'I Just Wasn't on a Good Leg': Joey Porter Jr.'s Ankle, and the Half the Cowboys' Defense Fell Apart

The turning point of the Cowboys' collapse was not a play call. It was an ankle. Cornerback Joey Porter Jr., the midseason acquisition who had become the one start-to-finish capable defender on this roster, left Sunday's game against Arizona with 3:45 left in the first half after a holding call and did not return. Dallas led 14-0 when he left. Arizona outscored the Cowboys 30-16 from there and won 33-30 in overtime.

Porter, who has been nursing the injury for four weeks, described it afterward with unusual plainness. 'It's been going on since I got here in the first game against Houston,' he told reporters, according to Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 'It's very frustrating. Today, I just wasn't on a good leg. It's very frustrating to not be able to move how I want to.' The numbers explain the frustration: in the three games he had played for Dallas, Porter had allowed just two completions on nine targets. Sunday was his AT&T Stadium debut — he had missed the Week 4 game against Tampa Bay through a late illness — and it ended before halftime.

What followed was the collapse this station's game file recorded in full: backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, in after a benching, throwing for 188 yards and three touchdowns, and Tyler Allgeier running through a defense that had controlled the first half. Whether Porter plays next week is the first question of the Cowboys' week, because Sunday established the second one beyond argument: right now, this defense has exactly one irreplaceable player, and he is playing on one leg.