3 Cowboys duds (and 2 studs) from embarrassing loss to Arizona

Cowboys Dud: DaRon Bland, CB

With Trevon Diggs out for the year, DaRon Bland has been thrust into a starting role. On Sunday, he started things out on the wrong foot. Bland drew the assignment of covering Marquise Brown and had no answers for the former first-round pick.

On Arizona’s first touchdown drive, Bland was called for pass interference, which gave the Cardinals 22 yards for free. He then gave up a 12-yard catch to Brown on the following drive, which also ended in a touchdown.

The one positive thing we can say about Bland is that he was far from being alone. Josh Dobbs finished with 189 yards and a touchdown while completing 17-of-21 attempts. Brown finished with 61 yards and a touchdown while Michael Wilson went for 86 yards on just two receptions. One of those was a 69-yarder where Wilson lined up as a tight end and the Cowboys had no idea what to do with him — so Malik Hooker just turned him loose and it was a disaster.

Diggs makes the highlight reels for his interceptions but this year, he was playing lights out. Opposing quarterbacks had a rating of just 1.0 while targeting him. In their first game without him, we learned just how much he really means to this secondary.