Offense in the NFL can be a funny thing. The Cardinals had a couple more of those third-and-long situations that any defense – but especially one with Micah Parsons – likes to exploit. Yet on Sunday, against the Packers, QB Joacby Brissett negotiated his way into some backbreaking completions.
And then there are times when one yard is all the difference. Like the one yard (maybe slightly more than one) the Cardinals needed in the fourth quarter Sunday. If Brissett's QB sneak works, the Cards are in great shape. It didn't, and the Packers only needed half the field to score what turned out to be the winning TD.
It wasn't even a thought for coach Jonathan Gannon to try to get the first down. "I definitely wanted to go," he said. "I would've went for it a little more than that."
That's the right thought, in how today's game is played. Win it on your terms
"That's been a successful play for us," Gannon added. "We like the call, we just need to execute a little better."
Brissett took the blame for not getting there. "They put trust in me to get those. I have full trust in myself to get it. It was on me."
(One of the plays other Brissett lamented after was a second-and-9 pass he threw to MHJ's feet when Harrison was wide open for an easy first down. Two plays later came the fourth-down stop, and Brissett acknowledged that was likely the game had he just gotten the ball to Harrison.)
That didn't cost the Cardinals the game, even if it was a turning point. There was a flip side too. Parsons had three sacks, yes, but he also had two costly penalties – a hip-drop tackle and an offsides – that kept Cardinals scoring drives alive.
And again, the third-down conversions came at a rapid rate for Arizona. The Cardinals were at 50 percent. The Zay Jones 43-yard catch on 3rd-and-23 late in the first half was the longest third-down conversion for the Cardinals since Jonathan Gannon became coach, and beat the third-and-17 the Cardinals and pulled off at Indianapolis last week.
Brissett also found Marvin Harrison Jr. for 35 yards on a 3rd-and-14.
Brissett wasn't really feeling celebratory about such success postgame, though. Not when the one yard lingered.
"I have trust in the guys up front and the guys that are making the plays," he said. "And I think (offensive coordinator) Drew (Petzing) understands that. He trusts me with the ball in my hand at those times. It's probably good for us to stay out of those situations, though."
-- The Cardinals scored an emotional touchdown with seven seconds left in the first half, Trey McBride's first of two, to take a 13-3 lead. But after Chad Ryland booted the ball deep for touchback – avoiding the potential of a short kickoff like against Seattle – the Packers managed to use just six seconds for a 22-yard pass play.
With one second left, in the year of long field goals, kicker Lucas Havrisik booted a 61-yard field goal and the Packers stole three points (which made a difference at the end.)
"There are a couple different ways to play that," Gannon said. "I liked what we did (defensively). I have to look at it because it didn't work, obviously. You don't want to give them three points into the half there. You are figuring with seven seconds and a timeout the yardage they can get, I thought we'd be OK. It was a little too much in the call we were in but that was the right call. We've talked about that multiple times. He hit a 61-yarder, so hat's off. Looking back, do I wish I would've made a different call? Yeah."
-- When Chad Ryland hit a 32-yard field goal to cap the Cardinals' opening drive, it was the first time this season the Packers allowed points in the first quarter. The Green Bay defense had pitched a shutout in its first five games of the season.
-- Bam Knight got the start at running back for the first time this season. Practice squad call-up D'Ernest Johnson picked up third-down duties with Emari Demercado sidelined with an ankle injury.
-- The Packers use two team planes to fly out to road games, and on Saturday, while the staff plane left on time, the plane with coaches and players was delayed more than five hours after mechanical issues and the need to wait for a new plane. The group landed in Phoenix about 8:30 p.m.
-- The Cardinals have tied the franchise record for most consecutive one-possession games. They also had seven straight in 1976.
-- Sunday was the first time ever the Packers had visited State Farm Stadium when the Cardinals came in with a losing record. Of course, a couple of those Packers visits were the playoff games that turned into all-timers in both the 2009 and 2015 seasons.
-- The last word comes from Gannon: "It's hard. They're down, they're disappointed. They want to point blame, tell everybody what's wrong and 'We can't do this, we can't do that. We can't play, we can't coach.' That's life in the NFL when you're losing, but they'll stick together, take the arrow in the forehead. We're going to come back."
That's all for tonight.
