When Kyzir White intercepted quarterback Dak Prescott's pass in the end zone Sunday near the end of the Cardinals' win over the Cowboys, the Cardinals fans in State Farm Stadium erupted but Jonathan Gannon had his arms crossed with only one thing on his mind.
"We need to run out the clock."
The Cardinals offensive line held their own against the mighty Cowboys front seven for majority of Sunday's game. When Gannon needed the unit the most, they delivered.
"You know the competition that we had out there, and we had to hear about it all week," tackle DJ Humphries said. "Every time you'd turn on the TV, you hear them compared to the '85 Bears and stuff like that. So, to be able to go out there and have the opportunity to show our offense that way is big."
Quarterback Joshua Dobbs pointed out plenty of moments that he was happy with throughout the game, but executing the four-minute offense -- with three minutes left on the clock -- was what he cherished, especially when the Cardinals couldn't do it the week before.
"We played against a really good front and were able to get some first downs running the ball," Dobbs said. "Finishing in victory formation is very hard to do in the NFL, so it was a great feeling for our offense."
Rookie offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. talked about having earned himself a big steak dinner. He and the whole line deserved Arizona's finest cut after limiting Micah Parsons and keeping him fairly quiet all game.
While steak is delicious, victory tastes better.
Johnson said he doesn't normally look at the jumbotron at State Farm Stadium but had to take a moment and appreciate the ground and pound stats that were displayed through the game.
"I kept hitting (guard) Will (Hernandez), like 'Yo, check that out, like, that's pretty cool to see,'" he said.
There were multiple explosive plays that the offense generated. The rushing game averaged 7.4 yards per carry, including 222 total yards, led by a 44-yard rush by Dobbs and a 45-yard rushing touchdown from wide receiver Rondale Moore.
When asked what allowed for the offensive line to create so many gaps against one of the NFL's best, Humphries credited center Hjalte Froholdt.
"'72' in the middle kept us together all night," Humphries said. "Things got a little weird there with the looks they were giving us, but Fro made sure we stayed together all night. For a group that hasn't been together, especially for me, I've been on the same group for so long. To see everybody stick together in a situation like that was huge."
Earlier in the week, Johnson said that the team as a whole is hungry. The unit heard the noise surrounding the Dallas defense.
"We have a saying at Ohio State that it's Ohio against the world, well, it's Arizona against the world," Johnson said. "It doesn't matter who we're playing, there's going to be some sort of reasoning on why we can't do what we want to do. But JG says that 'it's the people inside the building that believe what we're going to do are all that matters.' That's what we did today."
