OFFENSIVE: Arizona Cardinals Offense Leaves Many Unanswered Questions In Loss to San Francisco 49ers

OFFENSIVE: Arizona Cardinals Offense Leaves Many Unanswered Questions In Loss to San Francisco 49ers

I feel offended after what we watched yesterday. The Arizona Cardinals offense mailed it in and we are having very serious conversations way too early in the 2025 season starts now. Let’s discuss. You are Locked on Cardinals. Your daily Arizona Cardinals podcast. Part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Lock on Cardinals. Alex Clancy here. Follow me on Twitter. Clancy’s Corner. Thank you every day for making lockdown Cardinals part of your day. Part of Lockown Podcast Network, your team every day. Listen, I still don’t know what we saw yesterday. I don’t know. I don’t know what we watched. I don’t know why this is what we have to feel right now. And listen, it’s it goes against conventional wisdom for us to have to think like this after a game the Cardinals should have won, but even in the way that they lost, it almost makes it worse. We’re going to discuss the defense last, okay? We’re going to backload the good stuff. We’re going to talk about all the crap first and then end the show on a on a happy note at least. Um, the offense is broken. The offense is broken. It’s going to take a character out of the movie Men in Black with multiple arms to be able to point fingers at the amount of people that fingers need to be pointed at as the reason why the offense isn’t working. And Jonathan Ganon’s got part of it. This was an offensive loss. Kind of a play on words. You’re welcome. Today’s episode of Lockdown Cardinals is brought to you by Mazda. Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every every move count, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later for highlights in this week’s moving the game forward. Mazda move and be moved. It was offensive. And you see offensive because the offense played bad. So offensive and offensive like you you feel it personally. I feel duped. I talked about this the entirety of the offseason. If things don’t work, I’ll feel like duped. Okay. They didn’t add anything on offense and I felt they didn’t necessarily need to. The defense needed a lot more of the help. Okay. And as we start these conversations, one thing needs to be very clear from me. I’m not saying like pack it in. I’m not saying Armageddon is here. I’m not saying the sky is falling. I’m not saying whatever other metaphor you want to use here. I’m saying the clock has started. Don’t know how long that will tick until it hits zero. I don’t know if it’s 6 weeks. I don’t know if it’s a year. I don’t know if it’s longer than that. But the clock has started ticking. And for those who have said Kyler Murray is not the guy since being drafted number one overall in 2019, this is just confirmation bias and you’re just ignoring all of the good things that he’s done. The loss was not on Kyler Murray yesterday. And the clock has started to tick. The loss was not on the drops. The loss was not solely on Drew Petting. The loss was not on James Connor being lost for the year. And you hope for a speedy recovery for one of the most important people on this team. It was all of it. It was all of it. Kyler Murray through three weeks has played pretty well. Also, Kyler Murray threw the ball 35 times and only completed 160 yards worth of passes. The defense did all they could. Lasser, I talk about him a lot. Well, I have talked about him a lot recently. gave me my first shot on radio in 2010 2011 2010. No, 2011 early and he said 17 points. I talked about this on the squad show last night. If a defense gives up 17 points or less, you need to win those games. The Arizona Cardinals gave up less than 17 points, including a goal to go fourth down stand inside the 10 yard line. They did everything times 100 that they needed to do to help the Arizona Cardinals win yesterday. It can’t be understated how much of a meteoric shift a win and a loss in division in week three is, especially for a team that looked bad offensively during the first two weeks, aside from three drives against Carolina and one against New Orleans. This was an offensive loss because this is a trend we’re starting to see postgame. That’s on me. I need to be better. That’s on me. I need to be better. You know what it reminds me of? Got to check out the tape. Yeah. Got to watch the tape. Don’t really know. Got to watch the tape. I don’t know if this is a Michael Bidwell thing. just squeezing what he can what he’s supposed to say after um after games. I don’t know. I don’t know what it is. But what I do know is it’s completely it kind of it’s kind of a mockery of what’s happening. We got to be better. We got to be better. When is going to be better happening? I know all John and Gayen said postgame. I know all the plays that are being called. So if you have anything to say, you can come to me. Okay. We’re here. What’s going on? Everydayers, you’ll know this. If this is your first lock on Cardinals, thank you first off. Maybe make tomorrow your second one. Um, I’ve said for a long time, especially when it got really bad here, uh, a couple years ago, the only thing worse than having a problem is not knowing what the root of the problem is. And going to the men in black analogy with whatever, you know, serpents or whatever had four or five arms and we’re all pointing fingers at people. You don’t know what the root. Is it Drew Petting partially? Is it Kyler Murray? Not as much, but still yes, partially. Is it Marv? Partially. Is it the offense as a whole? Partially. Is it the offensive line not blocking as well in the run game? Partially. But it’s not like, okay, this is what needs to be fixed. We don’t know what that is. Defensively, hell of a game. Hell of a game. I said this somewhat joking on the Cardinal squad show last night about this. What’s the difference between the Cardinals and the Cleveland Browns? Truly, I mean, the Cardinals have scored some more points. Obviously, the offense is a little bit better because they’ve got, you know, better skill position players and I take Kyler Murva and Joe Flacco, but what’s the difference? Really good defense that’s keeping them in games and the offense not doing a whole lot. Cardinals two and one. Obviously, Cleveland stole a game against Green Bay. They had no business winning, but the defense bailed them out. What if the offense was just competent and the defense could leverage that and this team could be borderline elite? It’s become very apparent, very quickly that what’s on paper and what happens between the lines are completely different things. again. You feel terrible for James Connor. Um just Yeah, you feel terrible for him. It’s going to require surgery. Knew it was bad. Um one of the good dudes here just you feel bad for him. Um but the Cardinals move on and they’ve still got plenty of offensive firepower to do it, but the offense is broken and we’ll discuss more about that next. Locked on Cardinals, your team every day. This episode of Lockdown Cardinals is brought to you by our friends over at Price Pix. So, here’s the