Key Takeaways From the Cardinals’ Latest Frustrating Loss

With the Cardinals officially eliminated from the postseason, the focus turns to next season, and getting the best draft pick gives Arizona the best shot at selecting a top talent for the seasons to come.

It’s been apparent for a while now that the Cardinals won’t make the playoffs, but I’m against rooting for losses unless the team is mathematically eliminated. Will Arizona purposely lose? Of course not, but if you’re a fan watching from home, each loss might not be as frustrating as you might think.

With the Cardinals seemingly finding new ways to lose a game each week, this team isn’t being crushed, and it’s honestly not that far away from contending.

A core group of skill position players are in place, and it seems like this team is just a few tweaks away from being a team that can compete for a playoff spot. A top draft pick can do that, as guys who get drafted in the first round can usually produce right away.

A professional football team will never intentionally lose games, no matter how much a defeat benefits their draft pick, but if you’re a Cardinals fan you might not be that disappointed by the continuous close losses.

If Arizona were to beat Tampa Bay, that’s a solid win, but it just hurts the quality of players that the Cardinals could select in the draft. Sure, this takeaway is very big-picture, but the defeat here just compounds on what we already knew about the future of this football club.

The defense isn’t the issue

I mentioned that the team is a few key additions from being a contender, but as far as the defense is concerned, it’s played well enough of late to win a decent amount of games. Especially against the Bucs, Arizona’s defense played well enough to win, and the loss isn’t its fault.

Allowing 20 points could easily win you a ballgame, and the 24 points allowed in regulation last week against the Jaguars could’ve won that game too.

Against the 49ers the week before Jacksonville, the point total was high, but the yardage total wasn’t. In a similar vein, the yardage total for the Bucs on Sunday was just 279, a pretty solid number all things considered.

No, the defense isn’t elite by any means, but it’s good enough to compete with most teams in the NFL. Allowing under 100 rushing yards is superb, and having Mayfield pass for under 200 yards can certainly be considered a win.

The Cardinals totaled two sacks and five tackles for loss, but applied pressure on Mayfield all game long. He did a great job evading what Arizona was throwing at him, but you could tell that it affected what the Buccaneers were doing on offense.

All told, the two touchdowns and two field goals the Cardinals allowed resulted in another close loss, but it was apparent that it was the offense’s miscues that were the primary reason that Arizona fell short once again.

Offensive line must be addressed

A major reason why the offense had issues throughout the game against the Bucs was because the Tampa defense was dominating Arizona’s offensive line.

Ahead of the season, we thought it could be one of the better position groups on the roster, but that hasn’t been the case in the slightest. Injuries have played a significant role in the line not performing well, but that’s not a worthy excuse for how badly it’s protected the quarterback and running backs at times.

Brissett was hit seven times against Tampa, to go along with two sacks and three tackles for loss. The Bucs were getting pressure on Brissett all afternoon long, and he had to throw the ball away on several occasions to stop himself from being sacked.

Everything starts with the offensive line, and even with Jonah Williams and Will Hernandez on IR, they have to play better. Unfortunately, we’ve had a whole season to evaluate, and I’m sure the organization has come to the conclusion that changes need to be made moving forward to ensure the skill players are better protected.

The miscues, including two turnovers and a poor last drive, aren’t solely on the line, but with a better performance from the linemen, the offense as a whole could’ve played better and potentially flipped a 20-17 loss into a win.