TEMPE — There’s no way around it. The Arizona Cardinals are free falling following a pair of back-to-back divisional losses.

At 3-7, the Arizona Cardinals are closer to a top 10 pick in the NFL Draft than a playoff berth. And it’s not even close, leaving many fans at a point of no return.

But before you completely check out for the rest of Arizona’s 2025 campaign, consider this: Tight end Trey McBride is stringing together one of those seasons you tell your kids about years down the road.

Heading into Week 12, McBride is pacing all NFL tight ends in receiving yards (718), catches (71) and first downs (38). He’s had zero drops through 10 games.

McBride is also on pace to break Jackie Smith’s franchise single-season record of 1,205 receiving yards from a tight end, a mark that has stood since 1967.

And his current 12-game streak of reeling in at least five catches is third all-time for an NFL tight end, trailing only Travis Kelce (15 games) and Tony Gonzalez (13).

McBride is also just the second tight end to record at least five catches, 50 receiving yards and a touchdown reception in five straight games in single season. Only Antonio Gates (2010) has achieved that feat among NFL tight ends.

As for that touchdown deficit that was a common talking point for McBride earlier in his career, he’s tied with Philadelphia’s Dallas Goedert for the most touchdowns scored (seven) by a tight end so far this year. Smith holds the franchise record with nine, so McBride is on pace to blow past that.

Six of those — to go along with 443 yards and 42 catches — have come in the past five games with quarterback Jacoby Brissett running the show.

For comparison, McBride recorded just six TDs through his first three NFL seasons.

There’s a clear connection formed between the two that is only growing with each passing game, as made evident by his current two-game stretch of at least 115 yards and a score.

That’s something McBride had never done — with Kyler Murray or otherwise — up until now.

“He’s just one of those players that it’s just football — he’s a football player,” Brissett said last week. “It’s hard to pick at his game and say he can do this better and this and that better, but I think he just does a lot of things right. It’s a lot of fun to go out there and compete with him.

“I’ve become such a fan of him from afar when I wasn’t playing and then going out there and actually getting to play with him. He’s one of the best and he proves it day in and day out, week in and week out. I think the other teams know the strengths of his game and they try to take it away and he finds a way to fight through it.”

It’s not like defenses don’t know where the ball is going more times than not, either. Even with double teams left and right, McBride continues to get it done.

For McBride, the added level of difficulty makes the catches and the celebrations that follow (with or without the flag) that much sweeter.

“I understand why they do it and it kind of makes it more rewarding when I do catch the ball,” McBride said last week. “It’s not as easy as it should be. … That’s why I celebrate the way I do every time I catch the ball.”

Trey McBride’s current tear should only continue

While the Cardinals have one of the toughest remaining strength of schedules the rest of the way, McBride is going to have some juicy matchups.

And it begins this week against a Jacksonville Jaguars squad that’s struggled against big-bodied pass catchers in recent weeks.

Through 10 weeks, the Jaguars are tied for the second most touchdowns (seven), sixth-most receiving yards (694) and seventh-most catches (64) allowed to tight ends.

Four of those scores and 221 yards were in the past three games alone, though most of that came from Las Vegas Raiders star tight end Brock Bowers (12 catches for 127 yards and three scores).

Regardless of the numbers, McBride is bound to be busy this week with wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. already ruled out as he works his way back from appendicitis.