Cardinals snap losing streak, beat Cowboys in Dallas

ARLINGTON, Texas – It's over. Finished. Made.

The Cardinals' five-game losing streak was snapped in spectacular fashion with a 27-10 win over the Cardinals. Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Monday Night Football.

It wasn't very pleasant towards the end and brought back memories of early in the season when Arizona lost games in the fourth quarter.

But Monday night's win didn't just end the winning drought. This caused controversy among the quarterbacks.

Kyler Murray is an established, active, bona fide starter with a $230.5 million contract, but the Cardinals' offense has looked better and more efficient, both statistically and to the naked eye, with Jacoby Brissett run it.

Brissett now owns the top three passing games of the season – and has made three starts. The Cardinals' offense topped 300 yards for the third straight game after Kyler Murray was targeted just once while starting the first five games.

Either way, it won't be an easy choice, but the Cardinals have a decision to make.

Here's the most important thing both teams need to know after Monday night:

Most amazing performance: Marvin Harrison Jr.. set a career high Monday night with seven catches for 96 yards. He had six catches three times in his career through Monday. His eight first-half goals were also a career high. Harrison gained 80 yards in the first half, his best total since Week 2 of last season.

Trend to watch: With his touchdown on Monday night, Trey McBride has four touchdown receptions in three career games in which Brissett started. He has five touchdowns in 39 career games where Murray was the starting quarterback.

QB Performance: Brissett had another productive start, throwing for ### yards and two touchdowns without an interception. He now has six touchdowns and one interception in three starts. — Josh Weinfuss

Next game: V Seattle Seahawks (4:05 p.m. ET CBS)

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Dallas Cowboys (3-5-1)

The Cowboys' 27-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Monday doesn't mean the season is over, but it does feel that way.

At 3-5-1, the Cowboys' path to the playoffs appears slim because they will need help staying in the NFC East race from Philadelphia (6-2), as well as help chasing a wild card with tiebreaker losses to Chicago, Carolina and now Arizona.

Defensive issues remain, although there could be a trade – or trades – coming in by Tuesday's deadline that could help, at least a little. Arizona didn't even need Kyler Murray's perfect 9-0 performance at AT&T Stadium to beat the Cowboys. Stand-in Jacoby Brissett cut them into cubes. And the offense failed to score a touchdown on two possessions before scoring and only managed to get into the end zone once. The chance for an incredible comeback is over Javonte Williams' fiddle with 4:34 to play.

The worst part? The Cowboys will have to be part of this performance throughout the bye week and until Nov. 17 when they face the Raiders the following Monday night.

A trend to watch: Even though the Cowboys have been on fire offensively at AT&T Stadium, averaging more than 40 points per game entering Monday, the first quarter overall hasn't been kind to them this season. The Cowboys were scoreless for the third time in the first quarter, tied for the most points in the NFL with the Saints. Dallas' first drive on Monday stalled after four first downs on its first six plays got them to Arizona's 7-yard line thanks to a negative run, a broken pass and a sack before scoring. Dak Prescott in fourth position below.

Statistics you need to know: There are many reasons why the Cowboys defense is bad. At the top of the list is their third defense. Entering Week 9, the Cowboys had the worst third down defense, giving up a first down 52.4% of the time. In Monday's first half, the Cardinals converted 7 of 9 opportunities they faced going into third. It was the sixth time in nine games that the Cowboys allowed at least seven third-down conversions in a game.

Turning point: If the Cowboys were going to do anything interesting, they needed to stop after Sam Williams' blocked punt was recovered in the end zone for a touchdown Marshawn Niland cutting Arizona's lead to 10-7. This did not happen. The only team in the league not to have rushed for at least 74 yards on the season entering the game had an 11-play, 74-yard drive that ended with Jacoby Brissett's 1-yard keeper with 49 seconds left in the half, giving the Cardinals a 10-point lead at halftime. The Cowboys are currently 1-19 with Dak Prescott in the starting lineup, although they trail by 10 points or more at halftime. — Todd Archer

Next game: V Las Vegas Raiders (Nov. 17, 8:15 p.m. ET)