There are “champagne” problems, as the affable Larry Fitzgerald often used to say, and then there are “real” problems, like the ones facing the reeling Arizona Cardinals.
Their Week 14 opponent on Sunday, Dec. 7, the visiting Los Angeles Rams, are still burping over the bubbly following a 31-28 upset loss to the Carolina Panthers that snapped a six-game winning streak. It didn’t really hurt the 9-3 Rams, but it — at least temporarily — cost them the No. 1 playoff seed in the NFC to the surging Chicago Bears, who have the same overall record but own the tiebreaker because of a better mark in conference play, 6-2 compared to 4-3.
“There’s never a good story without a little adversity,” Rams coach Sean McVay said following his team’s first loss in seven games.
Adversity? Well then, we must be talking about the 3-9 Cardinals, who enter this NFC West nightmare of a matchup having lost four straight games, nine out of their past 10 and have six fewer wins than all three of their division opponents. Talk about your “real” problems.
Our tired NFL franchise, which was officially eliminated from playoff contention with its 20-17 loss in Week 13 at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is now guaranteed not to win a postseason game for the 10th consecutive season. The Cardinals have made it to the playoffs once in that time and just four other times in this century.
As bad as that sounds, Arizona is 0-11 against teams with a winning record dating back to Week 7 a year ago. Worse, the Cardinals have an abominable 3-13 record against NFC West foes since coach Jonathan Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort took over at the start of the 2023 season.
They went 0-6 in the division that first year, 3-3 in the second and so far, 0-4 in 2025 with two games remaining against the Rams.
Gannon, 15-31 overall as Arizona’s head coach, did his best to reassure everyone that his team would be ready to show up and compete against the Rams.
“You have to get rested, rejuvenated and then move on to them right now,” Gannon said during his Monday, Dec. 1, news conference. “That’s what our guys will do, but there’s a big-time challenge coming in here, and they’ll be excited about it.”
Being excited is one thing. Winning is another.
Give Gannon and the Cardinals credit for at least being entertaining to watch. Seven of their nine losses this year have been decided by four points or fewer. Their only two blowout losses have come against, you guessed it, division foes Seattle and San Francisco.
But “entertaining” can cut it for only so long with a weary fan base and an owner (Michael Bidwill) who surely must be losing his patience by now, if he hasn’t already. We will know soon enough if big changes are forthcoming, which likely will happen following the Cardinals’ season finale at the Rams in January, if they happen at all.
To me, it still makes sense to give Gannon and Ossenfort more time to get things back on track, especially if they have decided to officially move on from quarterback Kyler Murray after this season and bring in a future new face of the franchise at QB who can learn for at least a year under veteran Jacoby Brissett, who has been a godsend.
Come to think of it, maybe the Cardinals should just keep riding it out with Brissett, who, at 32, is a year younger than Matthew Stafford was when the Rams acquired him in a trade with the Lions back in March 2021. Since taking over for Murray back in Week 6, Brissett leads the NFL in completions (204), passing yards (2,188), first downs passing (106) and 300-yard passing games (four).
Arizona already has young offensive playmakers in pass catchers such as Trey McBride and wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson. It just needs a revamped offensive line, some more help at running back and probably a play caller other than Drew Petzing.
The Cardinals’ defense, meanwhile, doesn’t feel that far off. There has been an injection of youth, and, with the right additions this offseason, an improvement seems very plausible.
The more the losing continues, though, the more you wonder.
“We know how to compete; we don’t know how to win,” Gannon said.
That, folks, has been the Cardinals’ greatest problem. Not a “champagne” problem. But a “real” problem.
Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Roc and Manuch with Jimmy B on ESPN 620 (KTAR-AM).
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