GLENDALE — A bold new future kicked off Sunday at State Farm Stadium: A future without Kyler Murray.
The number of empty seats was staggering. It was the yawn of a new era.
The Cardinals responded with yet another loss, their 10th in 13 games. The Rams scored on their first five possessions, including four touchdowns. At halftime, they had amassed 306 yards in 32 plays, or 9.6 per attempt. It felt like a swatter hitting a fly.
While Arizona’s disastrous season features a smorgasbord of close losses, this game marked their third consecutive blowout loss to an NFC West opponent. Head coaches generally don’t survive consistent beatdowns in the games that matter most.
Under quarterback Jacoby Brissett, the Cardinals’ passing game has clearly found another gear. On Sunday, Michael Wilson proved once again that he should be the team’s No. 1 wide receiver, a player who ascends dramatically when Brissett is on the field and Marvin Harrison Jr. is not. Alas, their running game remains AWOL, and no offense can flourish without balance.
Most troubling, the defense remains pedestrian and mediocre. They could not stop the Rams’ running game, which had 212 rushing yards with 13:46 remaining in the fourth quarter. They could not stop receiving star Puka Nacua, who flashed vice-grip hands and generally resembled a young Larry Fitzgerald while shredding the Arizona secondary. The Rams posted 35 unanswered points on Sunday, including a pair of one-play, big-play scoring drives.
Even worse, the Cardinals have to play these powerful Rams again, although SoFi Stadium in L.A. might assemble fewer Rams fans than those who showed up in Glendale on Sunday.
The latest loss drops Jonathan Gannon to 3-14 against the NFC West. A team led by a defensive-minded head coach has allowed 44, 41, and 45 points in their past three division games. In Year 3 of a painstaking rebuild, the Cardinals are 3-10 while the Rams, Seahawks and 49ers are a combined 29-10. Divisional incompetence is the strongest case to be made against giving Gannon a fourth season and another chance to get it right.
Or maybe the team’s impending divorce with Murray along with a couple of fired assistant coaches will be enough to placate an agitated fan base.
When Gannon announced that Murray was done for the season, it marked the unofficial end to a story that has already been written. Murray and the Cardinals must part ways after a mostly fruitless seven-year marriage. Feelings are mutual and we all have the itch.
Murray’s legacy in Arizona will be one of unfulfilled promise. His highlight reel was spectacular. His winning percentage was abysmal. His playoff conquests do not exist. He was neither a bust nor a waste, rather a highly polarizing, freakish athlete who reached a point of diminished returns.
Naturally, there are fears that Murray might flourish elsewhere, that Arizona failed him more than Murray failed us. That seems highly unlikely.
Either way, the Cardinals need to rebuild their offensive line, draft their next franchise quarterback and find some way to create hope and excitement for the future. It won’t be easy for a franchise that has now lost 10 or more games 20 times in 38 seasons. Some numbers are hard to overlook.
Reach Bickley at [email protected]. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.
