The Arizona Cardinals are now 3-5 after pulling off a comeback in Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys. The Cardinals ultimately won 33-30 in overtime, but at one point they were down 17-3 on the road. Arizona's undefeated record playing at AT&T Stadium was in serious jeopardy, but fortunately they were able to complete the comeback to push that record to 5-0.
It was head coach Mike LaFleur's decision to switch quarterbacks from Jacoby Brissett to Gardner Minshew II that catalyzed the comeback. It sparked the Cardinals' offense as Minshew completed an efficient 17 of 23 passes for 188 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Gardner Minshew II unlocks Cardinals offense in comeback win over Cowboys
Granted, it was against one of the worst defenses in the league. But most importantly for the Cardinals, it was night-and-day better than the offense under Brissett. Arizona has a flawed defense of its own, and needed to keep up with the shootout to counter Dak Prescott and this high-octane Dallas offense.
Brissett couldn't offer that, especially in the red zone, where this has now been an ongoing problem for weeks. The switch to Minshew helped address that, with the Cardinals scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter.
It also helped unlock Michael Wilson in that WR1 role, as he appeared to have a better connection with Minshew than Brissett. Wilson finished with a game-high 111 receiving yards and 1 touchdown on 15 targets.
Wide receiver production depends heavily on the connection with the quarterback, which is another reason the Cardinals should've seen how Marvin Harrison Jr. fared with a quarterback other than Brissett before trading him to the Houston Texans.
Mike LaFleur should stick with Gardner Minshew over Jacoby Brissett
But going forward, this successfully completed comeback gives Minshew a strong case to start. In just those 23 pass attempts, he's already unlocked Arizona's offensive weapons far better than Brissett has through 8 weeks.
Eventually, the Cardinals should still make the switch to third-round rookie Carson Beck. We predicted a switch to happen around the end of November, highlighting a potential Week 12 matchup against the Washington Commanders due to the softened remaining schedule to close out the season.
In the meantime, Minshew gives this offense the veteran stopgap solution they expected in Brissett.
Even with the upset over Dallas, Arizona still isn't realistically a playoff contender. But player development and building a winning culture still matter, especially for LaFleur to establish in this new era as first-year head coach. Minshew simply gives this team the best chance to win going forward.
He proved it in limited action against the Cowboys, proving LaFleur right to bench Brissett. But now that change needs to carry over into Arizona's tough divisional road matchup against the defending champion Seattle Seahawks.
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