Cardinals Corner: Arizona finding new ways to lose vs. Jaguars

Cardinals Corner: Arizona finding new ways to lose vs. Jaguars

Cardinals Corner from Arizona Sports. Cardinals Corner from Arizona Sports with Tyler Drake and Lauren Kovville. What’s going on bird gang? Welcome back into another edition of Cardinals Corner. Coming again after a loss. Cardinals fall 2724 in overtime to the Jacksonville Jaguars and yet again find another historic way to lose football games in 2025. So alongside me as always, we’ve got Lauren Kovville. So Lauren, how we doing today? Well, we’ve got a nailbiter, one that actually went to overtime. Something that I think about halfway through this game I didn’t think was going to happen. So I guess we’ve got some excitement to talk about in that way. Yeah, some excitement that ended in a fizzle, I would probably say, because yes, as it did go to overtime, this game should not even have been that close. When you have four turnovers to Jacksonville zero, you literally beat them at their own game today and still come out on the losing end. Let me give you this stat right here because I heard it on the radio broadcast today. Before today, since 2021, teams with a plus4 turnover margin were 50 and0. Guess what? They’re 50-1 now after the Cardinals lost today. And it’s just one of those games where it’s once again unexcusable. It’s just they’ve got to figure out ways to win these games. I mean, you look at the end of the game, Michael Wilson spinning the ball late, taking valuable seconds off the clock. Some of the decisions late, the fourth the fourth down call going to Xavier Weaver to really end the game, they love the play, too. It’s just you’re trying to win the game, but when you’re going that way, do you really want to look for a guy like Xavier Weaver? Like Mike Wilson, Trey McBride, you’ve got to find the guys who are getting it done, and you’ve got to put them in position to get that. So, a lot of things have got to get cleaned up and I think we’re already know where this is headed. Three and eight heading to a top 10 pick, heading to massive offseason changes and they should be because this is not what we signed up for. Nobody really did. Year three of the regime, you should be taking noticeable steps forward and they’re taking three or four steps backwards. There were questionable calls made on both sides of the ball by both teams late in this game. I think Cohen’s decision to go for it on fourth down late in the game was questionable. Yeah, maybe just instead make the Cardinals march down the field, force them to get a touchdown. Instead, they don’t execute there. Then we’ve also got the Cardinals questionable fourth down decision. I understand what JG was thinking when he went for that, I think that’s a little bit more of a 50/50 shot in that one, but the fact that they didn’t pick that one up either. And then, like you said, late in the game going to Weaver who ends up in double coverage by the end, you have an all too reliable tight end in Trey McBride. and you have a now very reliable wide receiver too and Michael Wilson, neither of who see the ball in that final play. It felt like it maybe wasn’t the right decision or the right call. I know that JG backed up the call post game saying he loved it. I’ve got my own questions about that one. I mean, and I guess that’s what you’re going to say. I mean, if if they connect on that play, everybody’s like, “Wow, can you believe they went to Xavier Weaver there and pulled it off?” But, I mean, at the end of the day, you’ve got to go with the people that you are, you know, can get it done. And it’s nothing against Xavier Weaver. He just doesn’t have the reps like these other guys have been built in. Especially with a guy like Jacobe Brassette who again just did not have time. And I think that’s my other huge issue this week is again I think he had 15 quarterback hits, knocked down six times on sacks. Like this guy’s not going to make it to the end of the year if he’s going to be your starting quarterback for now and maybe into the future. Like at this point you’ve got to figure out what is going on there. And I mean we saw him get knocked down in this game and he looked questionable and shaky getting up from that hit too. I mean six sacks is a absolute beater especially when the guy behind their helmet up your team isn’t this young buck anymore. That’s no offense to Jacobe Buret. It’s simply just a fact that that’s who you’ve got behind you. And I have to say, when I looked at the injury report and when we’ve been previewing this game earlier this week, I didn’t think the offensive side of the ball was going to be the issue for this team, I thought it was going to be the defensive side with all those injuries, all those guys not dressed and ready to go this week. And the defense absolutely balled out, forcing four turnovers and keeping you in this game in a way that the offense, who wasn’t injured and wasn’t hurt, wasn’t able to do. Oh, yeah. And they also didn’t have Will Johnson and they still had four turnovers. So, yeah, exactly. I mean, Walter Nolan going out there and doing it himself basically with the one-handed fumble, interception, whatever