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Sep 14, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon looks on during the fourth quarter against the Carolina Panthers at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Cardinals Coach Sounds Off After Unsettling Win

Originally posted on Arizona Cardinals on SI
By Donnie Druin | Last updated Sep 14, 2025 9:21 PM ET

GLENDALE -- Typically in the moments waiting for Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon to enter the team's post-game press conference room, reporters hear a mix of cheers, chatter and loud music blaring after a hard-fought victory.

Following the team's 27-22 win over the Carolina Panthers, there was a different mood. The vibe was anything but joyful following a win, where you could hear echoes of frustration bleeding from the locker room on the other side of the wall.

The Cardinals are 2-0, but if you dropped the average football fan into our seats - even they could feel the tension. Arizona's now squeaked past consecutive opponents while nearly blowing late game leads to the Panthers and New Orleans Saints to begin 2025.

The newest scare saw the Cardinals up 27-3 in the third quarter against Carolina.

Slowly, but surely, the Panthers clawed their way back into the mix. Before you knew it, Carolina recovered an onside kick and were just under two minutes away from pulling off the improbable before the Cardinals mustered one last defensive stop.

"I just told them in there, I'm proud of them that they showed some resilience because the game was going the way we wanted it to, and then it turned quickly. But ultimately made enough plays to win the game there," Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters after the win.

"I obviously have to do a much better job making our guys, all three phases, understand how to close games out, because that's two in a row now we're not doing a good enough job. So that falls strictly on me. I got a lot of work to do, and that's what we'll do tonight and tomorrow, because we got to do better there.

"When we have a chance to put away games, we got to put them away. It's hard to win in the NFL. Like I said, I don't want to take their joy away. I'm glad we're 2-0 but we got a long way to go."

Wins are wins in the National Football League, and you'll hear players and coaches pound the same drum consistently: So long as you have one more point than the other team, that's all that matters.

Yet there's an eery feeling surrounding the Cardinals' undefeated start - the first time they've began a season 2-0 since 2021 - almost as if they're merely surviving rather than winning.

And while that's suitable early in the season, Arizona has bigger goals to reach, and they certainly won't get there finishing games like they currently are.

"From my standpoint, I got to coach us better to understand what's going on in the game and what calls we need to execute to put games away. So the turning point to me was we just really never got that stop that we needed or to keep points off the board, to let our offense go out there and really put the game away," Gannon said.

"It's not the players at all. They fought their butt off. It's completely on me they look like after they got behind."

Finishing has been a bit of a buzz word in Arizona. The Cardinals began last season 6-4 and had their hands on the wheel of the NFC West race before dissolving down the stretch of the year.

Those concerns again rose last week when Arizona nearly blew a double-digit lead to the Saints. Those challenges again reared its ugly head this week - and until the Cardinals can play a full 60 minutes, the cloud of doubt will hover over Gannon and the rest of his troops.

"They're happy about being 2-0 but they know we got a long way to go. So it starts tomorrow. That's everybody's mood in there."