Injury 'Break' for Cowboys: What DFW Nemesis Out Week 3?
Some you win. Some - in the case of the Dallas Cowboys - you may not lose, after all.
We wrote recently about how the Cowboys' early schedule stiffened with the additions of running backs Dalvin Cook to the New York Jets (Week 2) and former teammate Ezekiel Elliott to the New England Patriots (Week 4).
But in the wake of this week's injury news from Arizona, the Week 3 game sandwiched between those is suddenly much more winnable. The Cardinals announced that recovering star quarterback Kyler Murray will remain on the team's PUP List, meaning he'll miss at least the season's first four games.
He suffered a torn ACL during a seemingly innocent, non-contact cut last Dec. 12 on Monday Night Football against the New England Patriots.
The Cowboys travel to Arizona Sept. 24.
The ramifications of Murray's absence are drastic. Though the former Allen High School star has done his damage at the Cowboys' AT&T Stadium - where he's 8-0 as a high-schooler, at Oklahoma and with the Cardinals - he's nonetheless 2-0 against Dallas. In those wins he has combined for 451 yards passing, 118 rushing along with five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Murray's Cardinals beat the Cowboys, 38-10, in 2020 and 25-22 at the end of the 2021 season.
Not having to face his dual-threat explosiveness is one thing, but it's who will replace him that also makes the Cowboys' defense breath a sigh of relief. The Cardinals this week released veteran Colt McCoy and early in the season will at quarterback either Joshua Dobbs or Clayton Tune.
Dobbs started for the injury-depleted Titans against the Cowboys last Dec. 30, throwing for 232 yards, a touchdown and one interception in a 27-13 Dallas win. Arizona drafted Tune - who played at Carrollton Hebron High School and the University of Houston - in the 5th round of last April's NFL Draft.
