Good morning — what is this feeling? I’m not sure what it is.

Is it… pride? Are we proud to root for the Cardinals this week? Or have the mullet and mustache simply masked the dysfunction beneath?

Regardless, Minshew Mania has arrived in the Valley, and Jacoby Brissett is on his way out of town. Let’s talk about it.

— Alex D’Agostino, PHNX WKLY Editor

Cardinals rolling with Minshew, trading Brissett

Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

After last week’s thrilling comeback win over the Cowboys, the Cardinals have made some long-awaited changes to their quarterback room.

Jacoby Brissett, with whom many fans have voiced frustration this year, is headed out of town. According to multiple reports, Arizona is finalizing a trade with the Baltimore Ravens after Brissett requested a trade.

The trade request, of course, came after the Cardinals made a public pivot to Minshew as QB1, promoting Carson Beck to QB2 and bumping Brissett to inactive emergency QB3 in the process.

Brissett will exit the Cardinals’ organization with a 4-16 record as a starter. His fourth win was credit given to him on the group project Minshew finished last week. He did not win a game at home and had one game-winning drive despite multiple opportunities.

The 33-year-old threw for 1,719 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven picks this year. From an eye test perspective, it looked worse than that. Routine throws were often inaccurate. Big play opportunities were missed downfield. Brissett may find some success in Baltimore, but he simply wasn’t a fit for Mike LaFLeur’s offense here.

For now, Minshew does look like a better fit. He fired three touchdowns and led both a game-tying and game-winning drive on Sunday. He’s good at providing sparks wherever he goes, both in terms of play and fan engagement. His unique personality and laid-back attitude are a breath of fresh air in more ways than one in Arizona.

But he, too, has been a backup for much of his career. And he’ll get some extremely tough defenses ahead: the Seahawks, Rams and Chiefs are all up next.

The Cardinals will ultimately want to see Beck in action before the season comes to an end, but it might be for the best to not pit him against some of those defenses. Still, both the Cardinals and Beck himself would benefit from as much playing time as possible.

When that opportunity comes is unknown, but parting with Brissett opens the door. For now, it’s time to enjoy the Minshew experience — for however long it lasts.

Now, let’s see what else is going on in Arizona sports this week:

The Suns lost two games to the Warriors (116-113) and Trail Blazers (132-119), as well as their NBA cup matchup with the Nuggets (127-120). They needed a win and got one last night, taking down the Orlando Magic 117-104 behind a 30-point performance by Devin Booker. They’ll face the Rockets at home on Saturday.
The Sun Devils fell just short of a huge upset win over BYU, but fell 27-20. Football will get a conference matchup with Colorado on Saturday. On the bright side, both men’s and women’s basketball began their seasons with wins. Sun Devil Women are already 2-0 after a 79-52 win over NAU last night.
The Wildcats could not overcome Texas Tech, falling 34-26, but they’ll stay put at No. 22 with an 8:15 p.m. game against TCU tonight. Men’s basketball lost a tough one to UCLA in the opener but cruised past Cal Poly 104-84 last night. The Arizona women, meanwhile, pulled off a big upset over Stanford (84-69) in their opener.
Phoenix Rising’s season came to an end on Sunday, following a 2-0 loss to New Mexico United. Their playoff run was short-lived.