Cardinals’ loss showed they need Carson Beck on the field as soon as possible

The Cardinals were searching for the mute button. They hoped to hush the blue horde of Lions fans who invaded State Farm Stadium. They hoped to silence the angry mob of Valley fans who raged at the organization following the surprising divorce with Marvin Harrison Jr.

They failed miserably.

In a 45-21 loss to the Lions on Sunday, the Cardinals continued their trend of bipolar performances. Their defense held the Lions to -9 yards in the first quarter only to surrender 24 points in the ensuing 12 minutes. And after a great opening drive, the Cardinals offense went AWOL, a ragged performance that fueled Jacoby Brissett haters and ended with an obvious conclusion:

The Cardinals need to get Carson Beck on the field as soon as possible.

But the news wasn’t all bad.

Just before the game, reports surfaced that the Cardinals would receive the Texans’ second-round pick and sixth-round pick in 2027 in exchange for Harrison. Arizona will also send their seventh-round pick in 2027 back to Houston. It’s a surprisingly solid return for a highly unproductive player and something of a reprieve for general manager Monti Ossenfort.

That is, unless Harrison was purposely dogging it in Arizona, playing with shockingly low effort in hopes of expediting a trade. No one wants to believe MHJ would quit on a team that selected him with the fourth overall pick in 2024. But we’re going to find out.

After 24 hours of confusion and anger among the fan base, the Cardinals came out with a great deal of intensity. Their bend-and-break defense had allowed opening-drive touchdowns in all four previous games. On Sunday, they forced a three-and-out, keyed by a successful blitz sack from Budda Baker.

It was a hopeful beginning to a game pitting a pair of coordinators from Jonathan Gannon’s staff. And the much-maligned Nick Rallis struck early, delivering constant pressure on Lions quarterback Jared Goff and forcing Drew Petzing’s offense to produce three consecutive three-and-outs, the first time that’s happened in Arizona since 2016.

But the Lions finally woke up. A fourth-down conversation with 12:22 remaining in the first half marked the first time Detroit moved the chains and ultimately led to a Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown. On another fourth-down, the Cardinals forgot to cover tight end Sam LaPorta, who scored on a 38-yard pass without a defender in sight. And on another fourth down, Goff dialed up a touchdown pass to Jameson Williams, and the game completely shifted before halftime.

By the end, Petzing was pouring it on his former employers while Rallis will be the target of wrath in the coming days, maybe even unemployed.

The trudge continues. Will Josh Sweat be next on the trading block? Will the team also trade one of their veteran quarterbacks, adding to their growing number of draft picks in 2027? Will Harrison get reborn in Houston? Is Beck ready to run Mike LaFleur’s offense?

Answers are coming. Which is good because victories most certainly are not.

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