PJ Locke never got the stop he needed. Rashan Gary drew an unnecessary helmet-to-helmet penalty on Gardner Minshew with 2:23 left, and Arizona turned that mistake into a finish at 2:12.
The Cowboys led 27-17 at that point, with Arizona facing fourth-and-10 and the game hanging on one defensive snap. A deep pass to the end zone had already fallen incomplete on third down, so the penalty turned a likely stop into a first down at the 14-yard line.
Gary’s flag on Minshew
Rashan Gary’s hit changed the sequence before anyone could reset. The unnecessary helmet-to-helmet call moved the ball to the 14-yard line with a fresh set of downs, and the Cardinals scored on the next play before the 2:00 warning.
That is the part worth isolating: a fourth-and-10 stop became a short field in one whistle. Arizona needed no long march after that, only one snap to cash in the field position Gary gave it.
Dallas’ late lead slipped
Late in the second quarter, the Cowboys had already built a 14-0 lead and Joey Porter Jr. had been called for defensive holding. The first half closed with Javonte Williams on the ground and Brandon Aubrey missing a 61-yard field goal to the right with 11 seconds left, leaving points on the board before halftime.
At 1:35 left in the third quarter, Allgeier cut the margin with a 63-yard touchdown run to make it 17-10. That kept Arizona close enough for the final-minute sequence to matter, and it set up the late possession that reached fourth-and-10 with 2:23 remaining.
Two more minutes, one mistake
The Cowboys had a 27-17 lead with 2:23 left, but the penalty immediately turned a likely stop into a Cardinals first down and touchdown sequence. Arizona scored with 2:12 remaining, which is the difference between closing out a game and spending the final seconds chasing it.
For Dallas, the late flag is the story because it erased the leverage of the down, the distance, and the clock all at once. For Arizona, it was the kind of free possession that can decide a one-score game without any long drive at all, and that is how the Cowboys-Cardinals series keeps producing finishes that come down to one snap instead of one quarter.