you want to call it, and then he goes down with the injury. It’s just like even when things are going right, it feels like something’s going to bring him right back down to down to earth or even farther than that. And it’s just I Yeah, it’s I’m a little baffled. I’m a little baffled. I’m not going to lie. Last week, we talked about how the turnover battle was critical for them to win games. They won it by a ton and they still came out on the losing end. And it’s just something’s got to give. I I really don’t know where they go from here. I really don’t know because it’s getting to the point now where you continue to have these losses. When when is that final straw going to break? When’s it going to break the back cuz it’s it wasn’t a blowout today. I guess we can give them that. But it still was not pretty. I mean, you should not be losing four when you are in the turnover battle that much 40. You should not be losing football games. I mean, I just told you the stat. 50-0. It should have been 51-0 today. It’s just it’s and for Yeah, it’s just it’s rough and and because I mean, honestly, Trevor Lawrence did not look the greatest. He did not look the greatest today. So, a lot of things have got to turn around in a hurry. I mean, we’re already at three and eight. probably not turning around much this year, but you’ve got to give this fan base, this franchise some kind of direction into the positive way of things because right now it’s just, hey, the Dallas win was great, but hey, Monday Night Football against a team that, you know, has been gashed on gashed defensively. You had a great game. You had a great game defensively, but outside of that, I mean, this has been a losing season really all year. I mean, even those two wins, we talked about the big concerns there, and they looked so fluky at this point in the season. And again, with the penalties, I mean, this team did not learn from last week. Historic level of penalties last week, and we still see them this week shoot themselves in the foot over and over and over again. And it didn’t feel like it was as much as in crunch time as it was last week. But it also just felt like it’s not going to get any better because when they’re committing these penalties, it’s not like it’s a pressure-filled situation. It’s third and short and you’re anxious about what they’re going to do. It’s easy lineup mistakes, false starts, jumping the line, not line not lining up on the line correctly even to begin with. And it felt like those issues today spiraled over to more special teams issues. For a team who didn’t have special teams issues last year, things have only gotten worse for them. And when you look at the score and when you look at them going to overtime, I mean, haunted by that Chad Ryland missed field goal. Yeah. Yeah. But I do have to give a shout out to Matt Hawk. I thought he stepped in as their new punter and really delivered. I mean, he pinned he pinned them back into their own uh into their own territory what, three times. way inside the 10. So, good stuff there. But, yeah, I mean, you can’t you’ve got to be able to make those kicks. I mean, yeah, that’s going to haunt him because, hey, three-point loss. It’s ah, it’s just tough. And you hope, and here’s the thing, you got to hope Walter Nolan is not missing time because he did not get a questionable. He did not get anything. He went straight to outs with the knee issue. So, that’s going to be something we got to watch tomorrow moving forward because if you lose him, who has been a revelation since he’s returned, absolute dog. He is worth every draft pick, every draft positioning you could have thought of outside of not making the beginning of the season, but he has definitely come on and he’s brought it. So, if they lose him, it’s just another just nail in the coffin for this Cardinals team, especially for this Cardinals team that has seen the least amount of snaps from their first round draft picks over the last five years because of injuries, because of personal issues. I mean, it’s an absolute beater when you see Will Johnson get hurt in college and transition over to the NFL and shows you exactly what he can do and what he’s capable. It’s not even the same stuff. It’s not even the same injuries for Will. That’s that’s the that’s the part that really sucks is it’s just different things that are popping up. And then you’ve got Walter with the knee today and the fact that he didn’t get that questionable digest nation and was just immediately he’s done for. That makes me more worried to begin with. Yep. Yep. Yep. And I we didn’t even see when he went down. That’s the other thing too is I mean we asked JG post game and he didn’t even know. He was just told he had a knee and was out. So yeah, there’s a lot of unknowns surrounding that and you just got to pray that it’s not a multi-game absence or a game absence at this point because he, like I said, he’s coming on. He’s continuing to look like a guy who could be in the middle of this, you know, defensive line for years to come, but he’s got to be able to get past the injury issues. So something to watch there. Looked like Max Melton also was nicked up a little bit. he came back