The Dallas Cowboys appeared well on their way to an easy day at the office, holding a two-score advantage for much of the afternoon. But that all changed late in the third quarter when the Arizona Cardinals brought Gardner Minshew in at quarterback, replacing starter Jacoby Brissett. Behind his effort, the Cardinals somehow pulled out a 33-30 overtime victory, Arizona now owning a 1-9 record against Dallas in their last 10 meetings.
Up until Minshew's arrival, the Cowboys defense had been showing improvement and was having perhaps its best effort of the season. Instead, the quarterback change led to touchdowns on four straight possessions to end regulation that evened the score and sent the game into the extra frame.
As a unit, Dallas had two takeaways and five sacks, which included Quinnen Williams recording two, upping his total to a team-high five for the season. That also marked his third consecutive game notching a sack, his longest streak since the 2022 season.
But then Minshew entered the game. In his limited time, he completed 73.9% of his passes for 188 yards and three touchdowns for a 137.3 passer rating. Although he had plenty of help from Tyler Allgeier. The running back ran through the Cowboys to the tune of 147 rushing yards on 11 carries, of which 143 of those yards came in the second half. He averaged an unthinkable 13.4 yards per attempt.
So much for defensive improvement.
Offensively, the Cowboys again featured a balanced attack, running the ball 39 times for 93 yards. And unlike in previous outings, they stayed with the ground game even though they averaged just 2.4 yards per carry. Their longest run of the afternoon was a 7-yard scramble from Dak Prescott.
The quarterback's day wasn't exactly great, but a solid enough outing considering the offense again topped 30 points. Prescott completed 65.5% of his attempts for 195 yards and one touchdown for a 96.2 rating. He also ran for his first score of the season as well.
Regardless, in the end it wasn't nearly enough as the Cowboys suffered their worst loss in a season full of disappointing finishes.
First Quarter
The opening 15 minutes featured the defenses, as the Cardinals first stuffed a Javonte Williams run when the Cowboys decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 32-yard line. But the Dallas side soon returned the favor.
Set up with great field position, Arizona leaned on running back Jeremiyah Love to reach the Cowboys' 1-yard line. However, a third-down pass fell incomplete, and then Love was held to no gain thanks to a great stop by rookie Caleb Downs.
But before the quarter was finished, the Dallas defense again came up big. Brissett threw a pass over the middle that bounced off the hands of tight end Elijah Higgins and into the waiting arms of linebacker Shemar James, who returned his first career interception to the Arizona 5-yard line.
Two snaps later, the Cowboys were in the end zone, although the score came from a most unlikely person. Williams was charging off left tackle, but had the ball knocked loose, the fumble then bouncing across the goal line. Falling on the prize, though, was tight end James Mitchell, who was making his debut for Dallas after being called up from the practice squad on Saturday. Nevertheless, the Cowboys had an early lead, 7-0.
Second Quarter
Dallas' next touchdown would require a little more work. Taking possession at their own 15-yard line, the team needed 12 plays to march the needed 85 yards. CeeDee Lamb provided a 27-yard reception and then moved the chains on third-and-5 at the Arizona 23 by dipping and darting past the sticks despite seemingly being surrounded by Cardinals.
Wideout Ryan Flournoy would eventually get the score, cutting across the middle and reaching behind him to make a nifty one-handed catch before slipping into the end zone.
On its ensuing drive, Arizona would finally get on the board, as the visitors traveled 56 yards on 11 plays to get into Dallas territory. But the drive stalled at the Cowboys' 19, forcing the Cardinals to settle for a 37-yard field goal.
With under 20 seconds remaining in the quarter, the defense garnered its second turnover of the game after DeMarvion Overshown knocked the ball loose from Bam Knight with LT Overton then recovering the fumble. That gave Brandon Aubrey a shot at a 61-yard field goal, but his kick sailed wide right, the Cowboys still hitting the locker room with a 14-3 lead.
Third Quarter
So why not let Aubrey redeem himself? Dallas took the opening possession of the second half and promptly marched 70 yards in 15 plays to the Cardinals' 12-yard line. They couldn't get to the goal line, but the kicker cleaned things up with a 31-yard field goal to put the advantage back at 14.
While the Cardinals now brought in Minshew at quarterback, they certainly weren't ready to surrender and responded with their first touchdown of the day. On second-and-3 at his own 37-yard line, Allgeier took the handoff, broke through the line of scrimmage and then raced down the left sideline 63 yards to narrow the score, 17-10.
Fourth quarter
The Cowboys, though, didn't waste any time righting the ship as the team's offense opened the final frame with a second-and-goal at the Cardinals' 4-yard line. Prescott had started the drive with a 37-yard pass to George Pickens, which was soon followed by Flournoy drawing a pass interference call that put Dallas on the doorstep. Prescott wrapped up the series by scrambling untouched around the right end and into the end zone for the touchdown.
But suddenly, the Cowboys seemingly had no answer for Allgeier. After that long run on Arizona's previous possession, he picked up 78 yards on its next series. That included a 52-yard scamper, a 17-yard catch and then finally hauling in another short throw and extending the ball over the goal line while diving toward the end zone.
Fortunately, Dallas got a little help on its next series. After coming up short on third-and-6 at their own 40-yard line, the Cowboys were gifted with an unnecessary roughness flag on Arizona that kept the possession going. That led to a 35-yard field goal from Aubrey to go back up by two scores.
Who knew the game was far from over? With Minshew injecting new life into the offense, Arizona countered with yet another touchdown, this time after a six-play, 58-yard drive. The quarterback completed 5 of 6 passes for 53 yards, the last of which was a 14-yard connection to tight end Trey McBride for the score.
Electing to try an onside kick, the Cardinals' squibbler bounced right into the hands of Flournoy, who returned it 19 yards with another 5 yards tacked on because Arizona touched the kick before it went 10 yards. That led to a much-needed 41-yard field goal from Aubrey.
But the Cardinals would get one more chance with just over a minute left in the game, and that was plenty of time for Minshew to lead his troops 80 yards in eight plays for the touchdown. The quarterback completed passes of 14, 21, 27 and then finally 13 yards, finding receiver Michael Wilson in the back of the end zone.
Then, amazingly, Arizona kicker Chad Ryland pulled the extra point wide left, his first such miss in two years. That incredible break sent the game into overtime, 30-30.
Overtime
In the end, it didn't matter.
The Cowboys won the coin toss and elected to play defense first. And the unit quickly took care of business by forcing the Cardinals to go three-and-out. But Dallas could do no better and punted on their first try as well.
Given a second chance, Arizona did what they had to do, crossing into Cowboys territory and setting up Ryland to redeem himself. This time the kicker split the uprights from 42 yards out to give the Cardinals a shocking 33-30 win.
