2017 NFL Hall of Fame Game: Dallas vs Arizona

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner are set to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame this coming weekend, which is why the Cowboys and the Cardinals are set to square off in the annual pre-season tilt in Canton on Thursday night. The Cowboys won the NFC East last year but lost at home in the divisional round of the playoffs to the Green Bay Packers. The Arizona Cardinals posted a 7-8-1 record in 2016 and missed the postseason. Both teams have questions to answer coming into this game, but you won’t see many solutions (or starters) in this earliest of preseason games.

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2017 NFL Hall of Fame Game: Dallas vs Arizona

Two former teammates: A Hall of Famer and a future Hall of Famer. pic.twitter.com/g1WEcG6N0u

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) July 31, 2017

When: Thursday, August 3, 2017, 8:00pm ET Where: Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Canton, OH TV: NBC Radio: KRLD 105.3 FM The Fan (Dallas) / Sports 620 KTAR (Arizona) Live Stream: NFL Live NFL Hall of Fame Game Odds: TBA

Why should you bet on the Cardinals?

The Dallas Cowboys seem to enter every season poorly prepared for the opener, and their preseason records are fairly garish as well. The Cowboys let five starters on the defensive side of the ball depart via free agency, and they made exactly zero big signings to replace them. Jaylon Smith is set to make his NFL debut after missing a year due to a knee injury that ended his Notre Dame career as well, and Anthony Brown should hold his own at the corner, but the Cowboys are hoping that a lot of young players will perform right away. The Cowboys did draft Michigan’s Taco Charlton in the first round to upgrade their pass rush, but we’ll see.

What do the Cardinals have?

Carson Palmer should be motivated to produce after a dreadful 2016. David Johnson might be the best tailback in the NFL, even better than Ezekiel Elliott. I see the ground game posing a big challenge for Dallas, who will be on their heels when the Cardinals turn to the pass.

Why should you bet on the Cowboys?

Dallas still has one of the top offensive lines in the NFL, and while the departure of Doug Free means that the line loses a lot of experience, Free showed his age a lot last year, seeming to pick up a holding penalty at just the wrong time in every game. That line should be able to drive the flow of play up and down the field, at least as long as the first string is in the game. That first string also includes Dak Prescott. Behind Ezekiel Elliott is Darren McFadden, no slouch himself in the tailback department. The Cowboys just added tailback Ronnie Hillman, perhaps to fill that tailback slot during an Elliott suspension, but McFadden would be the presumptive starter in that scenario. The problems for Dallas, if they come, will come on the defensive side of the ball. The Cowboys usually falter the most in the preseason once the backups come into the game during the second half. They don’t put a lot of emphasis on competing in these early games (like most teams), preferring to see what they have in the lower tiers of the depth chart. At this point you’ll be seeing a lot of undrafted free agents and low-round draft picks squaring off against each other, at which point (especially in early August) things will really be guesswork.

Recent NFL Hall of Fame Game History

• 2016 – Cancelled, Originally Green Bay Packers vs Indianapolis Colts.
• 2015 – Minnesota Vikings defeats Pittsburgh Steelers. Score: 14-3.
• 2014 – New York Giants defeats Buffalo Bilss. Score: 17-13.
• 2013 – Dallas Cowboys defeats Miami Dolphins. Score: 24-20.
• 2012 – New Orleans Saints defeats Arizona Cardinals. Score: 17-10
• 2010 – Dallas Cowboys defeats Cincinnati Bengals. Score: 16-7
• 2019 – Tennessee Titans defeats Buffalo Bills. ScoreL 21-18

Final 2017 NFL Hall of Fame Game Prediction

I see Dallas taking their first units out after the first couple of series, or perhaps playing them for the first quarter before sending them to the bench. The game should turn into a grindfest after that, and I see the Cardinals coming out on top, 23-19. When the teams meet in Week 3, I see Dallas picking up a win, but at this point on the calendar the priority really won’t be on winning, but more about seeing what players can do without a whole lot of reps on the system for the coming season.