Football is hard. Great teams make it look easy. Good teams stay above water. Bad teams look comically inept. The Cardinals are all over the map.
On Sunday, they met a superior team with a superior coaching staff and a superior quarterback. They were predictably splattered 34-13 in Green Bay.
Their discipline and fundamentals broke down horribly. They entered Week 6 as the NFL’s least penalized team and were flagged 13 times against the Packers.
They committed costly turnovers. They suffered more injuries. They were blown out for the second time in three weeks. Just like their loss against the rugged Lions, the Cardinals were dominated at their own game (rushing yards, time of possession). And just like that loss to Detroit, this game was not as close as the final score indicated.
After a thrilling comeback victory against the 49ers, Valley fans craved real consistency, a real winning streak, a chance for real elevation. They could’ve claimed first place in the NFC West with a victory, a significant milepost and rallying cry.
But these Cardinals can’t stand prosperity, and they cannot stack good performances. Every victory in Jonathan Gannon’s tenure as head coach has been followed by at least two losses. And here we go again.
While Kyler Murray was OK on Sunday, he wasn’t good enough. The star performer at Lambeau Field was clearly Jordan Love, one of many young players who have passed Murray on the pecking order of NFL quarterbacks. Be honest: who would you rather have?
Both Murray and Love completed 22-of-32 passes, but their performances look nothing alike.
Mostly because Love is the real deal and because the Packers came in with a great game plan to nullify Murray’s improvisational skills, subjecting Arizona’s quarterback to another afternoon of visible frustration.
Of course, the Cardinals also generated zero pressure against Love because their edge rushers don’t engage in that sort of calamitous behavior. And aside from Mack Wilson Sr., the defensive free agents added to the mix in 2024 have been mostly a disaster.
The offense isn’t immune from criticism. While Trey McBride returned to dominance on Sunday, rookies Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey Benson seem constantly confused by what they’re supposed to be doing on a football field. From the very first possession, there was more miscommunication between Murray and the prized rookie receiver once described as a generational talent. And then Harrison whiffed on a pass that doinked him in the facemask, leading him to stumble into a defender’s leg, leading him to leave the game with a concussion.
The struggles of Harrison Jr. are very real. And they are officially a problem.
When the stars align, the Cardinals can play with anybody in the NFL. But for the moment, they remain mostly a flash sandwich, where rare meaty performances are served up between slices of failure.
It’s a dangerous trajectory. Eventually, there will be a conflict between Gannon’s culture of fighting to the last drop and Monti Ossenfort’s philosophy of building a team through draft picks and high-character journeymen. Because a growing culture can only handle so many lopsided defeats.
For now, the Cardinals are getting exactly what they paid for.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6–10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.