Probetrics — Sports Analytics
NFL slate
Arizona Cardinals
3-14 last yr · #29 Elo
at
Sun, Nov 1, 1:00 PM ET
AT&T Stadium
Dallas Cowboys
7-9-1 last yr · #24 Elo
Spread Total Moneyline

The read

On rating alone Dallas Cowboys are 2.3 points better (#24 vs #29 of 32), and DAL add 0.0 for home field. The clearest mismatch is the rushing game: DAL rushing ranks #8, ARI defends it at #25; the other way ARI #29 into DAL's #30.

Who has the edge

Rating
Slight edge
DAL
DAL rated 2.3 points better on Elo (#24 vs #29).
Home & rest
Even
DAL gets 0.0 points for home field.
Quarterback
not priced
Usual starters on both sides — Dak Prescott and Jacoby Brissett — no adjustment.
Passing game
Slight edge
DAL
DAL passing ranks #6, ARI defends it at #26; the other way ARI #19 into DAL's #31.
context · not in the margin
Rushing game
Clear edge
DAL
DAL rushing ranks #8, ARI defends it at #25; the other way ARI #29 into DAL's #30.
context · not in the margin
Third down & red zone
Even
ARI third-down conversion ranks #9, DAL defends it at #32; the other way DAL #8 into ARI's #29.
context · not in the margin
Form (last 5)
Clear edge
DAL
DAL −9.8 per game over the last five, ARI −19.0.
context · not in the margin
Market
not priced
No line yet.
context · not in the margin

The margin, factor by factor

Arizona CardinalsDallas Cowboys
1396 Elo · #29
RatingThe Elo gap in points — the model's core read on who is better, before the situational pieces below.
DAL +2.3 pts
1447 Elo · #24
road
Home field
not priced
home
Rest
even
Brissett · +0.2 EPA/g
QuarterbackStarter's value against what the team usually gets at quarterback. Only moves when someone other than the usual starter plays.
even
Prescott · +6.2 EPA/g
+3.2 pts vs DAL D
Offense vs defenseEach offense's scoring rating against the other defense's — what drives the model total. Shown as an edge, though the winner call runs on Elo.
DAL +3.2 pts
+6.3 pts vs ARI D
L L L L L · −19.0
Form (last 5)Average margin over the last five games. Already inside the ratings — listed so you can see when recent form and the rating disagree.
DAL +4.6 pts
L W L L L · −9.8
5 out/IR
InjuriesCount of players listed Out or on IR. Not priced beyond the quarterback.
not priced
5 out/IR
MarketThe consensus spread, read as points. Compare with the model margin above it.
not priced

Bars are in points toward the favored side. Blue factors are inside the model's margin; grey ones are context it does not add on top (form and offense/defense are already in the ratings; injuries beyond the quarterback are not priced).

Dissect the matchup

nflverse play-by-play + FTN charting · 2025 season (last season until three games are in)

Biggest mismatches

  • ARI interception rate (#7) against a DAL defense ranked #30 at stopping it
  • ARI third-down conversion (#9) against a DAL defense ranked #32 at stopping it
  • DAL pass success rate (#8) against a ARI defense ranked #31 at stopping it
  • DAL sack rate (#6) against a ARI defense ranked #28 at stopping it
  • DAL third-down conversion (#8) against a ARI defense ranked #29 at stopping it

A mismatch is a rank gap of at least a fifth of the league between an offense and the defense it faces on the same measure. Descriptive rows (pass rate, pace, direction) are shown for reading the game, not ranked. ▲▼ mark where the last three games sit clearly above or below the season number, in the direction that helps that side.

