Twice in their hardscrabble history, the Cardinals have lucked into a veteran quarterback ready for one last shot at glory.
Could Jacoby Brissett join Kurt Warner and Carson Palmer at one of Arizona’s most exclusive tables?
It’s a fair and pertinent question after the latest loss, a 20-17 defeat to the Buccaneers that guarantees another losing season under the Monti Ossenfort-Jonathan Gannon regime.
Brissett has been mostly spectacular since replacing Kyler Murray. Once again, he threw for more than 300 yards in a Cardinals’ loss. His second-half touchdown passes to Bam Knight and Trey McBride were big-time plays for a quarterback often mislabeled as a journeyman.
The only thing missing are actual victories.
Brissett is now 1-6 as a starting quarterback in Arizona, an ugly bottom line in a cruel business. But only the delusional and the Kyler stans can conceivably blame Brissett for a team threatening to lose 10 or more games for the 20th time in 38 years.
Brissett has unlocked the Cardinals offense with a skillset reminiscent of both Warner and Palmer.
At times, he makes the offense look unstoppable. He stands tall and resolute in the pocket. He takes big hits and gets back up. He has great physical toughness and great commitment to both the play and his teammates. He doesn’t make many mistakes.
The only real question remaining is the clutch gene, the ability to deliver in the biggest moments under suffocating pressure.
Warner was great at this. Palmer could be shaky in the postseason. We’re still not sure about Brissett.
His ill-fated deep ball to Xavier Weaver in an overtime loss to the Jaguars last week was one of his worst moments in Arizona. It was far too risky for the situation (fourth-and-short).
And on Sunday, we saw just the opposite, an offense that dominated in the second half, only to go limp on their final possession.
Upon further review, Brissett only deserves fractional blame for the final drive.
He made a good play under heavy pressure on first down, except Greg Dortch inexplicably stayed inbounds, which seemed to create unnecessary panic and stress for the following decisions. On second down, Brissett made a poor decision, coaxed by a soft defense into dumping off to a wide-open Michael Carter, upon whom the Buccaneers quickly converged; and the final two plays seemed extremely conservative play calls, with four Cardinals targets all bunched together at the end of each play. Trey McBride received zero targets on the most important possession of the game.
The Cardinals are now 0-7 in games decided by four points or less. But their overall performance on Sunday featured great energy and fight, which will reflect well on the coaching staff and the general direction of the team.
Brissett again suggested he might be more than just a bridge/mentor to the next franchise quarterback. He might have enough gas, talent and motivation to give this team a short-term future, just like Warner and Palmer once did.
That is, if he and this coaching staff can ever learn to win close games.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.
