The Arizona Cardinals got exactly the kind of start you dream about and the kind of finish that makes a win disappear in a hurry.
They opened the day with 14 plays, 132 yards and two touchdowns, racing to a 14-3 lead. After that, the offense barely moved the ball, the defense couldn’t shut the door, and the Cardinals wound up taking a 36-24 loss to the Giants that felt even uglier than the final score.
There were a couple of calls that will be debated. A defensive holding penalty on a field goal looked questionable, and there also appeared to be a missed call on a Jacoby Brissett throw intended for Trey McBride. But the bigger problem was what the Cardinals did - and didn’t - do over the rest of the game.
After those first two drives, Arizona managed just 93 yards from scrimmage before its final possession. Even with three takeaways from the defense, the Giants still put up 30 points against a Cardinals unit that couldn’t hold up against a bad New York offense.
The turning point came in the biggest moments, when Brissett and Mike LaFleur both came up short.
The loss left Arizona at 1-3, and the performance was messy across the board. The offense struggled, the defense gave ground, and special teams didn’t provide any help either.
Brissett finished with 166 passing yards on 35 attempts and three interceptions, a line that made it nearly impossible for Arizona to stay in control.
McBride was again used more like a running back than a receiver, finishing with seven catches for 31 yards. Michael Wilson led the receiving production with seven catches for 95 yards, while Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier combined for 22 carries and 105 yards.
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The Colts interest carries extra intrigue because their ability to put together a deal is constrained by limited draft capital after past trades, which makes any real movement harder to engineer. Even so, the fact that Harrisons name is circulating at all is enough to keep Arizona followers on edge, and it leaves one of the leagues most closely watched wideout stories hanging in a tense spot. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Catch Lions Defense At A Tense Time
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For the Cardinals, that makes this a familiar kind of opponent-facing wrinkle to monitor, especially when a contender is trying to steady itself without overreacting to one bad result. Campbells message was less about a quick fix than a broader standard, with mediocrity off the table and improvement needed across every phase, which leaves Detroit carrying both the urgency and the uncertainty into the next stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Jeremiyah Love's Hot Start Comes With One Big Cardinals Question
Dane Brugler of The Athletic put together an early 2026 NFL All-Rookie Team after the first four games of the season, and it was enough to get Arizona rookie running back Jeremiyah Love some well-earned attention. Love was listed as the starting running back on the team, a nod to the way he has opened his pro career by leading all rookies in rushing yards and receptions out of the backfield.
For the Cardinals, the praise is encouraging but still comes with a reminder of how quickly these early-season judgments can shift. Bruglers list is built on a small sample, and Loves start has certainly been loud, but the bigger question is how long he can keep this pace going once defenses adjust and the season settles into its grind. [Read more 🡒]