thing. Um, Price Pix is awesome. It’s a daily fantasy app where making the right call can actually pay off. And you and I make decisions every day, but on Price Picks, being right means cashing in. With more, you know, options than ever there with football obviously back, prize is the simplest and fastest way to get in on the action. All I got to do is pick more or less on two to six player projections and you can turn your takes into real prizes all in less than 60 seconds. Download the Prize Pix app today. Use code locked on NFL to get 50 bucks in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code locked on NFL for 50 bucks in lineups after your first $ five play prize picks. It’s good to be right. I love that tagline. I love that tagline. Uh please go to the YouTube channel, search Arizona Cardinal. Hit that subscribe button, man. Um not great. Cardinals lose. Um defense tried to give him a win. The Campbell safety tried to get him there and the offense they just they just couldn’t do it. So we got to talk about Marv a little bit. Um, first off, I mean, the postgame uh interview thing, it was Cam Cox’s video from from 12 News here. It just you just see a young man who’s struggling and like the human element of this is very difficult to, you know, to not just look at it’s like got to feel bad. Like I feel bad for him. you know, above all else, you you hope that, you know, he gets better obviously for the Arizona Cardinals to win more games and stuff like that, but I mean, the dude had so much pressure coming in into, you know, his career and everybody expected him just to to walk onto the field and be, you know, 12, 13, 14, 1500 yard receiver and it’s just just not working. He had a big drop last uh yesterday. Um he almost the second one in the end zone wasn’t even set for him. Okay, that was a that was a Zade Jones pass. They got pass interference and that ended up being a touchdown for for Tren Bry, but like Marv almost came in and saved the day. So, if you look at it like that, it’s like wow. Like that’s very athletic play. Um couldn’t hold on to it, but again, pass interference in the end zone bailed the Cardinals out. Um the drop was it was just bad. It was just bad. And it immediately made me think, and I’m not comparing the two. Um, and it’s also kind of um counterintuitive to compare it this way, but let me explain. Do you remember when Amari Cooper couldn’t catch footballs in Oakland? I They were still in Oakland. Um, and then he went to Dallas and he was just really good. Like I’m not saying that that’s the journey for Marv, but I’m like if they can figure that out while he’s still an Arizona Cardinal, that’s fantastic. And you’d expect him to not get traded anything like that. But like, you know, it was just something that I thought of and it’s like, well, they got to figure it out. Um, I’m still in the camp. And for better or worse, not getting him in the groove early, I think that’s hurting them severely. And it’s you know, not it’s not that he’s, you know, not equipped to be an an NFL wide receiver. It’s just going through the motions sometimes. It’s just, you know, not everybody can just be locked in. And that may be a problem in of itself, but it’s not something that like you got to get him in early. You got to get him moving early. I think it was 10 minutes of offense before even getting him a target. It’s not great. Uh Trey looks fine. You know, he looks good. He had a great catch along the the far left side of the field going out of bounds. Um I feel like a broken record. Does it sound like I’m a broken record with this? It’s like got to figure it out. If they do this next week, then we can forget about this. in a game where the offensive line played extremely well, like extremely well. Beach played really well filling in for Paris Johnson Jr. had a couple penalties, you know, the rust was there and then he played really well like he does when he plays. Josh Frier spot start spot spot um spot snaps played well. The offensive line played well. Kyler Murray. Like the problem with me, the the problem that I’m still trying to figure out is is the Dinkan dunk the offense or is the Dinkan dunk what Kyler Murray takes out of the offense? Is that what he chooses to do with the offense? They did throw the ball down the field a little bit more after James Connor got hurt. Um I don’t know why that was the impetus for it. Why not do it before? Um I know that Amari Marcato had a drop. I know that Zay Jones. That ball’s a little bit behind Z. Like that’s that’s not just like a a basket catch catch to make. The defender was was all over him. There was a very good defensive play and it never should have got to that to begin with. So on second and nine after getting the first down on the last drive, second and nine, you run the ball up the gut. Why? Go win the game. Don’t hope to not lose it. That’s where you can run play action because nobody’s expecting it. And they then they threw the ball twice. It’s like, well, man, like it’s we I used to say that the the former GM and all this make this makes sense. So that’s why I’m bringing him up, not saying his name, was a definition of insanity with drafts. I’m starting to feel now thinking the offense is going to be better is turning into the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing expecting different results. And I, as a human being, I can’t believe we’re having this conversation in week three. I can’t believe it. Maybe that makes me stupid. Maybe that makes me naive. I just don’t know what they can do to fix it. We can go through the numbers. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. K 200 allpurpose yards. It’s like this offense. I’m not to say that it’s an all drew pensive. It’s easy to fire a coordinator. It’s easy to look at and be like, “Oh, that’s that’s the issue.” Jonathan Ganon coming into his defense. He’s being a good leader of a team. But with that conversation, it’s like, okay, well then we’re going to have questions for you. Is it Kyler Murray’s inability to make the big throw when they need it? He’s made big throws. They had four come from behind wins last year. Three, four. I mean, doesn’t matter. I’m at a point where I don’t know what can be done. Sure, you can fire Ping, get rid of Kyler, you know, whatever. I’m not The Kyler Murray clock has started. I don’t know how long it’s going to be, but the Kyler Murray clock has started. No, you’re not going to trade him during the season. No, you’re not going to play Jacobe Brassette ahead of him. like none of those things, but the actual clock has started. You’d love to see him produce and be the Arizona Cardinal quarterback for the next, you know, however long he’s in the league. You’d love that. And he had a couple really, really good standout plays yesterday. And he wasn’t the reason why they lost the game. And also for the third week in a row, they have the chance to get a couple first downs and end the game in victory formation. And they could not. That’s all you need your quarterback to do when push comes to shove. Stay close, be a great game manager, and get it done when you absolutely need it. And he