Arizona Cardinals offense vs Dallas Cowboys defense

ranks of 32
ARI offDAL defEdge
Identity
Pass rate / Pass rate facedDropbacks as a share of plays. On the defense column: what opponents do against them.70%62%·
Early-down pass rateFirst and second down only — the cleanest read on run-heavy vs pass-heavy.67%56%·
Neutral-script pass rateEarly downs with win probability between 20% and 80%: intent, not catch-up mode.63%56%·
Pass rate over expectedHow much more (or less) a team passes than the down, distance, score and clock predict. nflverse xpass.+4.0%+0.9%·
Seconds per playTime of possession divided by plays — lower is faster.28.330.0·
No-huddle12%11%·
Shotgun72%70%·
Play-action rate / Play-action facedShare of dropbacks with a play fake (FTN charting).25%25%·
RPO rate / RPOs faced3%8%·
Screen rate / Screens faced8%9%·
Pre-snap motion / Motion faced44%52%·
Blitzes faced / Blitz rateFive or more pass rushers (FTN). On the offense column: how often opponents blitz them.21%28%·
Pass rushers faced / Avg pass rushers4.234.32·
Passing
EPA / dropbackThe single best pass-efficiency number; on the defense column, what they allow.+0.02#19+0.24#31ARI
Pass success rate45%#1951%#30ARI
Explosive pass rateDropbacks gaining 20+ yards.6.8%#269.5%#27·
Yards / dropback5.7#267.3#32ARI
Depth of target (aDOT)Average air yards per attempt — how far downfield they throw, or get thrown at.7.27.8·
Deep-ball rate (20+ air)10%12%·
Short throws (≤5 air)58%51%·
Completion % over expectednflverse CPOE, per attempt. Defense column: what they allow.+1.0#13+6.9#31ARI
YAC / completion4.9#215.7#28ARI
Sack rate / Sack rate generatedSacks per dropback. Lower is better for an offense; the defense column shows sacks they create.7.9%#245.5%#26·
Scramble rate5.1%6.7%·
Interception rate / Interceptions forced1.7%#71.1%#30ARI
Throws left / middle / rightDirection shares are shown in full on the row.L 37 · M 21 · R 42L 37 · M 17 · R 46·
Rushing
EPA / rush−0.11#29+0.05#30·
Rush success rate38%#2646%#30·
Explosive rush rateRushes of 10+ yards.7.7%#2914.1%#31·
Yards / rush4.0#244.7#27·
Runs left / middle / rightL 34 · M 31 · R 36L 39 · M 25 · R 36·
Situational
Third-down conversion42%#948%#32ARI
Red-zone touchdown rateDrives reaching the 20 that end in a touchdown.54%#2467%#30ARI
Turnovers / game / Takeaways / game1.18#170.65#30ARI
Plays / game6360·

Dallas Cowboys offense vs Arizona Cardinals defense

ranks of 32
DAL offARI defEdge
Identity
Pass rate / Pass rate facedDropbacks as a share of plays. On the defense column: what opponents do against them.62%59%·
Early-down pass rateFirst and second down only — the cleanest read on run-heavy vs pass-heavy.55%55%·
Neutral-script pass rateEarly downs with win probability between 20% and 80%: intent, not catch-up mode.54%57%·
Pass rate over expectedHow much more (or less) a team passes than the down, distance, score and clock predict. nflverse xpass.−1.0%−1.3%·
Seconds per playTime of possession divided by plays — lower is faster.28.329.2·
No-huddle9%8%·
Shotgun63%61%·
Play-action rate / Play-action facedShare of dropbacks with a play fake (FTN charting).27%22%·
RPO rate / RPOs faced5%4%·
Screen rate / Screens faced6%5%·
Pre-snap motion / Motion faced59%57%·
Blitzes faced / Blitz rateFive or more pass rushers (FTN). On the offense column: how often opponents blitz them.28%28%·
Pass rushers faced / Avg pass rushers4.324.31·
Passing
EPA / dropbackThe single best pass-efficiency number; on the defense column, what they allow.+0.16#6+0.17#26DAL
Pass success rate48%#852%#31DAL
Explosive pass rateDropbacks gaining 20+ yards.8.2%#128.7%#22DAL
Yards / dropback6.9#76.6#24DAL
Depth of target (aDOT)Average air yards per attempt — how far downfield they throw, or get thrown at.8.27.8·
Deep-ball rate (20+ air)11%10%·
Short throws (≤5 air)50%52%·
Completion % over expectednflverse CPOE, per attempt. Defense column: what they allow.+2.2#8+1.0#19DAL
YAC / completion5.0#195.0#16·
Sack rate / Sack rate generatedSacks per dropback. Lower is better for an offense; the defense column shows sacks they create.4.6%#64.8%#28DAL
Scramble rate4.3%3.9%·
Interception rate / Interceptions forced1.9%#131.8%#22DAL
Throws left / middle / rightDirection shares are shown in full on the row.L 42 · M 19 · R 39L 39 · M 20 · R 41·
Rushing
EPA / rush−0.00#8−0.02#25DAL
Rush success rate44%#944%#26DAL
Explosive rush rateRushes of 10+ yards.9.5%#1912.8%#29DAL
Yards / rush4.6#64.7#26DAL
Runs left / middle / rightL 37 · M 32 · R 32L 34 · M 34 · R 33·
Situational
Third-down conversion42%#845%#29DAL
Red-zone touchdown rateDrives reaching the 20 that end in a touchdown.58%#1264%#27DAL
Turnovers / game / Takeaways / game1.24#201.12#18·
Plays / game6562·

Route-by-route data (which routes are run and how coverage plays them) is not published anywhere public — it is sold by PFF and NGS. Throw depth, direction, play-action, RPO, screens, motion and pass-rush counts above are the public pieces of the same picture.

