ARLINGTON, Texas — The NFL playoffs haven’t begun yet, but it sure felt like they had in watching Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys host Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium, with the Cardinals edging out the home team in a 25-22 bout that became a nail-biter before it was all said and done. The Cowboys were 11-4 entering the critical matchup and looking to hold on to the No. 2 seed after seeing both the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers escape upsets earlier in the day while hoping to to sidestep one of their own, but it was not to be.
With the Cardinals looking to right their ship to start January, they mostly imposed their will upon the Cowboys after getting off to a bit of a rough start in the first quarter. It was all far from a barnburner as both defenses made their presence felt time and again, but the Cowboys did as much damage to themselves as they allowed their opponent from the desert to. From an excessive amount of penalties in the first half to a list of drops — both having been an Achilles heel for the Cowboys in games they struggle to find their mojo in — all the Cardinals had to do was execute themselves and take advantage of the many stalled drives the errors helped to generate.
And they did just that.
That said, they failed to put the Cowboys away when they had the chance, watching their 15-point lead shrink to just eight points in the fourth quarter on the heels of a touchdown toss from Prescott to wideout Cedrick Wilson, and the Dallas defense (led by more impact plays by Micah Parsons and Co.) forced a punt with 12 minutes remaining in regulation. But again, and stop me if you’re sensing a theme here, the Cowboys coughed it up via a fumble by Prescott — punched out by linebacker Isaiah Simmons — that was recovered by fellow linebacker Dennis Gardeck.
In a game that also saw the Cowboys lose Michael Gallup to a knee injury in the second quarter, they’d find some late heart but ultimately lose their grip on the No. 2 seed and the Cardinals are again aimed in the right direction going into the regular-season finale.
4:25 P
DAL -6.5, o52.5
FOX
Season Leaders
| passing |
|---|
  K. Murray 3284 YD, 21 TDS, 10 INTS K. Murray 3284 YD, 21 TDS, 10 INTS |
  D. Prescott 3928 YD, 29 TDS, 10 INTS D. Prescott 3928 YD, 29 TDS, 10 INTS |
| rushing |
 J. Conner 187 ATT, 700 YD, 14 TDS J. Conner 187 ATT, 700 YD, 14 TDS |
 E. Elliott 210 ATT, 899 YD, 10 TDS E. Elliott 210 ATT, 899 YD, 10 TDS |
| receiving |
 C. Kirk 69 REC, 860 YD, 5 TDS C. Kirk 69 REC, 860 YD, 5 TDS |
 C. Lamb 74 REC, 1006 YD, 6 TDS C. Lamb 74 REC, 1006 YD, 6 TDS |
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Game-changing play. Might’ve been a fumble by the Cardinals and definitely worth a challenge, but the Cowboys are out of timeouts and can’t challenge. Brutal for Dallas. Aces for Arizona.
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It’s now a three-point game and the pressure shifts to the Cowboys defense, as it has so many times in the past.
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Cowboys refusing to lay down and die. Cardinals simply aren’t finishing them off yet.
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Cowboys continue to shoot themselves in the foot. The latest bullet is a fumble by Prescott, lost and recovered by the Cardinals.
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