Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon walks the sidelines as his team plays the Jacksonville Jaguars at State Farm Stadium on Nov. 23, 2025. Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cardinals Double Down on Late-Game Decisions

Originally posted on Arizona Cardinals on SI
By Donnie Druin | Last updated Nov 25, 2025 12:04 PM ET

After the dust settled on the Arizona Cardinals' Week 12 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, head coach Jonathan Gannon says the decision to settle for a field goal at the end of regulation was still the right one.

Many thought the Cardinals might have been able to squeeze one more play with six seconds left on the clock and the ball at Jacksonville's 11-yard line.

Rather, Arizona opted to send it to overtime.

Gannon, when asked about settling for the field goal and not going for it, offered:

“At that point where you are with six seconds with no timeout depending on what the defense does, I think you're putting the team in harm's way there, truthfully.

"You see a lot of things that can happen. Not that you're thinking something bad is going to happen, but when you put the team at risk because of what you're trying to do, it can be a coin flip, and I didn't love it.”

Part of the reason Arizona was forced to settle for a field goal was the near 20 seconds taken off the clock between Wilson's reception and the next play - which was their final before trotting Chad Ryland out to knot things up at 24.

#AZCardinals torched nearly 20 seconds of clock after the Michael Wilson reception at the end of the game.

Instead of spiking it, Cards opted to run a play. Pass falls incomplete and field goal unit comes out to send it to OT. pic.twitter.com/VZM5j17TjT
— Donnie Druin (@DonnieDruin) November 24, 2025

Gannon also was asked about spiking vs. not spiking the ball in that scenario.

“I always think you put pressure on the defense, especially after an explosive, to run a play and not get in the huddle. That's one thing. Looking back on it now (with) where the clock was, I would've liked to see us get it off a little bit quicker," Gannon said.

"When I looked at it, not that we were discombobulated, but when that ref starts backing out you have to get that snapped if you're going to have a chance for two plays down there. It can be preference; it can be always and never what you do in those situations. We talk about those constantly. You see people around the league do different things.

"(I) felt comfortable about it. (I) would've liked to get off two there when we ended up getting the first one up and down six seconds. My goal there is to kind of keep us out of harm's way and go to overtime. A couple more seconds on the clock, maybe you can get off another play.

"Although probably (with) what the defense is doing, you're going to end up having to sail it anyhow. (We) tried to hit them by surprise and get a one-on-one ball to 'Mike' (WR Michael Wilson). It didn't work out, but if you clock it there with that much time, you probably get two plays, and we only got off one.”