Arizona Cardinals · key players

  • Jacoby Brissett QB22.5/34.6 · 240 yds/g · 23-8 TD-INT · −0.01 EPA/db
  • Trey McBride TE9.9 tgt/g · 28% share · 73 yds/g · 11 TD · aDOT 6.7
  • Michael Wilson WR7.4 tgt/g · 19% share · 59 yds/g · 7 TD · aDOT 11.9
  • Marvin Harrison Jr. WR6.1 tgt/g · 18% share · 51 yds/g · 4 TD · aDOT 13.0
  • Elijah Higgins TE2.5 tgt/g · 8% share · 20 yds/g · 0 TD · aDOT 4.0
  • Michael Carter RB7.1 car/g · 26 yds/g · 3.6 ypc · 1 TD · −0.07 EPA/car
  • Bam Knight RB8.2 car/g · 27 yds/g · 3.3 ypc · 4 TD · −0.20 EPA/car

2025 season, per game. Targets ranked by volume, rushers by carries.nflverse weekly player stats. Target share is the player's average share of his team's targets in the games he played. A player who changed teams carries his own games from last season.

Dallas Cowboys · key players

  • Dak Prescott QB23.8/35.3 · 268 yds/g · 30-10 TD-INT · +0.18 EPA/db
  • George Pickens WR8.1 tgt/g · 23% share · 84 yds/g · 9 TD · aDOT 11.3
  • CeeDee Lamb WR9.0 tgt/g · 25% share · 83 yds/g · 3 TD · aDOT 12.0
  • Jake Ferguson TE6.0 tgt/g · 16% share · 35 yds/g · 8 TD · aDOT 4.7
  • Ryan Flournoy WR4.3 tgt/g · 13% share · 37 yds/g · 4 TD · aDOT 8.3
  • Javonte Williams RB15.8 car/g · 75 yds/g · 4.8 ypc · 11 TD · +0.05 EPA/car
  • Malik Davis RB5.8 car/g · 28 yds/g · 4.8 ypc · 2 TD · +0.02 EPA/car

2025 season, per game. Targets ranked by volume, rushers by carries.nflverse weekly player stats. Target share is the player's average share of his team's targets in the games he played. A player who changed teams carries his own games from last season.

Season

ARIDAL
3-14Record7-9-1
20.9Points for / game27.7
28.7Points against / game30.1
1-7 / 2-7Home / road4-3 / 3-6
6-11Against the spread7-10
10-7Over / underOvers–unders in this team's games. A tendency, not a lean.13-4
L L L L LLast 5L W L L L

Season numbers are from 2025 until this season has games.

Power ratings

ARIDAL
1396Elo1447
#29 of 32Rank#24 of 32
−2.0Offense ratingPoints per game above league average scored, opponent-adjusted.+1.9
−4.4Defense ratingPoints per game below league average allowed, opponent-adjusted. Positive is good.−5.2
Strength of scheduleMean Elo of opponents faced this season.

Elo drives the winner call. Offense/defense ratings drive the total.

Efficiency

ARIDAL
-0.016EPA / play (offense)Expected points added per offensive play, nflverse. The single best efficiency number.0.094
0.082EPA / play allowed0.166
256Pass yards / game279
93Rush yards / game126
243Pass yards allowed266
127Rush yards allowed125
0.9 / 1.4Turnovers / takeaways1.2 / 1.0
3.5 / 1.8Sacks allowed / made1.8 / 2.0
18.1First downs / game20.5
50Penalty yards / game67
+0.2 · #29 of 52QB EPA / gameThe listed starter's passing + rushing EPA per game, ranked among starters with three or more games.+6.2 · #8 of 52

Efficiency is from the 2025 season until this one has games. Source: nflverse.

Head to head

2025ARI 27 at DAL 17ARI · ARI covered
2023DAL 16 at ARI 28ARI · ARI covered
2021ARI 25 at DAL 22ARI · ARI covered
2020ARI 38 at DAL 10ARI · ARI covered
2017DAL 28 at ARI 17DAL · DAL covered
2014ARI 28 at DAL 17ARI · ARI covered

How the margin was built

Rating gap
DAL +2.3 pts
Home field
DAL +— pts
Rest
Even
Quarterback
Usual starters — no adjustment
Weather / roof
— pts on the total
Model margin
Model total

Market

Spread
Total
Moneyline

Per-book prices appear once the multi-book feed has this game (about a week out).

Arizona Cardinals injuries

  • Tip Reiman TEOut
  • Chase Bisontis GInjured Reserve
  • James Conner RBInjured Reserve
  • Trey Benson RBInjured Reserve
  • Zachary Carter DTInjured Reserve
  • Blake Gillikin PQuestionable
  • Dadrion Taylor-Demerson SQuestionable
  • Jeremiyah Love RBQuestionable
  • Will Johnson CBQuestionable

From ESPN's report. The model prices the quarterback; other absences are context it does not yet price.

Dallas Cowboys injuries

  • Devin Moore CBInjured Reserve
  • DJ Rogers TEInjured Reserve
  • Kelvin Gilliam Jr. DTInjured Reserve
  • Marist Liufau LBInjured Reserve
  • Princeton Fant TEInjured Reserve
  • Jonathan Bullard DTQuestionable
  • Tyler Guyton OTQuestionable

From ESPN's report. The model prices the quarterback; other absences are context it does not yet price.

Informational only. Winner probabilities are backtested and calibrated; spread and total calls are tracked leans. 21+, 1-800-GAMBLER.