Bruce Arians encourages Arizona Cardinals team to ‘look in the mirror’

Seeing a hunk of gum on the bottom of your shoe. A dumpster full of diapers and expired brisket. Slime eels. The Cardinals’ loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

These are all ugly things.

One doesn’t have to be.

The Cardinals can still pull out of this two-game slump they’ve found themselves in after today’s loss to the Falcons Sunday. They’ll just have to re-evaluate themselves first.

“Right now, we have something called adversity,” Cardinals safety Rashad Johnson said to Arizona Sports 98.7‘s Paul Calvisi.

Corner Patrick Peterson added that he put the loss on his shoulders after getting burned time and again by Atlanta receiver Julio Jones. Jones had a career day, snagging 10 receptions for 189 yards and a touchdown to contribute to Atlanta’s 500 yards of offense.

“We did not come out and match their intensity,” said head coach Bruce Arians postgame.

He added that failing to “re-set the tempo” of the game at the beginning of the third quarter was also a factor.

Arizona also lost Andre Ellington, Tyrann Mathieu and Paul Fanaika in the first half alone, adding to the growing number of first-stringers on the sideline. Backup running back Marion Grice came in for Ellington and only had 16 yards on five carries to add to Arizona’s meager 35 total yards on the ground.

The Cardinals will try to handle this adversity in the upcoming weeks, when their opponents will include the playoff-contending Kansas City Chiefs and finish with all three division rivals.

“I’m very disappointed in the way we showed up,” said Arians. “Like I said, everybody’s looking for answers. And when you look in the locker room, there’s only one place you look — you look in the mirror. And don’t lie to that guy.”

Johnson echoed his coach’s sentiment.

“We definitely have to look in the mirror. Hopefully, everyone takes this personal.”

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