‘More Shots On Goal’: Dallas Cowboys Defenders Say Arizona Cardinals Did Not Change Much After Switch To Gardner Minshew II

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Arizona Cardinals trailed the Dallas Cowboys 17-3 when coach Mike LaFleur replaced Jacoby Brissett with Gardner Minshew II with 1:35 left in the third quarter Sunday. Arizona scored touchdowns on its next four possessions and won 33-30 in overtime at AT&T Stadium.

Brissett was 10-of-23 for 119 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception, and he was sacked four times. Minshew went 17-of-23 for 188 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions, all three scores coming in the fourth quarter. Tyler Allgeier ran 63 yards for a touchdown on Minshew’s second snap.

Von Miller was not sure why Arizona made the switch. He did not see anything different schematically after it.

“Minshew is a great quarterback. He’s done great things in the NFL,” Miller said. “And I think that’s why they got them both on the roster. They’re both capable of winning games. So I’m not sure why they made the switch. But it worked for them today.”

“They just had more shots on goal, kind of like soccer,” Miller explained. “If you let the striker shoot multiple goals, you let them have multiple opportunities, the ball’s going to start going in, and that’s what happened today. Instead of dragging them to the deep end and putting them under, you keep giving them opportunity after opportunity. Especially towards the end of the game, they made the best out of the opportunities they were given.”

Kenny Clark, Joey Porter Jr. Say Arizona Ran The Same Offense

Kenny Clark said Dallas had the run bottled up most of the day before a couple of plays got away. Arizona had 42 rushing yards at halftime and 124 in the second half, all of them by Allgeier.

“I don’t know,” Clark said. “He just did a better job throwing the ball, I guess. They pretty much ran the same thing. Two of the running backs came out early in the game, so they only had 22. And they started running a little bit more stretch and pin and pull. That got out on us.”

“And he did a good job at throwing the ball,” Clark added. “Stepped up in the pocket, made some really good throws. He’s a little bit more mobile than Brissett. But at the end of the day, we got to get him down.”

Joey Porter Jr. put it on the Cowboys tightening up in the second half.

“Just us tightening up on the second half. That’s really what it was,” Porter said. “When Minshew came in, I don’t think they changed their game plan that much from before. So it’s really just us got to hone in on our skills and make plays when they come.”

Malachi Lawrence, the 23rd overall pick in the 2026 draft, expected a new quarterback to bring some new routes. He said the focus stays on Dallas’ details either way.

“Just focus, I’d say,” Lawrence said. “Just knowing that there’s a new quarterback in, so probably some new routes, new different schemes and stuff like that, just for him to help out Minshew. And so just focusing on our details. It’s really about us. Even if Minshew was in, we still have to focus. Even if he wasn’t in, we still have to focus on our details no matter what.”

Tyler Allgeier Runs For 147 Yards As Cardinals Erase 14-Point Deficit

Allgeier finished with 147 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, and he caught 5 passes for 44 yards and a touchdown. He ran 52 yards on the first play of Arizona’s next drive after Dallas went up 24-10, then caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Minshew.

Arizona’s run game caught fire after halftime, in the view of Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer.

“They hit some huge runs,” Schottenheimer said. “Give Mike credit for making the change, making the move. Minshew came in there and gave him a spark.”

Miller did not see a letup from Dallas after halftime. Arizona outgained the Cowboys 286-157 in the second half.

“No, there wasn’t any letup. They were figuring out some stuff. They had the momentum,” Miller said. “Momentum is crazy, especially in a sport like football, and they had it, and even when we got it, we didn’t have it long. And they just had multiple shots, and they got great players, too. They had multiple shots, multiple opportunities, and when you give a great team multiple shots and multiple opportunities, they’ll start scoring, and that’s what they did.”

Both teams are 3-5. Dallas visits the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 8 at Lucas Oil Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon CT on FOX.