The Dallas Cowboys moved to 2-0 on the 2026 preseason with another road win against a NFC West opponent on Saturday night, 34-13 at the Arizona Cardinals. Like the preseason week one opponent Seattle Seahawks, the Cardinals are another team the Cowboys will also see in the regular season.
The Cowboys made some statements about their depth chart going into their final week of preseason prep, with Oxnard training camp now behind the team and practice resuming in Frisco on Tuesday.
Joe Milton had the
offense humming in the first half when Dallas built a 24-6 lead by the break, while Sam Howell did not have the same success in the second half. Jaydon Blue returned to the field after not being seen much at practice leading up to this game, missing the joint practice against the Saints too, and led the team in carries. These 15 carries for Blue compared to eight for Israel Abanikanda and five for Malik Davis don’t nearly tell the full RB competition story though, as Davis again looked good in his limited opportunities, and even Phil Mafah took his one carry of the night for a 15-yard touchdown.
Jonathan Mingo scored a touchdown on a 53-yard bomb from Milton. Mingo is an experienced player looking to separate himself from the fan-favorite, Camden Brown. It wasn’t long after this though that Brown had a 69-yard catch and run that was a yard away from being another preseason touchdown for the UDFA, keeping the WR depth chart fight entertaining.
On defense, Jaishawn Barham asserted himself in his rookie debut, playing as the “green dot” of Christian Parker’s defense and flying around to make the types of plays that made him one of the stars of the Oxnard portion of camp. Shavon Revel Jr. had an interception that gave the offense a short field to score the first touchdown of the night, and take a lead they never relinquished.
Let’s get to a few notes on another exhibition win for Brian Schottenheimer’s team:
Malik Davis
Malik Davis came into this game as a known commodity when it came to his quick burst ability as a runner between the tackles with above average power as well. Davis has proved this in regular season opportunities, as well as against the Seahawks last week, and got the opportunity off the bat in this game to get going on the ground.
It was what Davis did in other phases of the game that caught the eye in a much bigger way though. Following Revel’s interception, the Cowboys faced third and goal and were looking at having to settle for a red zone field goal on a short field. Instead, Davis got open in the pass game on a scramble drill from Milton and caught a nice touch pass near the sideline, turning it up field for a touchdown.
Later in the game, Davis had the key blitz pickup on Camden Brown’s big gain, which set up Milton’s QB draw touchdown a play later. It sure looked like Malik Davis gained even more confidence from the coaching staff as a legitimate candidate to be RB2 on Saturday. There were other players in real-time that were taken out of the game after making a few plays, joining the “on ice” contingent, and time will tell very shortly if this was the case for Davis – leaving Blue to get on the field and eat up most of the remaining reps.
Blue did show some shiftiness on a few interior carries and accelerated around the corner on a few others as the Cowboys continue to show in these vanilla preseason game plans they want to run the ball between the tackles with purpose.
Jaishawn Barham, Shavon Revel Jr.
Speaking of Shavon Revel’s confidence-building interception and 22-yard return, this was one of several plays for rookie LB Jaishawn Barham that should get graded upon film review as a “green check” or a “plus”. The Dallas defense was able to get the home team behind the sticks, thanks in large part to Barham undercutting a blocker and making a tackle for loss on an early down run. On third and 13, the Cowboys dropped into their zone coverage, and in one rep showed a tightness and cohesiveness doing so that may not have been seen at all in the zone played last season.
The one singular area the Cowboys defense did make some noise in last year was when they had offenses in longer downs and distances, but still the overall idea for 2026 is that Christian Parker will bring improvements in all elements, having the clean start to do so with after how porous this defense was a year ago. Revel, Barham, Shemar James, and Julius Wood all got to their spots in the expanding zone defense quickly and efficiently, and it put Revel in position to intercept the errant pass and finish the play with a turnover. This was a great example of the exact type of improvements the Cowboys are looking for on defense, and setting up short fields for an offense that hasn’t even put Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Javonte Williams, George Pickens, or Ryan Flournoy on the field yet is a huge, huge deal.
Doing so will give the Cowboys a chance to win the red zone differential by a significant margin when the regular season rolls around, as this win against the Cardinals also flashed more strong defense in the red area for Dallas. For the second week in a row, the combination of Tyrus Wheat and James Houston off the edge in a short field situation got the quick pressure for Wheat and rookie LT Overton to combine on a third down sack and force a field goal attempt.
Interior Defense
For the interior of the defense, the players the Cowboys have on ice are expected to make it extremely difficult for many roster longshots to get a real chance, but some players did their best to make another good impression against the Cardinals. Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, and Otito Ogbonnia should handle the majority of snaps as down linemen, but among the best of the rest, Jay Toia reminded everyone what he can do in this game.
A seventh-round pick from 2025 that appeared in five games as a rookie, Toia has taken another step with his get-off on the snap and strength to push the pocket. The DT had a hit on Kedon Slovis that nearly forced a fumble on a possession for the Cardinals that started after a Howell interception in the end zone. This led to the Cowboys getting off the field with a fourth-down stop, creating the second instance in as many preseason games where the defense was able to turn up the intensity and pick up either the special teams (muffed punt) or offense following a turnover.
With Overton also flashing in both pass rush and run support as a down lineman in this game, the Cowboys overall situation up front on defense is as good as it’s been in a long time, with stars in waiting to start games, and young depth ready to step in as well. The NFC West has been known as a division where all opponents are strong in the trenches anyway, and through two preseason games against opponents from this division, the Cowboys work to be better in the trenches themselves is showing itself well.
Miscellaneous
Phil Mafah’s touchdown to cap the scoring on the night was not how the Cowboys drew up that particular run play, with Mafah completely cutting it back and reversing fields to the end zone, but it was still a nice highlight for the second-year back in a battle for carries.
Schottenheimer and Klayton Adams didn’t forget about rookie seventh-round receiver Anthony Smith in this game either, getting him a touch on a sweep carry. There is still a lot to figure out about who this team will keep at WR as they return to Texas.
For one final note on the offense, this was yet another game where rookie fourth-round pick Drew Shelton was inconsistent. Dallas understandably had to pivot from their usual offseason and draft approach of prioritizing offensive line talent and depth above all else, in order to address the defense. What this unfortunately does is add a bit of pressure on a player like Shelton to develop quicker than is fair for a first-year player, and in two preseason games he’s shown a real need for this development to happen at a more gradual pace.
Nate Thomas had some struggles in protection from the other tackle spot as well, causing concern about how well the Cowboys offensive line is built to handle a big injury should it happen right now. This might be priority number one at the moment when the Cowboys see the Saints for one final tune up game, with OL always being the position expected to set the tone and protect other players on the field, something Dallas will need to look for in that game.
