The Arizona Cardinals defeated the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night, going into AT&T Stadium and leaving with a 27-17 win.
Arizona dominated the game for most of the night, doing whatever it wanted offensively while also keeping the vaunted Dallas offense in check. Things briefly got interesting in the fourth quarter -- as they often seem to do whenever the Cardinals are involved this season -- but Dallas never truly threatened to take the lead and never got within one score in the second half.
The game swung early when the Cowboys drove right down the field on the opening possession, only to come up empty near the goal line. They had a dropped pass on third-and-goal and then surrendered a sack on fourth-and-goal -- coming away with no points after an impressive drive.
That failure allowed Arizona to take control and keep it the rest of the way.
Jacoby Brissett played efficient football despite being sacked five times. He completed 21 of 31 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns, repeatedly connecting with Marvin Harrison Jr., who caught seven passes for 96 yards and a touchdown -- a slant near the goal line where he beat Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland. Brissett also found Trey McBride for a score -- the tight end's fourth touchdown in Brissett's three starts -- and added one on a quarterback sneak.
The only notable hiccup for the Cardinals came when Pat O'Donnell had a punt blocked in the second quarter, leading to a Cowboys touchdown. Outside of that play, Dallas didn't do much offensively. Ryan Flournoy caught a late touchdown pass, but it only cut the deficit to 10 in the fourth quarter, and Dallas never got closer.
The Cowboys turned the ball over three times: Jake Ferguson and Javonte Williams each lost fumbles, and Dak Prescott threw an interception on a desperation heave on fourth-and-28 just after the two-minute warning.
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 3-5 and now face a quarterback decision. They have simply been better offensively with Brissett than they were with Kyler Murray, and it would be difficult to justify going back to Murray once he returns from the foot injury that has sidelined him for the last three games.
Dallas drops to 3-5-1 heading into its bye. Jerry Jones has suggested trades may be coming before Tuesday's deadline, but it's hard to see any move fixing what is arguably the NFL's worst defense. The Cowboys may be better off selling than buying.
Brissett has been quite good during his time filling in for Murray, and Monday night was no different. He continually found open receivers down the field and converted in situations where the Cardinals were backed up behind the sticks, helping Arizona go 7 of 13 on third downs.
But he also just played well within the rhythm of the offense, as exemplified by throws like his touchdowns to Harrison and McBride and this big gain of 50 yards on a crossing route to Michael Wilson to open the second half. Brissett did stuff like this all night.
Arizona is only 1-2 in Brissett's three starts, but it's hard to argue with what he has brought to the offense. The Cardinals have leaned heavily into the pass in the absence of their top two running backs, who are each on injured reserve, and they have gotten better results than they did when their starting quarterback was under center.
Jonathan Gannon said after the game that "nothing has changed" when it comes to the team's plan to play Kyler Murray when he's healthy, but that might change upon reflection.
Jerry Jones wants to fix his defense. (As long as he's not making $100 billion deals with his other businesses, that is.) That's understandable, because it might be the worst defense in all of football. And the only reason we have to say "might be" is because the Bengals' defense also exists.
But there is no fix for this Cowboys defense. It is simply not close to talented enough, and it is not well-coached enough. It is not one player away or two or even three players away.
Not unless that player is Micah Parsons, at least, whose presence on the field made the Cowboys the single-best defense in the NFL by EPA per play when he was there and whose absence made them the worst whenever he was on the sideline. This season without Parsons has been more of the same. Nobody the Cowboys could trade for this week would be able to push this unit over the top.
The Cowboys are two games back in the loss column from being in a playoff spot, and it's hard to see them winning enough games down the stretch of the season to really make a run, given the state of their defense. They have two first-round picks in the 2026 draft already thanks to the Parsons trade, and they should probably look to sell off some players and gain some more mid-round picks so they can try to attack their defensive needs with volume next offseason.
As mentioned, Marvin Harrison Jr. was the big star for the Cardinals in this one, with seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. His route on the score even left CeeDee Lamb aghast at how badly he smoked Bland off the line.
The seven catches set a new career high for Harrison, while his 96 yards were the second-most he's had in any game this season and the fourth-most of his career. He also did the significant majority of his work against Bland, who this past offseason was made one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the NFL. And Bland simply had no chance against Harrison on Monday night.
Interesting decision from Jonathan Gannon to go for it on fourth down. Marvin Harrison Jr. once again got wide open, but Jacoby Brissett's pass fell incomplete and that gives the ball back to the Cowboys with a chance to make it a one-score game here.
The Cowboys were in position to make this a one-score game and Cody Simon, who is playing for the injured Mack Wilson, stripped the ball from Javonte Williams and forced a turnover. That might be the dagger.
Nolen had a TFL in the red zone on the opening drive, he deflected a pass in the second quarter and now he has the first sack of his career. Nolen was out the entire season until tonight with a calf injury suffered during training camp.
A pair of sacks and a false start by Jonah Williams on the drive gave the Cowboys another stop and they'll get the ball back with a chance to cut the lead to one score. As the ESPN broadcast has repeatedly stated, the Cardinals have blown a bunch of fourth-quarter leads this year.
