Jonathan Gannon Unloads His Clearest Message Yet About Cardinals

There's a clear difference between knowing how to compete and knowing how to win.

Just ask Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon.

Gannon, in his third season at the helm in the desert, saw his squad lose their seventh loss in a one score contest this past Sunday, dropping to 3-9 on the year and officially being eliminated from the playoffs in the same swoop.

The Cardinals have been close, but no cigar for Gannon - who sent a very clear message in front of reporters at his Monday press availability.

Cardinals Have to Figure Out How to Win

"I told them today, we figured out how to compete - we got to figure out how to win," said Gannon.

"And it wasn't, 'we need to figure that out.' I kind of told them, 'this is how we win games. This is what the things we have to do better at.' And it's clear when we watch the tape with them, it's very clear. Just got to do it."

The Cardinals have lost their last nine-of-ten games, an extremely dissapointing stretch that followed a 2-0 start to the year.

Arizona invested heavily in the defensive side of the ball ahead of Gannon's third year in charge with hopes of the offense taking the next step with continuity on their side.

Jonathan Gannon Believes Cardinals Are Close

That hasn't happened, and in a year where postseason was the goal - we now have more questions than answers following Gannon's team.

"I was thinking about it on the plane, it's like these one-score games, and then you watch all three phases on the plane as you're flying home, and it's like, 'yes, it's one score games, but through the course of 60 minutes, every minute goes into winning and losing.' And there's multiple examples of a play here, a play there, execution here, a call here, whatever, all three phases coaching and playing, we just got to do better," Gannon continued.

"And I keep saying the same thing, but it's the truth. There's no magic pill. It's not like we don't understand how to win - we just haven't done it."

Now, there's five games left in Arizona's season, and speculation will only continue to churn on the job status of Gannon and others alongside him.

"Like I said, we know how to compete. We don't know how to win, and that falls on me. That's completely on me," Gannon added.

"... I don't know the reasons now, but I know there's a reason we're going through this. And if you're in this league, or you're in competitive situations, whatever you do, you're going to go through adversity. We're in it, and you just try to keep digging out and know that you will come out the other side better. And I do believe that."