Written by Jared Dubin at CBS Sports.com
Football is back! Sort of.
The Cowboys and Cardinals squared off in this year’s edition of the Hall of Fame Game, but Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, Carson Palmer, David Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown, pretty much every starting offensive lineman, Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, Sean Lee, and every other defensive star sat this one out.
That meant we were left watching Blaine Gabbert vs. Kellen Moore in the first half and Trevor Knight vs. Cooper Rush after halftime. So, not exactly the Cardinals and Cowboys we expect to see during the regular season.
Still, the backups, rookies and street free agents provided us with what was actually a fairly entertaining game — for the preseason, at least. The Cardinals went up 15-0 on their first two drives of the game (they went for two on their second drive after Dallas committed a penalty on the extra point), but the Cowboys came back with 17 unanswered points to go in front by two in the third quarter. Arizona retook the lead with a field goal near the end of the third, and the ‘Boys took it back with one of their own early in the fourth.
The Cardinals had two shots to take the lead back from the Cowboys, but missed a field goal on one opportunity and had to settle for a punt on the other. They almost caught a break with a muffed punt, but Lance Lenoir was actually trying to make a play after a Cardinals player had already touched it, so the Cowboys kept the ball and drove down the field to run out most of the clock.
In the end, we got exactly what was expected:
The Cowboys are 2 point favorites in this game if you care.
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) August 4, 2017
Here are some other takeaways from the Cowboys’ 20-18 win.
First touchdown of the preseason
Congratulations to Cardinals backup running back Kerwynn Williams, who scored the first touchdown of the season.
First TD of the year = @Kerwinning_! pic.twitter.com/HRiqMmGLU4
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 4, 2017
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