Who shined, struggled for Arizona Cardinals at scrimmage with Denver Broncos
Trey McBride, Darius Robinson had good days for the Cardinals while others are still looking for preseason spark.
The Arizona Cardinals‘ second preseason game — a 27-7 loss to the Denver Broncos — was not pretty. Jonathan Gannon spent much of his Monday press conference hammering his team’s fundamentals and technique.
“We got annihilated in the explosive play battle, which is the reason you lose by 20,” Gannon said.
But that doesn’t mean it was all bad. The Cardinals’ second-string offense was efficient before Jacoby Brissett was replaced by Clayton Tune late in the first quarter. Their defense was nowhere near the level Gannon expects — even out of his backups — but they had a handful of nice moments. All of it will be playing on the minds of the Cardinals’ coaches, who have one week before the roster is trimmed down to 53.
So here are three of the Cardinals’ standouts from an ugly loss in Denver, based on the film and Gannon’s comments in Monday’s press conference.
Quarterback Jacoby Brissett
When running through his list of standouts from the game, Gannon mentioned Brissett almost as an afterthought — as if everyone in the room already knew he was among that group.
“Jacoby, obviously, had a good day,” Gannon said.
Indeed, Brissett was clearly the standout on an otherwise brutal day for the Cardinals’ offense. Even with the top four wide receivers, top two tight ends, top two running backs, and starting offensive line all getting the night off, Brissett was able to display an impressive command of the offense.
Jacoby Brissett was the clear standout from rewatching Saturday’s game, both for his comfort in the pocket and his ball placement.
His preseason stat line so far: 11/16, 138 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT pic.twitter.com/FK1swUg4qo
— Theo Mackie (@theo_mackie) August 18, 2025
The first element of Brissett’s game that stood out was his comfort in the pocket. His best play of the night was actually one of his two incompletions — a drop from second-year wide receiver Xavier Weaver.
Brissett’s first two reads — a combination of deep routes from Weaver and Tejhaun Palmer — were both covered. He then progressed to his checkdown option, running back Michael Carter. But as he began to throw to Carter, Brissett realized he had space to his right. So instead of picking up minimal yardage with a checkdown, he rolled out of the pocket, into that space, and hit Weaver in stride downfield.
Had his receiver held onto the ball, it would have been an impressive first down. Regardless, it showed a level of composure in the pocket that is rare for backup quarterbacks.
It wasn’t the only time Brissett showed that awareness. On the next drive, he had a play where he felt pressure off his left side and stepped into the pocket, enabling him to hit Weaver for 17 yards on a crossing route.
On his lone touchdown pass, Brissett showed a different type of awareness. With two seam routes against a cover-1 look, Brissett waited for the safety to commit to one side. The second that the safety took one step toward Weaver, Brissett fired to Simi Fehoko on the other side.
“He’s similar to (Justin Herbert),” said Fehoko, who signed from the Chargers this offseason. “A big, tall guy that can make any throw on the field.”
Brissett’s ball placement was also excellent. On the touchdown, he led Fehoko away from the safety and into a free space in the end zone. On another deep ball, this one to Andre Baccellia, he smartly threw a ball that forced Baccellia to flatten his route, away from a safety coming down over the top.
It was a performance that will help the Cardinals feel slightly more comfortable if Kyler Murray misses any time this season.
Safety Kitan Crawford
Crawford, the Cardinals’ seventh-round pick, did not have a perfect day in Denver. That’s worth noting from the start.
There were some snaps, particularly against the run, where he looked uncertain of his responsibilities and didn’t plug running lanes. On one long run, he lost track of where the play was and enabled the ball carrier to pick up an extra 20 yards.
“There’s some things that he’s gotta keep improving on schematically, execution-wise,” Gannon said.
But despite those miscues, Crawford has made an impression with his knack for impact plays. Miscues are to be expected for a seventh-round pick in his first preseason. It’s easier to look past them when a player shows the ability to make ceiling-raising, game-changing plays.
Kitan Crawford has flashed some serious playmaking ability in preseason. He’s had his share of rookie mistakes too but those impact plays are a good way to make an impression.
Gannon: “He plays how you want to play. He’s physical, he’s violent, he can run.” pic.twitter.com/cQFS1Yzi4e
— Theo Mackie (@theo_mackie) August 18, 2025
Crawford’s best moment of preseason came in the opener against the Chiefs, when he made an interception in the end zone, tracking back on a dangerous pass and out-leaping a receiver for the turnover.
He followed that up against the Broncos with two highlight-reel plays. On the Cardinals’ first defensive snap of the game, he recognized a checkdown to the running back, sprinted down from his spot as the strong safety and made an impressive open-field tackle. Later, he made his impact felt downfield, delivering a perfectly timed, crunching hit on a receiver running a crossing route to force an incompletion.
“He plays how you want to play,” Gannon said. “I know that. He’s physical, he’s violent, he can run. So those things are typically good. But I’m pleased where he’s at, knowing that he’s got a long way to go. But I like where he’s trending right now.”
Running back Trey Benson
Wait, what? Benson didn’t play against the Broncos; how could he be a standout?
That is precisely why it’s worth highlighting Benson. By resting the second-year running back, Gannon provided the latest evidence that he will be a key piece of this year’s offense behind James Conner.
Plus, the Cardinals frankly lacked standouts against the Broncos. In his press conference, Gannon did highlight interior offensive lineman Jon Gaines II and running back Michael Carter, but neither is likely to see much playing time in the regular season. Jordan Burch — one of last week’s standouts — also played well, but he saw just 11 snaps.
Instead, Benson’s rest provides an opportunity to look back on his performance against the Chiefs.
There were still some of the issues Benson displayed as a rookie. On a few runs, he was too eager to bounce to the outside, away from contact. That’s often a tricky element of transitioning to the NFL, as elite college running backs can often just out-run defenders to the sideline.
Benson, though, was much better at attacking the open running lanes in the preseason opener than he was as a rookie. One power run in the second quarter stood out, as he cut inside twice and welcomed contact en route to an eight-yard gain. He also had a nice 20-yard catch on a screen pass, briefly selling a block before getting to his spot at the right time — a focus for the coaching staff with him during training camp. Later, he made a man miss in the backfield, showing the instinctive running style that the Cardinals valued when he was coming out of Florida State.
Perhaps most encouragingly, he picked up the crucial extra yard at the end of nearly every run, spinning his body forward as he was tackled. That’s an area in which Conner excels, and in which Benson lagged behind as a rookie.
“He finished runs better, and he was more decisive,” Gannon said. “I know his skill set’s there, but just the details of where his eyes are, his tracks, I think that got better. I think the play speed was better, just the decisiveness and finishing runs. I thought he took a jump.”