![]() With both teams looking for a fresh start after recent defeats and with this being the very first meeting of the Cowboys and Dolphins, coaches Todd Payten and Wayne Bennett will surely be imploring their teams to wipe the proverbial slate clean and start again this evening. Already without Jeremiah Nanai, Murray Taulagi and James Tamou, they’ve now lost Heilum Luki and Jordan McLean to injuries but do welcome back Scott Drinkwater for this game. Then 24 hours later, the Cowboys found themselves in a winning position against the Bulldogs, before a series of mistakes and penalties saw them run down and eventually beaten by a field goal in golden point. After a narrow defeat to the Broncos in round 4, they finally ran aground by the Wollongong seaside last Saturday in a 38-12 defeat to the Dragons. The Dolphins made a buoyant start to their first NRL campaign but have begun to sink under the weight of injuries and suspensions in recent weeks. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 8pm (AEST).īoth teams enter this game down on troops and down on form. It kept the Cowboys pressed against the wall for much of the game.Round 6 of the NRL continues this evening as the North Queensland Cowboys host the Dolphins at Queensland Country Bank Stadium. It led to both a recovery for the Cardinals and a touchdown on the subsequent drive - the first of the game. Turning pointĭaryl Worley made up for getting burned by Wilson by punching this ball away. It's too bad the dark side of DiNucci again showed its face in the waning minutes of the game, which wound up giving the Cardinals one more possession, and that's all they needed. It wasn't a game filled with highlights by the Cowboys, but with a big play here and there, they got the job done - helped defensively by a fantastic two-sack effort from veteran pass rusher Dorance Armstrong and a six-tackle outing from rookie fourth-round pick Jabril Cox. It took three quarterbacks and more than seven quarters to do it, but it almost gave the Cowboys a comeback victory on the road. There was definitely some perseverance present for Dallas, having trailed for more than three quarters before the aforementioned touchdown from DiNucci. In the end, however, it was a mostly solid defense wavering that nearly cost them the game, but a struggling Cowboys offense (and then defense) allowed the Cardinals to get just close enough for a game-winning 47-yard boot by kicker Matt Prater. Attempting to settle for a tie shouldn't have been on the platter for Arizona, though, because McCoy played well and running back Eno Benjamin joined him in impressing the football gods, with Benjamin delivering 50 yards on only five carries as he tries to make a name for himself on the Cardinals depth chart. It was an inability to keep a struggling DiNucci out of the end zone that lost them the lead in the fourth quarter, but they at least kept it interesting with Kliff Kingsbury decided to kick a field goal and tie the ball game at 16-16, knowing there is no overtime in the preseason. And speaking of backup QBs, Colt McCoy again proved he has value in the NFL, and that has to make the Cardinals feel good. Overall, it wasn't a pretty outing by DiNucci, but he did just enough to buy himself more time in the backup battle against Garrett Gilbert and Cooper Rush. It was third-string quarterback Ben DiNucci scoring their first preseason touchdown, and giving the Cowboys a three-point lead in the process after seeing them trail for most of the game. One thing the Cowboys could at least appreciate was the fact their defense is flying around, and it was the offense that needed to figure out how to match serve with them for once. That aside, there were tidbits of good to be enjoyed from both teams (and of course the preseason uglies showed their head as well), with Christian Kirk adding some electricity to the contest on a deep catch in the first quarter and, not to be outdone, Cedrick Wilson did the same for the Cowboys - the latter leading to the first of two field goals for Dallas. It began when starting defensive tackle Neville Gallimore suffered a a reported hyperextended elbow, followed by backup tight end Sean McKeon being carted to the locker room with an ankle ailment, both followed by injuries to receiver Malik Turner (foot), linebacker Anthony Hines (shoulder) and offensive tackle Ty Nsekhe (knee). It was a night to forget on the health front for the Cowboys, seeing as they lost a total of five (!!) players to injury on the night. It was mostly another low-scoring preseason affair that didn't initially seem all that interesting, but became quite intriguing as the quarters rolled along in a game that saw the Arizona Cardinals hold off the Dallas Cowboys 19-16.
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