The Arizona Cardinals lost yet another tight game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, dropping them to 3-9 overall for their fourth straight losing season. The loss also knocks the once-hopeful team out of playoff contention, adding salt to the wound after starting the season 2-0 and looking like a gritty group.

That has not been the case, however, and the season is essentially over for the Cardinals now. All eyes are on the offseason and where the team can finish in terms of draft placement. Five games are left on the schedule, and none of them look like wins right now. Perhaps Arizona is on track for the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

But that’s looking way, way ahead. For now, we have some overreactions from the game to take a look at first. The Cardinals’ loss to the Buccaneers was a deflating one, so there were more than a few takeaways from the game that could be an overreaction.

However, I am also a bearer of bad news, as some of what we want to tell ourselves about this team is just not true.

I’ll get to that, but we can start with the sky not falling in terms of Michael Wilson.

Michael Wilson’s Linsanity run was a fluke

Marvin Harrison Jr. returned to the lineup and caught six of his seven targets for 69 yards. Trey McBride led the team (per usual) with nine targets, and even Michael Carter saw six targets. Those three finished with the most receiving yards for the Cardinals, while Bam Knight tied with Wilson with 36 yards.

It was a bummer of a game for Wilson, who was getting hosed with targets the last two weeks by Jacoby Brissett. However, Brissett was giving everyone a chance to touch the ball in this game, targeting eight different players, five of whom had three or more targets; Wilson had seven.

So, while it was a major letdown from the previous two weeks we saw from Wilson, what we learned is that he still has plenty of value to the passing game, and Brissett trusts him plenty.

Until we see a sharp decline in Wilson’s target share, it’s far too premature to assume he’s going to be irrelevant again. Brissett has shown off this passing game’s potential, and Wilson’s performance was no fluke.

It wasn’t Wilson’s week, but this isn’t a game that should have fans believing his last two games were flukes.

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The offense isn’t far off from competing

I just said that Brissett has opened up the team’s passing attack, and we are seeing the potential of the unit to put up points. The trio of McBride, Harrison, and Wilson looks like more than enough for the Cardinals to roll out a much-improved passing game in 2026 with a few improvements to round it out.

It may make you feel as though the offense isn’t far off from competing, and I’m sorry to be the wet blanket here, but I don’t believe that to be the case. The problem is the offensive line remains a mess, and nothing is getting better until that’s fixed.

Brissett is also a short-term option at quarterback for the remainder of this year; he cannot be the guy for 2026 if Arizona wants to contend.

Then there’s the run game, or lack thereof. The Cardinals won’t be able to compete without a balanced offense, and they have no long-term options on the table at running back as it stands.

There’s just too much missing right now for the offense to truly compete, but it’s at least fun to watch.

READ: Cardinals Kiss Playoffs Goodbye

Cardinals are close to winning games

In the same vein the offense isn’t ready to compete, the Cardinals are simply not close to winning football games right now. This has been evident all season by the one-possession losses, which Arizona suffered once again against Tampa Bay.

The Cardinals are 3-9 on the season, with nine games decided by one possession, and the Cardinals are 2-7 in those games. Their other win was by 10 points against the Cowboys, while the two losses were by 20+ points.

The Cardinals aren’t doing enough to win tight games right now. They’re missing too many key elements, future cornerstones, and simply the ability to close out games. It’s not easy to do, but Arizona is in no position to be able to do it consistently, let alone occasionally.

It’s difficult to consistently win tight games—just ask the Kansas City Chiefs over the last two seasons. Unfortunately, the Cardinals can’t find a way to get on the right side of those games.

That’s not likely to change anytime soon, or perhaps for the rest of the season, and it leaves a lot of heartbreak left on the table for fans to endure.

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