didn’t. And he didn’t. Again, that’s why I’m struggling. It was not on him yesterday. The loss wasn’t on him yesterday solely. You’re the quarterback of an NFL team who’s putting up 15 points a game against a defense that’s decimated with injury with a top three tight end in the league with a great offensive line and with a former fourth overall pick. I understand the drops weren’t on him. I totally get it. I watched the game. 15 points is 15 points and they were gifted a touchdown with the pass interference call. Just leaving the facts there. Knockdown Cardinals, your team every day. On the plus side, on the positive side, the defense looked great. We’ll discuss it next. This episode of Lockown Cardinals is brought to you by Mazda and moving the game forward. For those who believe it’s not just about playing the game, it’s about redefining it. And there are moments that do more than put points on the board. They move crowds, move culture, and keep moving the game forward. This week’s moving the game forward moment. It’s the entirety of the defense. It’s the entirety of the defense. And you know what? We’ll give a tip of the cap to Kas Campbell who forced the holding call inside the, you know, inside the end zone that gave the Cardinals a lead for what seemed to be a fleeting moment or two. And, you know, you got to give Baron Browning his flowers, too. Like, this defense is playing excellent football. And I know it’s against, you know, three not so formidable offenses, but still. Um, when you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only the beginning. And just like there’s more to every highlight, there is more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda, move and be moved. Today’s episode of Lockdown Cardinals is also brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel. The NFL season is here, man. Three weeks in and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’t miss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. 300 bucks. New customers. All you have to do is bet $5 and if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. So, you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com to get started. That’s fuel.com to place your first $5 bet. This episode of Locked on Cardinals is about to get better. I mean, it was stellar first two segments. Not the fantastic topic that you’d want to watch ears of corners put up 15 points and should still win the game. How are we here again? Um, the defense looked great. I don’t care who they played against. The defense looked great until the last series of the game where they decided to kind of play preventy defense when they were only up two field goal counts as three points. So field goal wins up until that point. The defense playing lights out and they’ve played lights out this season. You know, I don’t know what more you want from them. Down, Will Johnson. Down G Williams. Walter Nolan hasn’t played yet. The front looks stout on that fourth and goal. When was the last time you were like, “Oh yeah, there’s no way they’re going to score here.” The opposing team on the Cardinals defensive front. When was the last time you thought that? It’s been a while. But Dalvin, Daryus Robinson, Kas, good luck. And they got to stop. Uh Mac Wilson look fantastic, you know, like that’s just all for not. It’s like that if if you can’t tell. And listen, for those that have watched a while, and for those that have watched a little bit, you know that I’m pretty open with you emotionally when things are going well, things are going wrong. I I like to give you the full picture on what I’m feeling and why. yesterday like it it got to me, you know, like being in being in sports media and for so long like you kind of lose your fandom. I didn’t grow up here. Um I inherited the Arizona Cardinals. Um and being a media takes away your fandom. allows you to kind of just be more, you know, cut and dry with things. Obviously, it’s better for business when the team wins. Um, but remember last week when I said the the human brain couldn’t have actually downloaded the Cardinals losing to the Panthers if it were to have happened. It was kind of like that this time where it’s like, huh? H how did the score end up like this? Cardinals had they were on the field for a lot longer. They had a lot less yards and this wasn’t like the Carolina game where they were up a whole bunch of points. And obviously Carolina’s going to get a bunch of Blake Bortles garbage time yards with the defense playing the way it’s playing. Nick Rollis is gonna be on the short list. I think that’s obvious. Um, the offense can’t be the weakest part of this team. I don’t care that they didn’t add anybody. I know that the defense obviously like, you know, when I sometimes I’ll compare this roster to rosters in years past and look at how far they’ve come. And then sometimes I’ll be like, well, just look at this in a vacuum. I say just this in and it of itself is good. Doesn’t matter how bad it was in the past. This in and of itself is good. I think we’re seeing both here with the defense where the defense has not been great the last couple years. Last year statistically they weren’t terrible. They were middle of the pack and then you add a bunch of you add a bunch of talent and in the draft and free it’s like wow this defense is really good and they look even better because of how bad they’ve been and they’re also really good. And then you throw the offense out there and there’s no confidence out of that side of the ball. There’s no confidence. It was Seattle coming into town Thursday with that defense fully healthy pretty much. I know Devon Devon Weatherspoon missed a game earlier in the year, the standout corner I think from Illinois who went top 10 a couple years ago. I mean, they’ve got dudes up front. Byron Murphy, Larry Williams, like they’ve got guys. This defense could hold Seattle to, you know, 20 points or something. But if this Cardinals offense doesn’t figure it out, and that’s a definition of insanity. It’s like, what what is there to figure out? Where do you start after watching that crap box of a performance yesterday? Where do you start down? James Connor Marvin Harrison Jr.’s lost all of his confidence. Where do you start? And this is kind of the last time I can say this before we start to have conversations. Like if it’s not figuring it out, if they find out how to do things a little bit better on Thursday, you watch the film, strategize, able to get Marv, you know, more involved without James Connor. If Marv can step up, if he and Kyler can figure things out, if there could be more targets to Trey, more targets to Marv and actually move the ball down the field and score touchdowns. This would be a wild signature win for a team that absolutely needs a boost right now in the win loss column and confidence-wise. It’s be pretty quick and less than 96 hour turnaround. Um, but yeah, it was disheartening. I felt duped yesterday after watching that offensive performance. Yeah, we’ll see. Lockdown Cardinals, your team every day. Remember, without you, there is no me. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

