The Dallas Cowboys had this one. They led the Arizona Cardinals 14-3 at halftime on Sunday at AT&T Stadium and 24-10 with 14:20 left in the fourth quarter. They lost 33-30 in overtime and fell to 3-5.
"Very disappointing; it sucks," Dak Prescott said. "One of the toughest [losses] I guess I've been a part of."
How Dallas built the lead
The defense set it up. Linebacker Shemar James picked off Jacoby Brissett for his first career interception, on a pass that bounced off tight end Elijah Higgins, and returned it to the Arizona 5. Dallas scored when tight end James Mitchell, called up from the practice squad the day before, fell on a Javonte Williams fumble that bounced into the end zone.
In the second quarter Ryan Flournoy made a one-handed touchdown catch to finish a 12-play, 85-yard drive, and DeMarvion Overshown forced a fumble by Bam Knight. Brandon Aubrey missed a 61-yard try wide right just before the half, but Dallas went to the locker room up 14-3, then pushed it to 17-3 with a 31-yard Aubrey field goal after a 15-play drive.
Minshew changes the game
Arizona benched Brissett late in the third quarter for Gardner Minshew, and soon after, Tyler Allgeier ran 63 yards for a touchdown. Allgeier finished with 147 rushing yards on 11 carries, 143 of them after halftime.
Prescott answered early in the fourth, scrambling untouched around the right end from the 4 for his first rushing touchdown of the season after a 37-yard catch by George Pickens. That made it 24-10. Dallas gained 52 more yards the rest of regulation.
Allgeier scored again. Aubrey hit from 35 to make it 27-17. Minshew threw 14 yards to Trey McBride to get within three. Flournoy recovered the onside kick, Aubrey made a 41-yarder for a 30-24 lead, and Arizona went 80 yards in eight plays, Minshew finding Michael Wilson in the back of the end zone from 13 yards out. Chad Ryland pulled the extra point wide left, his first miss in two years, and the game went to overtime at 30-30.
Dallas won the toss and chose to kick. Arizona went three-and-out, Dallas punted it back, and Ryland made a 42-yard field goal to win it.
The numbers
- Prescott: 19 of 29 for 195 yards and a touchdown, plus 20 rushing yards and a score. He was sacked four times.
- Dallas ran 39 times for 93 yards, 2.4 a carry.
- Minshew, in relief: 188 passing yards and three touchdowns.
- Quinnen Williams had two of Dallas's five sacks, giving him a team-high five this season and a sack in three straight games.
Arizona outgained Dallas 286-157 after halftime. The Cardinals had lost nine of their previous 10 games against the Cowboys.
What they said
"I'm going to always own my part of this as the head football coach," Brian Schottenheimer said. "It starts with me." He added: "It was a tale of two halves, for sure."
Prescott refused to single anyone out. "It's all of us," he said. "Don't put the blame on one person. Simple as that." And on what comes next: "At this point, talk is cheap. We've got to go write our own story."
Dallas is still looking for its first winning streak of the season. Next is a trip to Indianapolis on Sunday, Nov. 8.