THE STORY: TAMPA, Fla. – Jocoby Brissett knew the questions, and he knew the answers.
"I know I get up here and it sounds like a broken record," the Cardinals quarterback said Sunday after his team fell to the Buccaneers, 20-17, at Raymond James Stadium, the seventh loss of four points or less this season for the team. "But it comes down to execution."
The Cardinals (3-9) have lived this story too many times. Brissett and the offense outgained the Buccaneers (7-5) and had the ball down three with just under two minutes left with their three-point deficit.
At their own 9, the Cardinals couldn't get a first down, a fourth-and-2 pass to Michael Wilson off the mark to officially send the team to familiar talking points.
"I love the fight of the group," coach Jonathan Gannon said, and added he didn't think there was a commonality with all the close losses.
"The commonality would be it starts with the coaches making sure we put the players in good spots and were in all the details."
The Cardinals had 386 yards to the Bucs' 279, but Tampa quarterback Baker Mayfield did just enough to ruin the day while playing with his left shoulder sprain. Mayfield only ran the ball three times for 30 yards (minus his final kneeldowns), but his scrambling avoided multiple sacks and even if they didn't lead to completions, they allowed Mayfield to at least throw the ball away and save the negative yards.
Marvin Harrison Jr. returned from appendicitis and played well (6-69) but ultimately left the game late with a heel injury. Tight end Trey McBride was excellent (8-82-1) in the second half.
But Gannon noted missed chances – specifically, at least nine points the Cardinals should've had with a missed field goal, a red-zone interception thrown by Brissett on the opening drive, and a failed fourth-and-1 run while the Cardinals were moving – and that math is easy to do with the final score.
"We settled down but you can't wait until the second half," said Brissett, who surpassed 300 yards throwing (29-40-301-2-1) for a fourth time with the Cardinals and a third straight game.
The end was set up for heroics. The Cardinals drove down for a touchdown with 4:58 left, a 15-yard strike from Brissett to McBride, and then the defensive held the Bucs to a punt.
"For a defensive guy, yeah, we felt good," defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson said. "There was a still a lot of football to be played. It's not over until it's over type-of-thing."
Brissett and the offense had the ball with 1:49 left. But two short passes only picked up eight yards, and Brissett's last two fell incomplete.
"The defense did their job all day," Brissett said. "I thought we were going to go down and win."
TURNING POINT: The Cardinals were driving but running back Bam Knight was stopped on a fourth-and-1 end run, a play which Gannon said the team had been working on for a couple of weeks. The defense held strong considering Tampa took the ball over at the Arizona 39, but Chase McLaughlin booted – easily – a 57-yard field goal for the 20-10 lead. The Cardinals were left needing the long drive late, which they couldn't accomplish.
THE STANDOUTS: Linebacker Josh Sweat had two first-quarter sacks, giving him 11 on the season. McBride had a quiet first half before coming alive, Harrison looked good in his return and Knight – although he lost a fumble – had 98 total yards, a receiving touchdown, and averaged 5.6 yards a carry.
INJURY UPDATE: Wide receiver Andre Baccellia left the game in the second half with an arm injury but managed to return. Harrison's heel bothered him enough that, although he did come back for one play, kept him out on the game's final drive.
