Op-Ed: Can Cardinals’ Jonathan Gannon reverse the script on the Seahawks Mike Macdonald?

For starters, will Cardinals have another cupcake pre-season?

I don’t like feeling or writing any of this, but the Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald is doing a number of key things in Seattle that I was hoping Jonathan Gannon would do in Arizona.

Examples:

1. Press conferences —- Macdonald is terse and itching to get back to work. Gannon is discursive and highly engaged.
2. Press conferences after losses —- Macdonald is ticked off. Gannon is oddly upbeat.
3. Pre-season games —- Macdonald plays his starters in game 3. Gannon gives the Cardinals starters all of the games off.
4. Practices —- Macdonald takes advantage of every chance he can get. Gannon calls off some.
5. Coordinating the team’s defense —- Macdonald wanted to from the beginning. Gannon wanted to avoid it from the beginning.
6. Calling the defensive plays —- Macdonald does. Gannon doesn’t.
7. Placing a defensive priority on tackling. Seahawks’ defense was #8 (63.9), Cardinals’ defense was #19 (43.9 —- failing grade).
8. Not settling for mediocrity or subpar play at ILB. Macdonald traded early starters Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker to the Dolphins and Titans and acquired Ernest Jones to pair with Tyrice Knight. Gannon stayed way too long with Kyzir White, playing him out of position at MIKE and with starting Josh Woods for 11 games in 2023.
9. Handling the bye week —- Macdonald’s Seahawks won 4 in row. Gannon’s Cardinals lost 3 in a row, twice to Macdonald’s Seahawks, getting outplayed, outcoached and outscored 46-24.
10. Adding NFL coaching experience to the staff —- Macdonald hired Leslie Frazer (25 years) as veteran defensive advisor and Offensive line coach John Benton (35 years). Gannon’s hires have all been young, inexperienced coaches at their positions.
11. Aligning the QB1 to the OC’s style—- Macdonald, despite having a top 10 passing offense in 2024 moved on from OC Ryan Grubb because he wants a stronger, more imposing rushing attack and play-action passing game, so he hired Klint Kubiak as OC and then signed Sam Darnold who in 2024 was the most prolific play action passer from under center in the NFL. Kubiak previously worked with Darnold a couple of years ago when he was the passing game coordinator for the 49ers, before becoming the Saints’ OC in 2024.

Gannon is now in year three of hyping Kyler Murray’s ability to command Drew Petzing’s run-heavy offense which requires a good play action passer to generate explosive pass plays downfield from the pocket.

Kyler has always preferred to pass from the pocket from a shotgun snap, believing that he has more time to survey the field. The question remains as to whether Kyler can adapt his play-action game from under center —- or, as the PHNX Cardinals crew has been posing all off-season:

Can Drew Petzing evolve?

Fault?

One could argue that it’s not Drew Petzing’s fault that he can’t run his offense precisely as it is designed —- and also, a cogent argument can be made that it’s not Kyler Murray fault that he is now in an offensive system that is not specifically tailor-made to his strengths.

The irony is that when Monti Ossenfort was hired, he vowed to align every coach and player to the styles of the system.

Can the OC coach Clutch?

Furthermore, regardless of the system, there is the question of Kyler Murray’s ability to perform in late-game clutch situations.

This is why 2025 needs to be the charm for Kyler Murray, Jonathan Gannon and the Cardinals.

Conclusion:

it’s hard to imagine given the low point spreads for each of the Cardinals vs Seahawks games over the past 4 years, that the last time the Cardinals beat the Seahawks was with Colt McCoy at QB when the team pulled of a 23-13 win at Seattle in Week 11 of the 2021 season.

Since then:

• 1/9/22 —- SEA 38 ARI 30 —- at ARI —-cost Cardinals the NFC West title
• 10/16/22 —- SEA 19 ARI 9 —- at SEA —- Geno Smith 1-0 vs. ARI
• 11/6/22 —- SEA 31 ARI 21 —- at ARI —- Geno Smith 2-0 vs. ARI
• 10/22/23 —- SEA 20 ARI 10 —- at SEA —- Geno Smith 3-0 vs. ARI
• 1/7/24 —- SEA 21 ARI 20 —- at ARI —- Geno Smith 4-0 vs. ARI
• 11/12/24 —- SEA 16 ARI 6 —- at SEA —- Geno Smith 5-0 vs. ARI
• 12/8/24 —- SEA 30 ARI 18 —- at ARI —- Geno Smith 6-0 vs. ARI

The last time the Cardinals won at home versus the Seahawks was in 2020 when the Cardinals won a 37-34 OT Thursday Night Football thriller, with Kyler Murray outdueling Russell Wilson.

