It was a tale of two halves for the Dallas Cowboys in their shocking 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Or, more specifically, it was a tale of two quarterbacks.
"(The first half) felt good," Joey Porter Jr. said. "Guys were flying around, we were communicating, we were doing what we were supposed to do."
Indeed, the Cowboys limited Arizona to just 2.5 yards per carry on the ground for 42 rushing yards through the first two quarters. In the passing game, starting quarterback Jacoby Brisset completed only 40% of his attempts with two sacks and an interception, a passer rating of only 36.2. In addition to Shemar James recording his first career pick, rookie LT Overton also recovered his first fumble.
Even midway through the third quarter, the Cowboys were seemingly in the driver's seat, still maintaining a 14-point advantage. And then Gardner Minshew took over for Arizona behind center.
"When Minshew came in, I don't think they changed their game plan that much from before," Porter said. "So it was really just us. We've got to home in on our skills and make plays when they come."
The defensive collapse was due in part to Porter being limited for much of the game with his ongoing ankle injury. At one point, he could be seen throwing his helmet on the sideline, appearing to be in pain.
"From my point of view, (the defense's struggles were) just me not being out there with the guys," Porter said. "I want to be a leader on this team. I want to be a guy that they can lean on, so me not being out there is really frustrating for me. … I've just got to get on the field no matter what."
The Cowboys could have certainly used him, seeing as how he's been a shutdown cornerback for the team since his arrival through a trade with Pittsburgh a month ago. Heading into the Cardinals game, Porter's passer rating against was an impressive 39.6.
Unfortunately, he has also been dealing with the ankle issue since his Cowboys debut on Oct. 4 at Houston. Porter missed one game entirely and has been limited in a second. But last Monday night at the Eagles, he was able to manage the pain and play a season-high 77.3% of the defensive snaps. Not so this time around.
"(The pain) was very frustrating when I've been playing, and then today it just was not good," Porter said. "It was very frustrating to not be able to move how I want to, not be able to be out there with the guys running around. So I've just got to go back to the training room and just keep the treatment up."
For now, his ankle situation is one he and the Cowboys will have to continue monitoring with the hope that improvement will come by next Sunday. The same can perhaps be said for the defense as a whole.
"The game just got away from us when we really needed it, and that's something that we've just got to work on as a team," Porter said before then responding when asked where the club goes from here. "Back to the drawing board. That's all we can do. We've still got a long season ahead of us. We've still got games to prepare for us, so we've just got to go back to the drawing board."