In this hard-hitting episode, we dissect the Arizona Cardinals’ latest disappointing performance, focusing on their sputtering offense and the growing concerns surrounding quarterback Kyler Murray. Host Alex Clancy pulls no punches as he examines the team’s offensive struggles, questioning everything from play-calling decisions to individual player performances.

We take a deep dive into Marvin Harrison Jr.’s unexpected difficulties on the field and explore how these issues are impacting the team’s overall offensive strategy. Despite the gloomy offensive picture, we highlight the defense’s commendable efforts in keeping games competitive.

As pressure mounts on Murray and the coaching staff, we analyze potential adjustments and changes that could turn the tide for the Cardinals. We also evaluate head coach Jonathan Gannon’s leadership during this challenging period and discuss how he’s handling the team’s struggles.

Looking ahead, we preview the crucial upcoming matchup against division rivals, the Seattle Seahawks. This game could be a make-or-break moment for the Cardinals’ season, and we break down what they need to do to come out on top.

Join us for an unfiltered, in-depth discussion on the state of the Arizona Cardinals. We ask the tough questions: Is it time to hit the panic button? What changes need to be made? And can this team turn things around before it’s too late? Don’t miss this essential episode for all Cardinals fans and NFL enthusiasts alike. Let’s discuss.

The Best Daily Arizona Cardinals Podcast. Host Alex Clancy (@ClancysCorner) take an unbiased approach covering the biggest Cards stories.

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