Kyler on the evening was 34/48, 360 yards, 3 TDS, 1 int, plus 14 carries for 67 yards and 1 TD. That was the last (and only the 2nd) game that Kyler was won versus the Seahawks.

It’s difficult enough for the Cardinals’ coaches to take on Sean McVay’s Rams and Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers for 4 of the Cardinals’ 17 games each season, but if the Seahawks continue to be the Cardinals’ most pestering nemesis, how can the Cardinals win the NFC West and be a legitimate Super Bowl contender?

Monti Ossenfort has done a very good job this off-season of improving the Cardinals’ roster, as evidenced by ESPN’s recent 2025 NFL roster talent rankings, which has the Cardinals moving up from 28th in 2024 to 17th in 2025:’

Ranking 2025 NFL rosters: Best projected starting lineups – ESPN

17. Arizona Cardinals

Biggest strength: Interior defensive line. Their biggest weakness last season has become their biggest strength. After finishing 2024 ranked 28th and 20th in pass rush win rate (33.3%) and run stop win rate (29.8%), respectively, Arizona now has potential. Standout veterans Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell were signed to anchor the interior, with recent first-round picks Darius Robinson (2024) and Walter Nolen III (2025) adding upside. Justin Jones, L.J. Collier, Dante Stills and Bilal Nichols will compete for depth roles. — Clay

Biggest weakness: Off-ball linebacker. Kyzir White (second among Arizona defenders in snaps played in 2024) was not re-signed, which leaves journeymen Mack Wilson Sr. and Akeem Davis-Gaither, along with fourth-round rookie Cody Simon, as the most notable options. This group will have to step up, considering the team’s impressive DT/edge group. — Clay

X factor for 2025: Edge Josh Sweat. Which version will the Cardinals get? Will it be the Sweat who had 2.5 sacks in Super Bowl LIX for the Eagles and who beat his blocker repeatedly with above-average pass rush win rates in 2021, 2022 or 2023? Or will he be the 2024 regular-season Sweat, who had a below-average 11% pass rush win rate at edge to go with 8.0 sacks? — Walder

Nonstarter to know: Edge rusher Baron Browning. Browning has never played a full season since entering the NFL in 2021 and had only two sacks and 18 pressures last season, which he split between Denver and Arizona. Browning will get a chance for plenty of playing time this season in an edge rusher rotation made up of Sweat and a lot of “maybe” players. — Schatz

2025 NFC West Roster Talent Rankings (ESPN):

• 8 —- Rams —- #4 in NFC
• 10 —- 49ers —- #5 in NFC
• 17 —- Cardinals —- #10 in NFC
• 20 —- Seahawks —- #12 in NFC

Jonathan Gannon is superb at bringing the “juice” to the team’s facility day after day. The players laud his energy and enthusiasm. Typically, however, a successful NFL head coach needs to bring with him a special teaching or strategic in-game adjustment ability, particularly on his side of the ball. What has been troubling thus far is how disparate his efforts have been to improve the team’s defense (his side of the ball where his expertise should be), as compared to his most recent predecessors:

• Bruce Arians —- top 10 offenses —- playoff berths 2 seasons (2014,2015), NFC West Champs 2015
• Steve Wilks —- defense was whole lot better than the league’s worst “3-and-out” offense
• Kliff Kingsbury —- top 10 offenses —- playoff berth 2021
• Jonathan Gannon —- top 10 rushing offenses yet bottom third defenses

As a rookie head coach, Mike Macdonald won 10 games and was 4-2 in the NFC West —- his defense ranked #14 and his offense ranked #16 (per PFF).

NFL 2024 Teams | Pro Football Focus (pff.com)

In Jonathan Gannon’s 2nd season as head coach, the Cardinals were 8-9 and 3-3 in the NFC West —- his offense was tied for #7 and his defense was #23.

At the end of the 2025 season, it may be compelling to compare Jonathan Gannon’s accomplishments this year to Mike Macdonald’s.

In 2024, I predicted from the get-go (and reiterated it again at mid-season) that the two most significant games of the season would be the two games with the Seahawks.

Could the same is the case this season?

• Home SEA vs ARI Thursday September 25th 5:15 PM Arizona time
• Away ARI vs SEA Sunday November 9th 2:05 PM ET Arizona time

What do you think?