in. But something to watch just defensively because they’re they’re losing guys left and right. You know, M. Wilson, he’s still on IR. Will Johnson, we already talked about. Uh I think Cody Simon stepping up really well, but you’ve got to have these playmakers on your team to have a chance to win. And you know, Keem Davis Gaither, I thought he made up for his early mistake of letting that touchdown go with the interception. But you got to be able to have some more some more oomph, I think, defensively with some of these playmakers. And it’s, you know, the rookie class is doing all they can, but it’s not just on them to get it done. I agree with you. I agree with you about Gaither, but I also think that’s sort of a double-edged sword here for the Cardinals. Yes, that’s really great that you have the interception, but it makes us, you know, feel a little bit better about the fact that you gave up a touchdown earlier in the game. And then that feels like you can’t afford to do that. You’re not a Cardinals team who can fight back into these games. You’re a Cardinals team who ends up costing yourself these games with stupid mistakes. And that’s what we’ve seen them do so far this season. And it’s disappointing that a game that goes to overtime against the Jacksonville Jaguars who are really fighting in the playoffs just to get a higher and higher seed right now that you can take them to OT and it feels like uh just does this team actually have a shot in this one? Yeah. No, I mean I I’ll be honest, it felt like the Cardinals were the better team today. I mean, like I said, Trevor Lawrence did not wow at whatsoever, but they figured out ways to get it done at the when it mattered most, they got it done. I mean, you look at the you just you look at the end of the game and I mean, I think there’s a lot of game management things that need to be remedied. I think we talked about that a little bit with the fourth downs, but something’s got to give here. You’ve got to you’ve got to really go into the to to the mind bank, I guess, and figure out some new ways to do things. Does that mean taking over defensive play calling for Ganon? Does it mean I I really it so they’ve got to do something. They have to do something moving forward because these losses are going to continue to pile up and they’re going to continue to look like this. They’re going to continue to continue to come down to little details, little mistakes piling up, end ofame issues. It just feels like there’s not it feels like it’s not necessarily a trend, but it really is a trend of just these little things. They might be different every game, but they’re little things that are ruining their chances to win games. And I know Drew Psoning had talked earlier in the season about scripting the first few plays of each half. About 10 or 15 plays are scripted out for him and then he can pick and choose what he wants to do there. I’d like to see a little bit more adaptability from this offense, especially in the eyes of the run game. The run game was inefficient today. It didn’t work for them. And it feels like week after week, that’s what we’re saying. And I know they’re down James Connor and I know they’re down Trey Benson, but you’re late in the season and a lot of NFL teams are missing their key guys at this rate. And those teams continue to find a way to win. I think if you could get the run game more engaged for the Cardinals, you take some of that pressure off Jacobe Brassette because towards the end of this game as they’re trying to tie it and then even as they’re fighting to get a field goal or a touchdown to win the game in overtime, they don’t go to their run game because it’s unreliable, which is just putting more pressure on Jacobe Brassette and this offensive line to figure it out. So, I I’m excited to see when Trey Benson comes back to see if we see a little bit more adaptability from this offense and a true change because something has got to give and it needs to happen soon. Yeah. Yeah. And I I really Yeah. I mean, the the what what’s one area that you would like to see? I mean, I I think for me it’s Here’s the thing. Trey Benson might be coming back next week. I I think all indications are that hey, he couldn’t get back this week. Was pretty close. Now he’s going to come back. I just how much is he going to help when the offensive line can’t get it done up front? I mean, it really comes down to that. Like Paris Johnson was putting dudes on the ground and you look over on the right side, it was it was just it was a slog today. And obviously Will Hernandez, he went down with the hip issue. Isaiah Adams came in and you know what? Roll with Isaiah Adams the rest of the way. Let’s just see some youth. It’s it’s time to develop guys. It’s time to get these younger dudes more reps. See what you can get. Make sure the future is brighter than what it looks like right now because I mean this season’s pretty much a wrap. Uh, barring a massive turnaround and barring a massive falloff from multiple teams in the playoff race, Cardinals are going nowhere fast and and they’ve got to figure it out as they head into the offseason if this is the same regime that’s going to keep on keeping