The Arizona Cardinals needed a major overhaul when coach Jonathan Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort were hired two seasons ago. Everyone knew it might take time to improve things.
However, after 21 games, patience is starting to run low.
The Cardinals (1-3) faced a tough 42-14 defeat against the Washington Commanders on Sunday — possibly the most disappointing loss for the new leadership.
Arizona took an early 7-0 lead with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Kyler Murray to rookie Marvin Harrison Jr., but they were outplayed in almost every way after that. “Just trying to process what just happened,” Murray said on Sunday.
The loss was even harder to take because the Commanders’ offense was led by Kliff Kingsbury, the former head coach of the Cardinals for four seasons, who was fired in 2022. This firing was the start of the team’s current rebuilding process.
Now, the Commanders and their offense are making headlines in the NFL.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals are still struggling. They have a record of 5-16 since Gannon and Ossenfort took charge.
“This league’s very humbling, and we got humbled today, so we’ll get back to it,” Gannon said. “The positive will be what we get out of this tape tomorrow, the adjustments that we make, the corrections that we make, and we’ll get better from it.”
Murray has generally handled the recent losses well since returning from a knee injury last season. But he was understandably frustrated after Sunday’s game. He completed 16 of 22 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown, but was sacked four times and didn’t have his usual effectiveness when scrambling.
“Something’s got to change,” Murray said. “We weren’t good enough today, and they exploited our weaknesses.”
