly unstoppable. Dak Prescott was playing at the highest level of his career — including the year where he finished second in MVP voting — and with CeeDee Lamb returning to the lineup to flank George Pickens and Jake FergusonDallas was racking up yards and denting scoreboards left and right. And then the Broncos just totally dominated the game up front, held Javonte Williams almost entirely in check, and forced Prescott into mistakes for seemingly the first time this year.
The Cardinals’ defense, though, is not the Broncos’ defense. Arizona checks in at 21st in EPA per play allowed, via Tru Media, ranking fifth against the run but 22nd against the pass.
The Cowboys’ Williams-led run game has been efficient for most of the season thanks to both the play-calling of Brian Schottenheimer and the run game design of former Cardinals offensive line coach Klayton Adams, whom the Cowboys hired as their offensive coordinator. Williams doesn’t have many explosive runs (just 6.5% of his carries have gained 12 or more yards, per Tru Media), but he’s clipped off five-plus-yard runs at an extremely high rate and rarely lost yards on his carries. If he can keep the Cowboys on schedule when given the ball, it should give the Dallas passing game ample opportunity to tear up Arizona’s secondary.
Lamb has receiving lines of 7-110-0, 9-112-0, 5-110-1 and 7-74-0 in his four full games this season, and frankly, the Cardinals do not have anybody who can cover him — especially with slot corner Garrett Williams still on injured reserve. Lamb plays a ton in the slot, and he has an advantage over just about everybody when he lines up inside.
Pickens should also have a size and strength advantage against Arizona’s perimeter corners, though Will Johnson should have a better chance against him than the smaller Max Melton. The Cards have hemorrhaged catches to tight ends so far this season, which should give Ferguson a chance to get untracked as well.
So long as the Cowboys can keep Prescott well protected — and Arizona is only 25th in pressure rate, per Tru Media — then Prescott should have plenty of time to pick apart the Cardinals on the back end. Dallas struggled in the protection game last week but should have its full offensive line back for this one and, again, is going up against a significantly weaker pass rush than the one it squared off with last week.
SPORTS TODAY Cowboys vs. Cardinals prediction, pick
As is usually the case with their games, the Cowboys have some significant matchup advantages on offense and some significant disadvantages on defense. When that’s the case, we tend to put our trust in whichever quarterback is the better bet to drive offensive efficiency. Here, that’s Prescott, rather than Brissett.Pick: Cowboys 30, Cardinals 23
