Hall of Fame Game: Cowboys 24, Dolphins 20
By Mark Lane
CANTON, OH—The Dallas Cowboys trounced the Miami Dolphins 24-20 in the 49th Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in a contest wherein none of Dallas’ key personnel played a down.
Dallas’ rushing attack led the way this evening with 170 yards on 34 attempts. Joseph Randle led all rushers with 13 carries for 70 yards, though it was his teammates Phillip Tanner and Kendial Lawrence that scored a touchdown each.
Phillip Tanner scored the game’s first touchdown after Dallas defensive lineman Nick Hayden recovered Lamar Miller’s fumble to set up shop at the Miami 10 yard line. After a pass interference call in the end zone gave the Cowboys possession at the goal line, Tanner scored on his second attempt for Dallas to take a 7-0 lead.
The Cowboys continued to pad their lead in the second quarter with a Dan Bailey field goal. On the next series, Dallas sixth round linebacker DeVonte Holloman snatched a bobbled Chad Bumphis would-be reception for an interception returned 75 yards for a touchdown to take a commanding 17-0 lead.
Aug 4, 2013; Canton, OH, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Phillip Tanner (34) runs with the ball after losing his helmet in the second quarter of the 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame game against the Miami Dolphins at Fawcett Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Miami kicker Dan Carpenter added a field goal to chisel into the Cowboys’ lead at 17-3, and Dolphins receiver Keenan Davis caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Pat Devlin to close the gap 17-10. A second Dan Carpenter field goal made it 17-13 with Dallas still in the lead.
Rockwall product Kendial Lawrence, an undrafted runningback from Missouri, capped off a four-play, 57-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown to go up 24-13 late in the fourth quarter.
With 22 seconds remaining, Kyle Miller caught a deflected ball for a touchdown to narrow the Cowboys’ margin to 24-20, the game’s final score after an unsuccessful onside kick.
A Cowboys contributor expected to make an impact in the game was Cole Beasley, the second-year undrafted wide receiver out of Southern Methodist University.
Beasley took a kickoff midway in the end zone out to the 15. Beasley only had one reception for five yards and dropped a touchdown pass along with a slant on first down. His only kickoff return was for 24 yards, but gave the Cowboys the 15 yard line as their starting point since Beasley fielded the kickoff in the end zone.
Alex Tanney, a touted training camp quarterback, went 5/10 for 58 yards. His best pass of the night was a 32-yard catch by Jared Green on 3rd and 6 that helped set up Kendial Lawrence’s touchdown.
Monte Kiffin’s 4-3 defense was a hit, sacking the quarterback thrice for 25 yards, including a George Selvie sack on Miami’s Matt Moore for 14 yards that drove the Dolphins from the Dallas 5 to the 19. The Cowboys defense also took the ball away twice with one interception and one fumble. However, the defensive line did commit three false starts, and five penalties overall out of the team’s nine total for 67 punitive yardage.
Dallas’ injury bug was not squashed in tonight’s contest. Defensive lineman Ben Bass sustained a knee injury when colliding with a teammate in a quarterback pressure, and safety Matt Johnson required help to the sidelines after forcing a tackle out of bounds. The report from Johnson’s X-Rays haven’t been released, and there are no reports on Ben Bass’ condition.
As the Cowboys travel back to Oxnard, coach Jason Garrett will assuredly remind the team of the work that remains in training camp as they prepare for Friday night’s encounter with the Oakland Raiders at the O.co Coliseum.