The word is out on our NFL team. How do you beat the Cardinals?
Answer: Like a drum.
The Cardinals assumed the position on Sunday, absorbing a 37-14 loss to the lowly Bengals. It was their 13th loss of the season, and the best possible outcome for future NFL draft considerations. It was also the kind of game that screams for a house cleaning, that demands a new coaching staff.
Evidence is everywhere. The Cardinals currently showcase one of the worst tackling defenses in the NFL. Their passivity is a shocking departure from the heat-seeking units we witnessed in the previous two years. There is no established culture filling the gaps, covering for all the flaws.
Meanwhile, the offense was smothered by a Bengals defense widely considered the dregs of the NFL. The Cardinals had more three-and-outs than first downs for most of the contest. Zombie football at its brain-devouring worst.
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Some argue that injuries should absolve Jonathan Gannon, a head coach worthy of a mulligan after stacking a pair of solid coaching performances in his first two years. I would heartily agree if Gannon showed some real stardust or transcendent skills or an innate ability to make a difference once the game actually begins. I would agree if Gannon felt like a wunderkind, like a young Ben Johnson, the kind of head coach that strikes fear in Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan.
To the contrary, this team is an embarrassment when it matters most. When winning time arrives, they get brain lock. Their two-minute drill is a source of scorn and ridicule. And they put another clownish display on tape Sunday. To wit:
After the Bengals took a commanding 23-7 lead, the Cardinals had a chance to score points with 1:15 remaining before halftime and then receive the kickoff to start the second half. This is what they produced:
A running play that netted two yards; a holding penalty; a false start penalty; a screen pass to Trey McBride for minimal gain; a timeout that effectively preserved time for the Bengals; followed by an incomplete pass and a give-up running play designed to force the Bengals to burn the timeout the Cardinals had just squandered on their behalf.
There were 25 seconds left in the half when the Cardinals were forced to punt, and while the Bengals spared further embarrassment by not pushing the issue, that doesn’t change the obvious facts to those who invest every week with this football team: the Cardinals are consistently outcoached and do not know how to win the margins inside the lines. They are incapable of strategizing, adjusting and pushing their team to the winner’s circle.
There were a few meager bright spots on Sunday. Trey McBride set an NFL record he richly deserves, Michael Wilson will go down as an unearthed gem from a lost season, and the Cardinals are getting closer to the top of next April’s NFL draft. But the coaching staff and a potential return of the increasingly unpopular Gannon has become a highly divisive issue in the Valley. Especially when the status and recent history of this franchise do not guarantee a qualified successor would even want his job.
Either way, the collective inexperience of the current regime was shocking three years ago. It has come to the fore in 2025, and we’re all paying a heavy price.
Reach Bickley at [email protected]. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.
Follow @danbickley
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