on, especially head coach and down. Like, they’ve got to figure out and they’ve got to have a clear path forward heading into the offseason because it can’t just be, you know, we do all the we do all the things right at practice, but when we get on the field, the details aren’t there. It’s that can’t be an excuse. That cannot be an excuse for this team because it could be absolutely another season and I think it will be where we’re sitting in this studio discussing not the end of the Cardinal season or what a black Monday could look like for them and who’s gone on that Monday after the season, but instead of a who are they drafting, what kind of gaps do they have to fill? What’s going on? I mean, we talked about it a little bit earlier this week about how our expectations have changed at this point in the season. Instead of looking towards what areas do we want to see in growth, it’s more what areas do we need to see the Cardinals draft in just to put out a better team than we’ve seen so far at the end of the year. And now I feel like is the time when you start to hear those stories of disconnect and what’s not working and where are they struggling because at this rate you were a team whose expectations were the playoffs and you’ve got three wins and you’re showing no signs that you’re going to be able to put more wins on the calendar at all this year. And that’s more than disappointing. It’s frustrating and it makes me angry as a fan because I don’t look anywhere and go that area looks really good. Yeah. Yeah. Well, here’s here’s this. Would you We’re getting in the point to it now. Would you rather see them lose more games to improve their draft stock or put up a fighting chance that I mean it’s really we’re at that point in the season now. I mean we’re almost to mock draft season and and the season’s not even over yet. That’s how bad the wheels and like I said at the preview, the rails have come off. So, what like I mean what what’s your take? I think I already know this answer from you. Like would you rather them just go full youth and you know maybe not win another game the rest of the way and get that inside top 10 pick or you want them to still keep pushing forward with who they got? I find it so difficult as a fan of the NFL and as a fan of this Cardinals team to root for them to lose just to get a higher draft pick. I’m not that kind of fan at all. And I also think with this Cardinals team, you’re too good to be the bad of the bad, if that makes sense. the if you decide to go QB in the first round, the Fernando Mendozas, the Dante Moors, those guys are going to be gone no matter where you have your first top 10 pick, they’re going to be gone because you’re not bad enough to be top three. But it’s so at this rate, it’s I think it’s more of figure out what you’ve got with the young guys that you have on this team. Figure out what order do you need to draft guys in because I’m not about a talent draft for this team. I’m not. Hey, the best guy out there is a safety. Let’s draft him. No, no, no. There are too many holes on this team to start playing. The best player is this guy. So, I’d like to know from the Cardinals as we get towards the end of this season, you know, is it QB first round? Is it offensive lineman second round? Is it got to be offensive lineman first round? See, as much as I think as much as I think rookie quarterback’s on the table, like who cares if you don’t have anybody to block for him? Like that’s that’s really what it comes down to is you need some legit linemen to beef up this line of scrimmage so that you can get back to the run game that’s supposed to be your bread and butter. That is like you mentioned earlier, not whatsoever. Like it’s you got vegetables instead of bread and butter with that run game. Like that’s where we’re at. And you’ve got to start in the trenches. You’ve got to you’ve got to revamp the offensive line. That’s where it’s got to start. Yes, quarterback’s on the table, but you know what? Jacobe Brassette showed me enough that he could be the guy next year for at least another year. be the bridge guy, then you go all in on a quarterback in that draft. Move forward. Obviously, Kyler Murray is still in the the equation right now. If he still sticks around, you go with him, I guess. But I don’t know there massive changes need to happen and that’s one place where I’m starting. And so now you start to look towards the rest of the season and look at the difficulty of that schedule and see how many wins are actually possible for this Cardinals team. And then what do you need to hear from the leadership of the Cardinals to essentially keep their jobs at this point in the season? Yeah, no kidding. I mean, that’s it’s really going to come down to that. What is what is Jonathan Ganon bringing to the table to show Monty, to show Michael Bidwell, like I’ve got the pieces to do this. I know what we’re doing here. Like, that’s it’s gonna it’s going to be a very big conversation at the end of the year. Uh, one thing I would like to see the rest of the way though, Michael Wilson getting more targets because he’s clearly proven he can take on more workload. So, give him that more workload, please, because