Cowboys at Cardinals: 5 things we’re watching closely for

The Dallas Cowboys will take on the Arizona Cardinals Friday night in their second preseason game of the year. The contest is set for a late kick-off at 9:00 PM CDT and will take place in Glendale, Arizona at State Farm Stadium.

The Cowboys are certainly hoping to field a much better performance than the one they gave against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Hall of Fame game last week, losing 16-3.

While winning what’s essentially an exhibition is a moot point, the regular season relevance can be found in player performance. So here are five things we’ll be watching closely for in the Cowboys’ second preseason matchup of 2021.

Increased play from the starters

While we aren’t going to see several of the team’s star players who are recovering from injuries like quarterback Dak Prescott, we should see increased snaps from most of the starters.

While we don’t expect to see them play for more than a quarter, we’d love to see offensive stars like running back Ezekiel Elliott, wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup, and tight ends Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schultz to show us they are already in near-regular season form. We’re also looking for overall improved offensive line play and more efficiency in the red zone (scoring an actual touchdown would be nice).

On defense, we can’t wait to see more from exciting rookie linebacker Micah Parsons. But we’d love to see improved defensive line play across the board, especially when it comes to putting pressure on the quarterback. The Cowboys failed to record a single sack or interception against the Steelers in the Hall of Fame game.

Finally, we’ll be watching the secondary very closely Friday night. We’d love to see someone from this revamped secondary come up with a big play or two. Our money is on cornerback Maurice Canady, who’s having an outstanding camp so far.