On Monday night, backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw two touchdowns and ran for a score in the absence of Kyler Murray as the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Dallas Cowboys 27-17.
Brissett started the week for the third straight game after starting the week with high hopes for Murray, who was dealing with a foot injury and returned from the team’s open week.
Instead, the Cardinals pivoted to Brissett, with head coach Jonathan Gannon saying Murray wasn’t ready yet. Arizona (3-5) won for the second time in the past 18 games when Murray didn’t take at least five snaps or miss all of them.
The Cowboys (3-5-1) couldn’t build momentum after a blocked punt by Sam Williams was recovered in the end zone by Marshawn Kneeland, allowing long touchdown drives on Arizona’s next two possessions either side of halftime and falling behind 24-7.
Marvin Harrison had a career-high seven catches for 96 yards, including a 4-yarder for the game’s first touchdown. Tight end Trey McBride also had a 12-yard touchdown grab.
After the blocked punt and recovery for the score, the Cowboys gave up an average of 10.8 yards on the next 15 plays at Arizona, including consecutive 16-yard passes immediately after the Dallas touchdown and Michael Wilson’s 50-yard catch-and-run on the second play after halftime.
The Cowboys got a first down on their first possession of the game and easily got to Arizona’s seven, but got nothing as Dak Prescott was sacked by Josh Sweat on fourth down, giving him two of Dallas’ five quarterback sacks. Calais Campbell also scored twice in his 250th regular season career game.
Dallas, suffering back-to-back losses for the first time under first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer, scored just three points on its first three drives inside Arizona’s 25 and trailed by 17 points in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys could have cut the deficit to 14 points with a field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter, but Prescott threw an incompletion to CeeDee Lamb on fourth-and-3. Dallas was 3-0 on fourth down.
The Cardinals lost Brissett’s first two starts, but not because the 32-year-old veteran was incompetent. He was solid again, going 21-of-31 for 261 yards without an interception, gaining 860 yards, six touchdowns and one pick in three games without Murray.
Murray, the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, is 9-0 at AT&T Stadium, won a state championship as a high school quarterback, won two Big 12 titles at Oklahoma and won two games against the Cowboys.
Well, Brissett is currently 1-0 as a starter against Dallas.
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The Cowboys’ last hope ended with a second lost fumble. With less than five minutes remaining, the ball was stolen from Javonte Williams when he fell on a short catch.
Prescott had just one touchdown pass a week after going without one as one of the league’s best offenses slumped again. The scoring toss in the fourth quarter was a 5-yard shot by Ryan Flournoy, his first career touchdown.
The Cardinals started the season 2-0, but lost five straight by a total of 13 points. Gannon’s first win as head coach came two years ago against the Cowboys, who started 1-8.
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