Dallas goes 78 yards in 2 minutes and 1 second to get into the end zone on offense for the first time tonight. A couple big catches by George Pickens, a fumble recovery and a big run by Javonte Williams, and then a 5-yard touchdown grab by Ryan Flournoy were the key plays on the drive. It's 27-17.
Dallas really can't afford to lose more at the safety position. Malik Hooker, Donovan Wilson and Alijah Clark were all out with injuries entering tonight's game. If Bell can't return at the start of the next drive, nickelback Reddy Steward could fill in.
Arizona just punted for only the second time this game. Naturally, the Cowboys committed a penalty during the punt and will be backed up in their own territory following the kick.
Facing fourth-and-4 just outside the red zone on the opening play on the fourth quarter, the Cowboys were stopped once again. Dak Prescott's pass hung in the air for way too long and got broken up with relative ease. Cardinals take over and are in total control of the game.
Arizona once again easily moved down the field with a series of chunk gains. The Cards got into another third-down situation just inside the red zone but this time Brissett's pass got tipped at the line of scrimmage and fell incomplete and so they settled for a field goal to push the lead back to three scores at 27-10.
Dallas put together by far its best drive since the first possession of the game, but still came away with only three points. The Cowboys got in a goal-to-go situation at the 6-yard line but Dak Prescott was sacked by Josh Sweat, and that set the drive back. Brandon Aubrey knocked it through from 26 yards out to make it a two-score game at 24-10.
It took Arizona all of 2 minutes and 12 seconds to get right back into the end zone. This time it was Trey McBride working against Cowboys safety Markquese Bell and popping wide open. The Cards are up three scores, 24-7.
Arizona is getting basically whatever it wants in the passing game, and is doing it by attacking Dallas' best cornerback. The Cardinals just started the half with a 50-yard catch-and-run by Michael Wilson working against DaRon Bland.
Brandon Aubrey had a chance to tie the one-day-old record for longest field goal in NFL history, but he pulled the kick wide left.
The Cardinals responded to the blocked-punt touchdown with an easy, efficient touchdown drive of their own. It ended with Jacoby Brissett plunging into the end zone from one yard out. Arizona is up 17-7.
Just when it seemed like everything was going wrong for the Cowboys... Sam Williams broke through the line and blocked a punt all the way into the end zone, where Marshawn Kneeland fell on it for a Cowboys touchdown. It's 10-7 Cardinals after the extra point.
It has been a half filled with awful mistakes for the Cowboys. Prescott found George Pickens for a first down deep in Cardinals territory, but a hold called on Jake Ferguson negated the play. Two snaps later, Ferguson caught a pass over the middle and, while trying to pick up a first down, instead fumbled the ball right back to the Cardinals. Arizona can now go up by three scores before the half.
Marvin Harrison Jr. is absolutely smoking DaRon Bland. He already has 5 catches for 64 yards and he just added a touchdown with a great route near the goal line. The Cardinals are up 10-0 early in the second quarter.
Arizona is getting consistently receivers WIDE open on third-and-long. Even on the one third down where the Cards failed to pick it up, Harrison was wide open. The Cowboys are struggling to execute in Matt Eberflus' zone defense.
Mack Wilson had a chance for the easiest interception of his career but let the ball fall through his hands. Prescott was his by Josh Sweat (who smoked Terence Steele on the play) as he was getting rid of the ball on third-and-long and it floater up in the air forever and landed in Wilson's lap, but he dropped it. Dallas punted instead.
Dallas has already been penalized twice and dropped two passes, and the first quarter isn't over yet.
The Cards converted each of their first three third-down opportunities on their opening drive, but failed to convert possibly the easiest one as Jacoby Brissett missed a wide-open Harrison on third-and-5. The Cardinals settled for a Chad Ryland field goal to take a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter. (Ryland's kick was VERY close to missing. Troy Aikman seemed to think it went wide to the right but it was called good.)
Marvin Harrison Jr. has two catches already, each to extend the drive on third down. Both catches came working comeback routes to the right side of the field, making Harrison look a whole lot like his father, who did that quite often (and almost always on the right side) when working with Peyton Manning for years.
Dallas moved quickly and easily down the field to get to first-and-goal at the 7-yard line and then completely stalled out. Walter Nolen III set the Cowboys behind the chains with a tackle for loss on first down. The Cowboys got back down to the 4-yard line with a completion to Jake Ferguson, but Garrett Williams made a nice play on the ball on third down and Dak Prescott was sacked on fourth. Cardinals take over deep in their own territory.
The Arizona Cardinals won the coin toss, and they deferred to the second half.
Murray, who in inactive tonight with a foot sprain, looked confident while throwing the football in pregame warm ups to teammates ahead of kickoff tonight from AT&T Stadium. Arizona decided to give Murray another week of rest, but given how he looked in warm ups, the decision looks like a "soft benching." He's been out since Week 6.
Cardinals first-round pick Walter Nolen is set to make his NFL debut tonight. He's been out since the preseason with a calf injury and should provide some depth for the Cardinals up front. Slot cornerback Garrett Williams is set to make his return as well. He's been out since Week Week 2 and should help Arizona cover CeeDee Lamb in the slot.
Here's a look at some best bets for tonight's game.
