The Arizona Cardinals beat the Dallas Cowboys in overtime, 33-30, and kept a little-known streak alive. Before this matchup, the Cardinals had beaten the Cowboys in eight of their last nine meetings. Now, that record extends to nine of the last 10. The shocking aspect of how the Cardinals kept this streak going was that it came on the back of backup quarterback Gardner Minshew.
Photo Cred: CBS Sports
Minshew entered after Brissett was benched late in the third quarter. He then led the Cardinals back to beat the Cowboys in overtime. Arizona rewarded Minshew with a guaranteed start in Week 9 against division rival Seattle Seahawks. Let’s take a look at a couple of key takeaways and performances.
Gardner Minshew
Photo Cred: WMBB
The man of the hour. Gardner Minshew came out in the third quarter and finished with a stat line of 17-of-23, 188 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions and only one sack. For a little advanced-stats action, Minshew (entering in the third quarter) had a 137.3 passer rating and a 71.3 QBR. Both of those stats were better than Dak Prescott’s numbers for the entire game. As far as I am concerned, if I am the Arizona Cardinals, starting Minshew is a smart move. If he fails over the next few weeks, it gives you an opportunity to see what you have in Carson Beck. If he does well, you know how good your backup is when Beck inevitably plays.
Dallas Future Looking Grim
Photo Cred: Yahoo Sports
The Dallas Cowboys are underperforming, and it does not look good for the rest of their season. Yes, they have amazing pieces like CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens and Javonte Williams, but they simply aren’t meeting the mark of a winning organization. They hardly feed Pickens. The offensive line isn’t opening up enough for Williams. On a defense with a star like Quinnen Williams, they simply aren’t capable of preventing teams from getting into the end zone. Dak Prescott isn’t playing terribly, but for the Cowboys to have any success, he has to be perfect. That’s something you can’t ask any NFL quarterback to do.
