Jacoby Brissett snaps Cardinals losing streak with 3-TD night; Kyler Murray still starter upon return

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Through five weeks of agonizing losses, the Arizona Cardinals finally emerged victorious on Monday night.

Following an unprecedented string of nail-biting defeats, the Cardinals ended their NFL-long five-game losing streak with a Jacoby Brissett-fueled 27-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Brissett, starting his third straight game in place of an injured Kyler Murray, had three total touchdowns, throwing for two and 261 yards on 21-of-31 passing and sneaking in for another six. The veteran quarterback piloted five scoring drives, including back-to-back 74-yard marches — the longest scoring drives of the season for the Arizona offense.

“That’s what we do it for. It’s hard to win in the NFL,” Brissett said of earning the victory at Dallas. “It’s harder to win on the road. It’s hard when things aren’t going your way and the outside noise drags you other places and stuff like that. It’s hard to come back in that locker room and put one foot in front of the other. But the men in that room, the coaches, the support staff, it’s just all we preach, is put one foot in front of the other, one day at a time. When you don’t look for the results, the results find themselves, and you’ve just got to rely on the work.”

Despite Brissett’s performance Monday and the two preceding it, Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon remained steadfast that Murray will be his starter whenever he returns from a foot injury, perhaps on Sunday against the first-place Seattle Seahawks.

“Yeah, nothing’s changed,” Gannon said.

Pressed further on the issue, Gannon shut down the conversation.

“I got nothing to add on that, guys,” he said.

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Over Brissett’s three starts, the offense has drastically improved in production, averaging 25.7 points per game and 256.3 passing yards compared to 18.8 and 170.2 with Murray.

On Monday, second-year wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. had a career-best seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown.

“Put his pads on. Showed up,” Brissett said when asked to explain what MHJ did to create opportunities. “I mean once he got off the bus I knew he was gonna be open. We knew we were gonna get our chances outside. This has been building for him and it’s still a step in the right direction. You saw it in his eyes when he got off the bus. And we were in the locker room, and coach told me what the first couple plays were and he was like, ‘We’re gonna switch it up and we’re going to do this for Marv.’ I’m like, alright, and I think I threw it to him four times in a row on the first drive, and I was like I think I’m gonna do this the whole game if they keep doing it. Just super happy for him. I know he wants a couple more, and I do, too. There’s a couple things that I wanted to get to him. But just super happy for him.”

Standout Trey McBride notched a touchdown for the third straight contest, a feat not seen by a Cardinals tight end since 1987 (Rob Awalt). In just three games with Brissett at the helm, McBride has four TDs. In 39 with Murray, he has five.

“I though he played well,” Gannon said of Brissett. “I thought he operated.”

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