The Arizona Cardinals lost to the Detroit Lions 20-13, and head coach Jonathan Gannon made it abundantly clear that he was not pleased with the call that seemingly cost them the game.
That occurred when linebacker Mack Wilson seemingly completed a pick-six, only for the officials to state that the ball was dead. The snap came after the two-minute warning, a call that Gannon protested.
To make matters worse, the Lions scored on the drive to put them in the driving seat at 20-7. Gannon made it clear the officials’ actions did not discourage his players in the locker room at halftime, and though they battled to get back into the game, they went down to in-form Detroit.
This display was followed by an altogether more humbling experience in week four, with the Washington Commanders thumping the Cardinals 14-42 at the State Farm Arena, which left the Cardinals reeling at 1-3.
Gannon now has his work cut out trying to get Arizona back on track. The Cardinals have only made it to the postseason once in the past eight seasons, but fans who are optimistic about what Gannon can achieve may want to check out the Arizona sports betting sites to find the best provider to place a bet on a run to the playoffs, which one imagines right now would secure a very healthy potential payout.
He started that work on Sunday when Kyler Murray led the Cardinals to a 24-23 come-from-behind victory over the San Francisco 49ers. It was the first win for Arizona over San Francisco in the last five games, with the last time being on Nov. 7, 2021.
The Cardinals knew 2024 was always going to be something of a tough season for Gannon and we are, after all, talking about a franchise that finished with back-to-back 4-13 records in 2022 and 2023, and the head coach did not take their latest loss very well, commenting afterward.
“Obviously when you get beat like that (it’s because) we didn’t coach good enough and we didn’t play good enough (in) all three phases,”
“This league’s very humbling and we got humbled today, so we’ll get back to it. 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. That would be the positive from it.” Gannon added.
In the plus column, the Lions’ game was the first time this season that the Cardinals have been truly overwhelmed. Their losses against the Bills and the Lions were tight encounters, and they can look back on a great win over the Los Angeles Rams, 41-10, in game two and the comeback win over San Francisco, 24-23, in game four as signs of what they are capable of if they put their minds to it.
Unsurprisingly, the knives are already out for Gannon, with many believing that he is not up for a head coaching role in the NFL, but while this is his first such role in the league, he has had plenty of experience on his road to this point, and that should not be discounted quite so swiftly.
Gannon needs quarterback Kyler Murray to put in a consistent run of performances, and one gets the impression that if he starts to do so, especially when teaming up with WR Marvin Harrison Jr., things may start to turn around.
