THE STORY: Jonathan Gannon noted, again, that his team was close. And he noted that it might even sound worse when he said such a thing, that the frustration of a five-game losing streak by a grand total of 13 points can be mitigated.
"We have to play better," the Cardinals coach said Sunday, after his team fell to the Green Bay Packers, 27-23, at State Farm Stadium and the result – for a seventh time in seven weeks – remaining unknown until the last 60 seconds. "There is no magical answer."
"Every losing coach stands up here and says the same (expletive)," Gannon added. "But I really do believe in the people that we have."
What that means over the final 10 games of the season will be in the spotlight. The Cardinals (2-5) are off next weekend, a bye that will lead into a long week before a game in Dallas for "Monday Night Football." Kyler Murray, who sat out his second straight game with his foot injury, is expected back by then and Gannon reiterated postgame that Murray will be back in the lineup as soon as he is healthy.
By then, the loss to the Packers will be well in the past. That will be OK with the Cardinals, who have grown understandably tired of talking about the same topics after each game.
"More of the same," veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell said. "We're a team that fights hard, but we have to find a way to win ballgames. I put a lot of pressure on our defense, because we had the lead in the fourth quarter multiple times and we didn't get off the field.
"To be as good as I think we can be, that's not OK. That's unacceptable."
Both sides of the ball had their chances to help close out the Packers (4-1-1). The offense was up first after the Cardinals' D forced a punt with 7:58 left and Arizona nursing a 23-20 lead. But quarterback Jacoby Brissett was stuff on a fourth-and-1 sneak, giving the Packers the ball at the Cardinals 48.
The defense then gave up a third down conversion and then a fourth-down conversion before Josh Jacobs ran in the go-ahead touchdown with 1:50 left. (The Packers, with seven seconds left in the first half, managed to get a 22-yard completion and a 61-yard field goal to close the second quarter, points that became crucial.
Brissett, like he did the week before in Indianapolis, led the Cardinals on a late drive, but with the clock ticking, Micah Parsons sacked Brissett for a third time, forcing Gannon to call a timeout after a 9-yard loss back to the Green Bay 26. Three plays later, Brissett's fourth-down pass into a mass of humanity in the end zone was incomplete with six seconds left.
"It's what you want, a chance at the end," said Brissett, who completed 25-of-36 passes for 279 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. "I have a couple of plays that are eating at me. I have to do a better job finishing."
The Cardinals had the ball for almost eight minutes longer than Green Bay, and outgained the Packers, 330-262. The Packers had led each of their first five games of the season by at least 10 points; the only time they led Sunday was after their last TD.
Yet it was the Cardinals that ended up frustrated.
Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. brought up the Cardinals being one play away, and he was pressed on that point. "Yes, it's a couple plays here and there," he said. "But in this league, when it's one-score games, it's literally a play here or play there that goes your way. You get a first down, we go into four-minute mode. It's just so many different things that go into each game."
Campbell emphasized "no one is going to quit." But that hasn't been an issue, even with the losses. Making that last five minutes turn in their favor is what is missing.
"We've got to do more to get a win here," Gannon said. "It's hard. I told them, we're hitting the bye here on a skid. We've dug ourselves a hole, no doubt about it. We have to dig ourselves out of it, and it has to be us that does it."
TURNING POINT: Up 23-20 with four minutes left, Brissett was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 sneak at his own 48, giving the Packers the ball. A Jordan Love 15-yard pass to tight end Tucker Kraft on fourth-and-2 kept the drive alive, and Josh Jacobs eventually barreled into the end zone for a four-point lead. The Cardinals could not answer despite driving down in the waning seconds.
THE STANDOUTS: Tight end Trey McBride had a season-high 10 catches to go with a couple of touchdowns – the first time in his career he's had two. Brissett was solid with 279 yards while absorbing 14 quarterback hits. Running back Bam Knight had 57 yards rushing on 14 carries in his first Cardinals' start. Linebacker Zaven Collins delivered a sack by essentially strong-arming his blocker back into Love.
INJURY UPDATE: The Cardinals looked like they came out clean. Knight went to the blue tent at one point with an unknown issue, but he returned to the game. Only linebacker Josh Sweat went down after a play, but he returned to the game soon after.
