Minshew Mania breathes new life into Cardinals’ season

Pinch yourselves, Cardinals fans. You have proof that miracles still happen.

The Cardinals rallied for a mind-blowing 33-30 win over the Cowboys on Sunday, a game that will take days to fully digest. This one merely featured one of the greatest and most unexpected debuts in Arizona sports history (Gardner Minshew); a heroic performance from the only running back left standing (Tyler Allgeier); and extended the most inexplicable streak in professional sports.

The Cardinals are 9-1 in their past 10 games against Dallas and have never lost at Jerry’s World, otherwise known as AT&T Stadium.

At 3-5, the Cardinals are still a long way from good. But they have now scored two of the biggest point-spread upsets of the season (Chargers, Rams) and just authored the most improbable comeback of the NFL season. They have breathed new life into a season gone stale.

It happened immediately after Arizona benched starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett late in the third quarter following another uneven, familiar performance.

Enter Minshew, who produced touchdowns on the next four possessions. The first was courtesy of a 63-yard run from Allgeier, but the vibes changed immediately. Minshew’s ability to get the ball out of his hands quickly shocked the Cowboys and unlocked an entire offense. Suddenly, Mike LaFleur’s play-calling became much better.

Much of it was the valor of Allgeier, who rushed for 143 of his 147 yards in the second half. He also scored a receiving touchdown and blew through a gang-tackle at the goal line. The Cardinals had previously lost Jeremiyah Love and Bam Knight to injury, and Allgeier responded like a superhero. He accounted for 79 of 80 yards on one of the scoring drives and was frequently seen sucking from an oxygen mask on the sideline.

Allgeier became the first running back to post two runs of 50 or more yards against the Cowboys since Broncos great Terrell Davis.

But the bigger story was the quarterback nobody has been talking about in the Valley. As Brissett’s play has leveled off in recent weeks, much of the fan base had been clamoring for rookie Carson Beck. Not anymore.

Minshew made the Cardinals look like a completely different team. He made LaFleur look like a different head coach. He finished with a quarterback rating of 137.3, which was 95.5 points higher than Brissett’s performance against the same team. And it’s fair to wonder if the Minshew-Allgeier pairing was what the rookie head coach had envisioned all along, before the team decided to reward Brissett and draft Love with the No. 3 overall pick. Either way, Brissett has thrown his last pass in Arizona. The job belongs to Minshew until he proves otherwise.

There can be no other conclusion. The Cardinals overcame a terrible penalty from L.J. Collier, the only blemish on his otherwise stellar performance. They overcame a missed extra point from Chad Ryland that would’ve won the game in regulation. Both would later atone for those mistakes. They overcame a 17-3 deficit by scoring 23 points after the third quarter. And they did it because they simply refused to lose to the Cowboys in Dallas.

Pinch yourselves, Cardinals fans. Playing for his sixth team in eight years, Minshew Mania is happening once again. Just in the nick of time.

Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7.

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