Bickley Blast: How a Cardinals win over the Titans could reignite the Arizona sports fan base

Bickley Blast: How a Cardinals win over the Titans could reignite the Arizona sports fan base

and Marada Mornings. Arizona sports, the local sports leader. Bigly blast. Sometimes Valley sports fans get a really bad rap when given a reason to care. They are as loud and as passionate as you want them to be. For instance, look at ASU football where members of TCU’s team are currently praising the crowd at Mountain America Stadium for producing very loud in a very hostile environment during last Friday’s showdown. And look at Diamondback’s owner Ken Kendrick, who just thanked the 2.4 million fans who showed up at Chase Field for a baseball game in 2025, the highest figure in 17 years. Which brings us to the Arizona Cardinals and what feels like a pivot point for a season and beyond because this football team badly needs a rockus victory. Something to inspire the fan base that after 2 years of a slow cooker rebuild that we are back in the big game. Now I believe there is significant K1 fatigue. It’s year seven of watching the same quarterback, the same movie with the same ending, namely the late season carnage and the zero playoff victories Kyler Murray has produced. The fan base has been very patient, but it badly needs a rallying point, something to ignite their dormant passion. You would hope a home game against the terrible Titans is exactly the kindling you need to start a fire, but if not, we’ll have real issues in Arizona. All right, today’s Bickley Blast brought to you by my great friends at Chapman BMW who make luxury attainable. Find them online at chapmanbmw.com. When you turn on a tape, it catches our guys’ attention. This is uh I know their record, you know, where they’re at right now. But they got really good coaches, really good players, and we’re going to have to play probably our best game to date to beat them. That’s Jonathan Ganon talking about the Titans coming in at 0 and4. And we’ve joked around about it. This is not a Jonathan Ganon phenomenon. And this is everybody in the league leading up to a game. They’re going to say really nice things about the opponent even when it’s hard to find nice things to say about the opponent. Uh the Tennessee Titans are 0 and4. It’s an ugly 0 and4. They lost in week one uh at Denver 20 to12. They lost at home to the Rams 33-19 and that was rather competitive. Then they lost to the Colts by 21. And last week they lost to the Houston Texans 26 to nothing and didn’t run a play inside the um Texans 23 yard. That’s how that’s how bad it was. Yeah. That’s how eminently beatable this week’s opponent is. So the Cardinals really need to take care of this. So I I’m curious. Do you do you sense the same kind of frustration or maybe um anxiety among the fan base? A fatigue? That’s it’s a better word because I I do encounter this. I encounter and and I’ve told you this a lot. I I get a lot of people who are always complaining to me about Kyler Murray and Kyler Murray and Kyler Murray. And for a guy that gives a lot of highlight reel moments and a guy that is tantalizingly good in short stretches of football, it it just feels like there’s never going to be that breakthrough that we all want. And you’re seven into it. That’s a long time to be watching the same movie. Yeah. I mean, I could say this about Kyler Murray from my viewpoint. You know what you’re going to get. He’s he’s become very consistent. Mhm. Is it consistently, you know, spectacular? No. He’s he’s not going to play a terrible game. He’s had very very few terrible games in his career. But what he’s become now in this in this offense with Drew Petting leading it as offensive coordinator is he’s averse to risk in the passing game. Um, more often than not in reviewing uh his performance, somebody will point out a play or two or three. Wow, look at how wide open that guy was. Why Why wasn’t that throw made? He’ll have a spectacular run or two. He’ll have a couple of frustrating plays mixed in there. Mhm. Um he’ll he’s he is what he is at this point. So, we haven’t seen a we haven’t seen a breakout unbelievable game from Kyler Murray in quite some time. Now, I really don’t want to I’m not trying to bash the quarterback over the head with a with a with a sledgehammer, but there is something we know this um from fans watching teams and players that show great joy on the court that really look like they’re having a great time. Kyler Murray comes up very short in that department because it’s just his personality. He’s a very serious-minded kind of guy, right? There’s not that Joy Joy Devie. There’s not a lot of there’s not a lot of that backs slapping and hand slapping and hugging of teammates and the kind of stuff you see elsewhere in the NFL. Now, it’s not something you need to get where you want to go, but I do think it influences the way people feel about him because I do hear that. So, my hope my hope is that what happened at the end of last week’s game with Marvin Harrison Jr. and that connection that was formed and that offense that suddenly seemed to kind of percolate a little bit and looked a little bit dangerous and inspired and and letting it rip and all that. I hope that they have found a way to bottle that and I hope that comes out on the field Sunday and I hope they win by 20 plus points, two touchdowns, maybe just double digits is good enough. But I really think this fan base needs something to validate the last two years of waiting for year three to get here. I I totally agree with that. I want to go back to your point too that you talked about the the devi of Kyler Murray and and how it’s just not part of who he is as a player. And it’s I I’ve noticed a lot of Cardinals fans say that they’re frustrated by it that there’s not more rahrh leadership, which is not his style of leadership. But I’ll say this too. When you’re not winning consistently, people look for reasons to criticize you. Go back and watch the end of the Eagles Rams game in week two or week three, whatever that was, week three. Um, when the Eagles blocked that second field goal, basically clinched the win, but Jordan Davis, big man, got the fat guy touchdown, ran it in for the touchdown. The place is going bonkers. Yep. The cameras go from the celebration to a closeup of Jaylen Herz who looked like his dog just died. Not a smile, no interaction with teammates. Stoic, but he wins. He’s so nobody’s the exact same way. Yeah, that’s a great That’s a great point. That’s a really really good point. Jaylen Herz does none of that. You’re right. He leads by example and he wins a lot of football games, so he’s he’s risen above that criticism. That’s interesting. But, you know, and I I I didn’t want to slight Kyler Murray completely either. I said, you know what you’re gonna get. You’re also going to get three or four throws where you say, “How how the heck did he get the ball there?” Yeah. And look at the placement on that ball. And this year, it’s been, “Look at the placement on that ball. Why wasn’t it caught?” Or, “Look at the placement on that ball. Why is it two yards from the line of scrimmage?” Oh, it’s waiting is a perfect way to put it. Well, we’re waiting. We’re waiting. Thanks for watching Bickley and Marada. Click to see the latest Bickley Blast and hit the button in the middle to subscribe to Arizona Sports.

The Arizona Cardinals are in Year 7 with Kyler Murray at quarterback but Dan Bickley explains how a win Sunday versus the 0-4 Tennessee Titans could reignite a fan base that has been patiently waiting for a rebuild.

Three Ts that can put Cardinals defense firmly in that elite category: https://arizonasports.com/nfl/arizona-cardinals/defense/3597771/

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