TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona’s offense has had three chances in three games to close out a win this season and failed in all three instances.

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The first two times, the Cardinals’ defense was there to save the day. The third time, the team wasn’t as fortunate.

Arizona (2-1) lost its first game of the season on Sunday, falling 16-15 to San Francisco after a 35-yard field goal by Eddy Pineiro in the final seconds.

Even worse for the long term, veteran running back James Conner is out for the season after suffering a foot injury in the loss.

“You hate that it happens, I feel terrible,” coach Jonathan Gannon said. “It’s tough to replace, but we have to. So that’s what we’ll do.”

The 30-year-old Conner has been the driving force behind the Cardinals running game over the past four-plus seasons, running for more than 3,700 yards and 38 touchdowns. He’s also the emotional leader of the locker room and his toughness is widely respected.

Emotions were raw after Sunday’s game.

“JC is everything, means everything,” quarterback Kyler Murray said. “I really don’t want to talk about it right now.”

Conner’s absence means more carries for the other backs, including Trey Benson and Emari Demercado. Benson — a second-year player — has a team-high 125 yards rushing this season and is averaging 6 yards per carry.

It’s not just the running game that needs work. The Cardinals rank near the bottom of the NFL in passing yards and some costly drops by receivers hurt the offense on Sunday.

The good news is that with all the issues, Arizona is still 2-1. Things could be much worse.

The Cardinals have a quick turnaround this week, hosting the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night.

“I told the coaches, the sky’s not falling, there’s no panic in my game,” Gannon said. “I told the team that and I haven’t lost confidence. We lost a game. The things over the first three weeks that we haven’t done a good enough job — we’ve got time to correct it.

“But we’ve got to correct it.”

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