Jacoby Brissett Credited With Arizona Cardinals Win Over Dallas Cowboys Despite Benching
ARLINGTON, Texas — Benched with the Arizona Cardinals trailing 17-3 in the third quarter last Sunday, Jacoby Brissett is still credited with the win in their 33-30 overtime victory over the Dallas Cowboys, The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones noted Saturday.
Gardner Minshew II replaced him at AT&T Stadium and led touchdown drives on all four of his possessions in regulation.
Brissett had completed 10-of-23 passes for 119 yards with an interception. He was sacked four times before Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur made the switch, and LaFleur put part of the offense’s struggles on himself after the game.
“I thought we needed a spark,” LaFleur said. “I need to be better with our scheming and playcalling.”
Gardner Minshew II Rallied Arizona From 14 Points Down
Minshew finished 17-of-23 for 188 yards and 3 touchdowns. With 1:05 left, no timeouts, and Arizona down 30-24, he led an 80-yard drive in eight plays.
His 13-yard touchdown pass to Michael Wilson, who finished with 8 catches for 111 yards, tied the game 30-30 with six seconds left. Chad Ryland had made his previous 58 extra points. He pulled the potential winner wide left, sending the game to overtime.
Minshew said the tie gave Arizona a chance to finish the Cowboys in overtime.
“It’s not like that’s the first adversity we had on the day,” Minshew said. “I know it seems like, ‘Oh, man.’ But, it’s 30-30, got a chance to play these boys in overtime. Let’s freaking go. Sign me up.”
Josh Sweat sacked quarterback Dak Prescott to end Dallas’ first overtime possession. On the next drive, Arizona went 44 yards in eight plays to set up Ryland’s 42-yard winner.
The Cardinals outgained the Cowboys 467-261 and rushed for 202 yards, while Dallas averaged 2.4 yards per carry. Arizona has beaten the Cowboys five straight times and is 5-0 at AT&T Stadium, which opened in 2009.
Prescott threw a touchdown pass and ran for a 5-yard score in the loss.
“Very disappointing,” Prescott said. “One of the toughest I guess I’ve been a part of. No other words for it really, other than really, really disappointing, frustrating. It’s part of this league.”
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer pointed to the chances Dallas had to close it out.
“What I told the guys is we obviously have to learn to finish in all three phases,” Schottenheimer said. “We had a chance to do it in a lot of different ways.”
Jacoby Brissett Moved To Baltimore After Benching
On Monday, rookie Carson Beck moved up to backup, with Brissett as the emergency third quarterback.
“Moving forward we’ll go with Gardner as our starter,” LaFleur explained. “We’ve talked to all three quarterbacks.”
The Cardinals traded Brissett to the Baltimore Ravens on Friday. Minshew, on a one-year, $5.75 million deal, makes his first start for Arizona (3-5) on Sunday at the Seattle Seahawks.
Jones pointed to other examples from this season. In Week 1, Carson Wentz replaced a concussed Kyler Murray with the Minnesota Vikings down 9-0 and rallied for a 39-22 win over the Green Bay Packers. Murray was credited with the win.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was credited with a loss against the Buffalo Bills after playing one of 51 offensive snaps.
The Cowboys (3-5) visit the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at noon CT on FOX.