he’s making it look easy out there. Again, just getting it done as wide receiver one. Uh, obviously wasn’t that massive game like last week, but enough to show you that he needs to be in this in this offensive scheme much more than what he is. I mean, that’s one way to take the pressure off a guy like Marvin when he returns. That’s one way to take the pressure off Trey McBride who’s getting doubled left and right, who’s still getting it done. So, that’s one area you can’t just forget about once Marvin comes back to town, comes back onto the roster. So, look for that moving forward. That’s one area he’s I I would really love to see and see Michael Wilson really fight for maybe that second or or at least second on the team lead for uh for all those stats because Trey McBride’s obviously blowing everybody else out of the water, but would love to see him battle a little bit with Marvin. really would help out, I think, everybody offensively moving forward. And how we talked about those expectations changing towards the end of the season. I think that’s one of the things to keep your eye on. It’s no longer the bigger picture for the Cardinals, but it’s when Marvin Harrison Jr. does return, what does Michael Wilson start to look like? And how do the two of them play together and this offense? When Trey Benson returns, what does his run game look like? Can he really supplant James Connor? And can he be the RB1 of this Arizona Cardinals team for the future? I think they should keep Isaiah Adams in to really see what he can bring. Just keep the young talent up there, watch his game. I think those are three key things I’ll be paying attention towards towards the end of the season just to know what we have with the guys who are out there on the field. Yep. Yep. I agree 100%. Would love to continue to see Cody Simon. Yes, obviously M. Wilson, he could come back, but I like what we’re seeing out of Cody Simon. I think he should continue to get a lot more run there. Maybe even when Matt comes back, have him be the guy next to him instead of a Davis Gaither. give them some other guys a chance to play in other roles, a chance to see what you got. It’s really coming down to that and that’s I mean that’s the biggest sign of a throwaway season when you’re getting to that point and it’s only week 12, but that’s where we’re at and you’ve got to start looking into next year. I mean, it really is. So, we’ll have to see what that looks like. But for now, yeah, it’s you got to lay you got to start laying the groundwork for 2026. As bad as that sounds in uh what, November? Yeah, we’re not even to December yet. No, sadly it is November 23rd and we have less answers than we had in August with this team. 100% we do. All right. Anything else I missed that you wanted to uh call me out for? Nothing to call you out on, but I’ll give a shout out to Jordan Burch today who came in. Okay, there we go. Yes. A young guy, young talent that you could see there putting a lot more pressure on Trevor Lawrence than we’ve seen from him and from that position group in the past few weeks. So, shout out to him. Yeah, I’m going to give a shout out to Johnny Gaines second cuz he was great fullback just bulldozing people today. And PJ Mustapher because as much as he stepped in for Walter Nolan, he also got a couple offensive snaps today from what I saw. So, shout out to him for being that versatile piece that they needed to fill in there. Uh, yeah. Really outside of that, I got nothing else. 2724 Cardinals on the uh wrong side once again of the scoreboard falling to the Jags. Week 12, 3 and 8. It’s going to get rough, I think, the rest of the way. Let’s hope for at least one more win. You think that’s that’s possible, Lauren? I think one more win is possible, but I’m not chalking up many more after that. Yep. Yep. So, got to stay competitive. Got to stay in games. If not, I think uh changes could be coming sooner than later. So, we’ll just have to stick around and see what happens. But hey, we’ll be back in the studio together next week previewing what? Buccaneers Cardinals, which that’s going to be a tough test as well. Another playoff team on the road for the Cardinals. But yes, we’ll have all the latest for you. All the good news coming out of the training facility. Hopefully, it’s really good news about Walter Nolan. And it’s just precautionary measure, but yes, everything. We’ll have it for you. Follow the show at acards corner. Follow Lauren at kovville Lauren. You can follow me at trefors. And yes, I know you want to check out. It’s the Cardinals. They’re going downhill fast. Stick with them. Stick with us. We’ll see you next time.

The Arizona Cardinals continue to be on the wrong side of history in 2025. Their 27-24 overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars is the latest example. Despite winning the turnover battle, 4-0, Arizona is again on the losing end of a football game with no reprieve in sight. Tyler Drake and Lauren Koval try to make sense of it all and what they’re watching for the rest of 2025. Subscribe, rate 5 stars and follow @AZCardsCorner, @Tdrake4sports and @koval_lauren on X!

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