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Two preseason games, two preseason wins. The Dallas Cowboys completed their second preseason game of the year with a 34-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals. With a late west coast start time, this one kept fans up late, but it gave us plenty to see. Here are 10 thoughts on this after-hours football affair. 10 thoughts on Cowboys 34-13 preseason win over Cardinals What is your biggest takeaway from Saturday night’s win? 1. Milton has arrived Last year, Joe Milton III looked very raw. That screaming deal we thought the Cowboys got from the Patriots looked like they might’ve been snookered after he was seen overthrowing everyone. But that’s not the guy we’re seeing now. What a difference a year makes. The third-year quarterback looked fantastic. He calmly hung in the pocket, and only ran when he absolutely needed to. He made smart decisions and his touch was near perfect, whether he was settled in the pocket or on the run. He completed 9/13 passes for 179 yards with two touchdowns. He also had a rushing touchdown on a quarterback draw. It was a very sharp first half of football. 2. Efficient offense After stalling out and turning the ball over on downs at the Arizona 12-yard line on their opening drive, the Cowboys offense went on a run, scoring in all four of their remaining first-half possessions. Touchdown. Touchdown. Touchdown. Field goal. That’s not too shabby. Punter Bryan Anger never had to trot onto the field. 3. That was 55 again Those were the words spoken by Cowboys’ announcer Bill Jones after it was clear that the rookie linebacker from Michigan was going to be a regular thing in this one. After missing last week recovering from a groin injury, Jaishawn Barham was wreaking havoc in this one. On the Cardinals first possession, he dipped under the offensive lineman to escape the block to take down the running back for a one-yard loss. Not much later, he crashed down again to make a play. It was a nice debut for the team’s young linebacker. 4. A pick for Revel Don’t look now, but another young Cowboys defender made a play. That was the theme of the night and it was great that second-year corner Shavon Revel Jr. got in on the action. After being tested repeatedly in camp by the game’s toughest receivers, Revel got a little reprieve with the Cardinals backup receivers. He was in the hip pocket of former Cowboys wide receiver Simi Fehoko and when he slipped, Revel was in perfect position to intercept the pass and return it for 22 yards. 5. Stingy defense Not only was the offense scoring often, but the defense was not allowing the Cardinals to get into the end zone. All Arizona had to show for in the first half was two measly field goals. In fact, if it wasn’t for a questionable Caelen Carson pass interference penalty, the Cowboys defense wouldn’t have allowed a single touchdown through the first six quarters of football. We know it’s only preseason, but that’s still pretty good for this defense. 6. Sneaky Malik-y Malik Davis will be on this Cowboys roster. Again. After an impressive showing last week that reminded people why he’s still in the building, the veteran running back was back at it again, making people miss and thumping through defenders. Davis started the game and ran the ball five times for 29 yards and added a touchdown reception on an eight yard dump-off pass. 7. Blue skidoo, he can too Not to be outdone, the second-year running back Jaydon Blue had himself a good game as well. The young back showed a lot of shiftiness, cutting well, and even jumping over defenders. He showed good patience and more drive than he had shown last week. With Davis solidifying one of the running back spots, Blue needed this to keep him in the running as nothing is promised. He finished the game with 75 yard on 15 carries. 8. Don’t write offah Mafah Not to be outdone, second-year back Phil Mafah had the most impressive individual run late in the fourth quarter when he changed direction and ran the ball for a 15-yard touchdown to close things out. Just when you thought he might be the odd man out, he put himself back into the mix. It was a good showing for all of the Cowboys backs this week and should make final roster cuts interesting. 9. Offensive line The run game was in full swing, and a large part of their success was thanks to how well the Cowboys’ second-string offensive line played. They opened up running lanes and gave the quarterbacks plenty of room to operate for the most part. The team swapped tackles as the rookie Drew Shelton started at left tackle while Nate Thomas started at right. The rookie Shelton had a couple of plays where he was beat quickly, but held his own for most of the night. It was a good overall showing by this unit. 10. Mingo/Brown Entering camp, the Cowboys were just hoping that one player would emerge as a potential candidate for that fifth receiver with several guys in the mix. Lately, that pool has been reduced to two guys, Jonathan Mingo and Camden Brown. Last week, it was the undrafted rookie Brown who stole the show, although Mingo also played well. On Saturday, it was Mingo who struck first with a long touchdown, but not much later Brown was doing his thing again. This battle is interesting as some figured Brown had locked in a spot last week, but Mingo does a lot of the little things that the coaches love, making a strong push to continue to stick around in Dallas.