The wins have not come for the Cardinals as much as they have wanted to on the field. But they did notch a win with the signing of linebacker Josh Sweat.
Sweat had two sacks on Sunday against the Buccaneers, bringing his total to 11.0 after 12 games. That equals his career high as he pushes for his second Pro Bowl berth and continues to show that the team got the ace pass rusher they needed on the open market.
Chasing around Baker Mayfield – who didn't look like a guy who was favoring his injured left shoulder in the least – wasn't easy. Mayfield made more than a few plays (or at least rescued a few plays that would've been bad) running around and escaping.
But for the issues the Cardinals will have to address in the offseason, one is not finding their top edge rusher.
Bertrand Berry had 14½ sacks for the Cardinals in 2004 as a free-agent addition. It'll be interesting to see is Sweat can wrest away that distinction as most sacks by a signing by season's end.
-- The missed 43-yard field goal by Chad Ryland, pushed just right, hurt. But Ryland emphasized the miss was on him, and had nothing to do with the hold of punter Matt Haack.
"You never want to leave points out there when you are sent out to get them," Ryland said. "Everything was exactly the way I wanted. We were playing with the wind at our back a little bit so I wanted the ball more up and down. I just kind of cut it thin. That was on me.
"Matt is a true pro. I'm happy to have him here and he's done a really good job getting the ball down how I like and I have to do a better job making those kicks."
-- Here's hoping the heel Marvin Harrison Jr. was favoring at the end isn't a thing. Harrison looked confident and productive in his return, and if the Cardinals give Jacoby Brissett time, that McBride-Harrison-Wilson trio will be impactful.
-- Tight end Trey McBride finished with eight receptions, his 14th straight game with at least than many catches. It sets a Cardinals franchise record and puts him one behind Travis Kelce's NFL record for tight ends.
-- Coming off his concussion, linebacker Baron Browning became the first Cardinals player to wear a Guardian Cap in a regular-season game. Browning had missed the previous two games with his injury.
-- Running back Michael Carter quietly had an impact, making five catches for 47 yards and making a few plays as the Cardinals continue to use him and Knight in the backfield with all their injuries.
-- In what was not a coincidence, the Buccaneers inducted defensive end Simeon Rice into their Ring of Honor at halftime of Sunday's game. Rice, of course, was the Cardinals' first-round pick in 1996 and played the first five years of his career in Arizona, piling up 51½ sacks in 79 games. (Rice actually played only eight more games in his career for Tampa.) He had 16½ sacks for the Cardinals in 1999. He finished with 122 sacks in his 12-year career.
His pregame press conference was so Simeon. "I was the best of the best and I unapologetically say it." He noted he thought he should've been a first-ballot Hall of Famer and believes it will happen some day (he is not among the top 26 semifinalists for the 2026 class.) He acknowledged his time in Arizona but clearly still feels some kind of way about it, five years that ended rocky. He said of his 16 ½ sack season with the Cardinals he should've had 18 but the NFL took away sacks after the fact (once reviewing plays.)
"I was the 1996 Rookie of the Year," Rice said. "I was always that guy. I was All-Pro before I even got (to Tampa)."
-- Former Cardinals and Bucs coach Bruce Arians was also in attendance on Sunday.
-- The last word goes to defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, on responding as a team after the Cardinals fell for a seventh time by four points or less:
"It's tough to win in the NFL. We have had a lot of games this year that came down to a couple of plays. It just shows the margin of error we have – or don't have – when the game is that close."
That's all for today. Time to fly home.
