Cardinals loss a lesson in humility Cowboys' defense needed to learn

How much of a wake-up call was Sunday’s defeat? Well, the numbers aren’t pretty.

The 182 rushing yards allowed by the Cowboys in the first half was the most they’d given up in the first two quarters since 1991. In fact, Arizona had more rushing yards on Sunday (222) than Dallas had allowed in either of its first two games (171 to the Giants, 215 to the Jets.)

Dallas allowed zero runs of 20 or more yards through the first two weeks but allowed four such runs Sunday to the Cardinals, who nearly tripled the amount of total rushing yards Dallas allowed per game (86) heading into the week.

The pass defense wasn’t any better. After racking up 58 pressures, 40 hurries, 10 sacks and nine QB hits through the first two games, per Pro Football Focus, the Cowboys sacked Dobbs just twice and pressured him only 11 times on his 25 dropbacks.

Dallas had four players with a pass-rush win rate of 20% or better heading into Week 3. Of those four, only edge-rusher Micah Parsons hit 20% on Sunday. The Cardinals showed the rest of the NFL that if teams can take away what the Cowboys do best — rush the passer — then the rest of the team looks average.

“This is the tough part about playing in the National Football League,” Parsons told reporters. “Every team has its day. The last two weeks we were on fire and today we came out and we got lit. … We got to play up to our standard. We can't play down to [our opponent], and that's what I felt like we did today."