Growth can be a painful process. Just ask the Arizona Cardinals

GLENDALE — Two things can be right about the 2024 Arizona Cardinals:

Progress was made in Year 2 under the new regime. But man, was it painful at times.

With a 47-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the season finale on Sunday, the Cardinals head for the offseason at 8-9.

And you know what? That’s just about where everyone — outside of Arizona Sports’ Dave Burns’ 11-win pipe dream — pegged this team give or take a game or two. Even Vegas had Arizona in the 6.5-win range.

As former Cardinals head coach Dennis Green put it, “they are who we thought they were.”

Like it or not, progress was made in Year 3 under general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon.

This wasn’t the feel-good-story team from last year, where the bar was set exponentially lower given the mess the new guys took on and the still-recovering franchise quarterback.

Just playing to the whistle was a win for this group a year ago.

Instead, this was a team that doubled its win total from a year prior despite some of the talent deficiencies and injuries throughout the roster.

The best part? The core is here to stay following multiple contract extensions to players who continue to embody what this front office wants out of its signings.

Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis got much more in his bag this year, too. His ability to further unlock safety Budda Baker and get creative with his scheme despite the mountain of impact injuries was a breath of fresh air.

Give him some premium pass-rushing help and this could be a really fun unit next year.

Marvin Harrison Jr. meanwhile is going to be just fine after an up-and-down rookie year. A full NFL offseason where he can further build his relationship with quarterback Kyler Murray should be a big help.

And then there’s tight end Trey McBride, who showed everyone that he’s far from a one-trick pony or flash in the pan following a massive continuation of what he put on tape in 2023. He caught 111 passes in Year 3.

Get out of @mcbtrey‘s way!!!!! pic.twitter.com/Tbsl6hcxoa

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) January 5, 2025

Can you say, no-brainer contract extension?

Improvement has been made. The foundation is solidified that much more. Hope and optimism should be there for a franchise that has spent too much time near the bottom of the NFL barrel.

But in the same breath, what a frustrating road it was to get here.

Cardinals went from ahead of schedule to “what is going on?”

The what-could-have-been sentiment is rightfully deserved for this iteration of the Cardinals thanks to the growing pains seen these past few months.

Despite leading an up-for-grabs NFC West and holding a 6-4 record at the bye, Arizona isn’t preparing for its first home playoff game in a decade or hoisting a divisional banner next to 2015’s in the rafters of State Farm Stadium.

It’s not gearing up for another “round” as Gannon likes to call them. Instead, the Cardinals already have one eye on the offseason.

A 2-5 finish can be thanked for that.

“I think we played well in spurts and showed flashes. We were just too inconsistent, and it bit us in the ass in a lot of these games that were late November, December football,” Murray said Wednesday. “We kind of put ourselves behind the eight ball when we needed it the most. Are there positives from this season? Yes.

“Did (those on the outside) think that we would even be in the position to go win the division? I don’t think so. In the locker room is all that matters, and we knew what we were capable of and the fact that we were there and didn’t get it done is the most frustrating part.”

Different coaching staff, same result as the Cardinals once again rode a trend no NFL team wants. Second-half collapses have become too common for this franchise.

The most frustrating part of it all was just how self-inflicted some of the biggest issues were, whether it be the mountain of penalties that plagued Arizona on nearly a weekly basis or the turnovers that riddled Murray’s stat line across the final stretch.

For a team whose foundation is based largely on discipline, that would be one of the last words to describe this team across the final seven games of the season.

As for Murray, the signal caller has got to get it together when it matters most.

To go from MVP chatter to “is he really the guy?” in the span of a season is one heck of a falloff and is far from consistent.

Unfortunately, that’s been Murray’s MO since he got to town. While the quarterback sits above .500 (22-17-1) across the first two months of the season since 2019, he’s a brutal 13-28 from November on.

No matter how good you are in the first half of the year, if you can’t string together wins late, the postseason will remain out of reach.

But for those calling for an immediate change, let’s pump the brakes (for now).

Murray has his faults and has done little to instill much confidence when the games matter most.

He’s also Arizona’s best option for the time being.

You can try to talk yourself into Kirk Cousins, Daniel Jones or any other journeyman that could be on the market this offseason. But that feels at most like a linear move even with Murray’s inconsistencies.

The quarterback can still do things many can’t.

In saying that, though, bringing in some competition and/or a veteran could be a beneficial move.

Because if Murray can’t get it together in Year 3 of the new regime — and take his connection with Harrison to another level — then you have to start really looking at alternatives.

Time is always ticking in the NFL. You can only spin your tires for so long before changes are required.

Murray shouldn’t be the only one feeling the pressure, though.

As much as he needs to solidify his standing as someone the Cardinals can consistently win with, the onus is on Ossenfort to really go for it this offseason.

We all know the NFL Draft is where Ossenfort wants to build his nucleus. But if there was ever a time to tweak the thinking, it’s now.

The difference between contenders and pretenders is winning the close ones. The Cardinals failed to do that down the stretch. Gannon isn’t one to dwell on the past, and what-ifs can be a dangerous exercise.

But you have to wonder, just how many of the team’s five one-score losses could have gone the other way in 2024 had they had some additional talent?

If the Cardinals want to really dig themselves out of mediocrity, opening the checkbook is a good place to start.

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