Rapid reactions: Cardinals falter vs. Giants for 3rd straight loss

The Arizona Cardinals failed to capitalize on a strong start in a 36-24 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday.

After scoring two touchdowns on their first two drives to take a 14-3 lead in the first quarter, the Cardinals would only score 10 more points the rest of the game.

The Cardinals had a chance to potentially win the game late in the fourth quarter with a red zone drive, but on the final play of the game, Jacoby Brissett threw his third interception of the game to seal Arizona’s fate.

Meanwhile, Marvin Harrison Jr. had another quiet game on offense after getting off to a hot start with an opening-drive score for his first touchdown of the season. The touchdown catch would be his only reception of the game.

Arizona Sports hosts react to the Cardinals’ Week 4 loss:

Vince Marotta, co-host of Bickley & Marotta:

Some thoughts after a 36-24 loss to the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium…

The Cardinals aren’t exactly who we thought they were — we thought they’d be good on offense. They’re not.

After absolutely ramming the ball down the throats of the New York defense via the run on the first two drives of the game, the offensive line and running game took the rest of the day off. The Cardinals built a 14-3 lead early on the back of the running game, which amassed 81 yards on nine carries.

The rest of the way: 17 carries for 42 yards on 11 possessions!

Jacoby Brissett out-Jameis’d his counterpart and threw three interceptions in a game for the first time in his career. And that was mixed with another conservative approach that mustered just 4.7 yards per attempt on 35 throws.

Brissett and the offense were gifted a first-and-goal at the Giants’ four-yard line with 22 seconds left after an iffy pass interference call on Deonte Banks. Armed with a timeout and enough time for four plays, Brissett threw three incompletions and then a pick-six (by Banks) on the final play. The routes run by Trey McBride and Michael Wilson on third and fourth down were feeble at best, with both receivers getting manhandled (legally) by aggressive Giants defenders.

The offensive line struggled again to protect Brissett and lost left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. late in the game to a biceps injury. He might be out a while.

All in all, it was another three-plus hour tease of a Sunday afternoon.

John Gambadoro, co-host of Burns & Gambo: 

This was the game Mike LaFleur was expected to win when he was brought here to lead this franchise. On the road vs. a mediocre team playing their backup quarterback, and you have the ball down 30-24 with a first-and-goal from the Giants’ four-yard line and 22 seconds left – with a timeout in your back pocket. No way you can lose this game, right?

Wrong! Somehow the Cardinals ran four pass plays, completely ignored their dynamic rookie RB Jeremiyah Love, and lost the game because none of those passes were completed and the final one was returned for a pick-six.

Inexcusable play calling. The Cardinals went incomplete to Wilson. Incomplete to Wilson. Incomplete to McBride. Interception returned for a touchdown looking for Wilson. How Love does not touch the ball is beyond comprehension. Sure, the Giants did a great job of stopping the run after the first quarter, but this is four yards from victory! You have to give him a shot! You have to.

If you did not have a timeout, then maybe, but you had one. I get saving the timeout in case there is a sack, but you could always pitch it out to him, as the Giants had just done with Cam Skattebo on a third and 3 that went for four yards. Love has to touch the ball at least once on that drive. Not sure how this can even be debatable.

Tyler Drake, Arizona Sports Cardinals reporter and Cardinals Corner co-host:

The Cardinals did just about everything we wanted to see out of the team in the first quarter on Sunday. More explosives, no penalties, Josh Sweat and Walter Nolen III applying pressure, Marvin Harrison Jr. getting involved early.

It was a blowout waiting to happen. That’s how good Arizona looked early on.

Then the rest of the game happened.

Jacoby Brissett went from rarely turning the ball over to outpacing Jameis Winston in interceptions (3-2). Jeremiyah Love went from being a focal point to an afterthought. Same with Marv.

Arizona’s defense, meanwhile, reverted back to what we’ve largely seen in recent seasons… Not good.

The second quarter was especially bad and paved the way for another Cardinals loss. As a team, Arizona recorded just 28 yards of total offense. Of Brissett’s 10 pass attempts, two resulted in interceptions. Arizona’s run game averaged a paltry 1.8 yards per carry.

After a performance like today, the quarterback conversation is going to crank way back up. Same with the near-weekly chatter about Nick Rallis and his job security.

What about general manager Monti Ossenfort’s part in it all, too?

Arizona needed to capitalize on one of its only soft spots on a miserable schedule and answer some of the looming questions we all have for the franchise.

Instead, all that noise is just getting louder.

Kellan Olson, co-host of Arizona Sports at Night:

The reality is that Mike LaFleur now has a lot of work to do with this offense. Whether you were buying into his offensive prowess coming into the season or you needed to see more, we are now a month in with little to be impressed by.

Outside of the execution in Week 1 against a Chargers team with loads of problems, there has been no sign of where he was supposed to influence this team the most. Jacoby Brissett has not been great. Neither has the offensive line. But that is supposed to be where LaFleur is making a difference, and where I am supposed to be forming some type of optimism about the future. He is supposed to elevate the deficiencies and maximize the strengths. I see none of that.

When I look everywhere else, it’s the same Cardinals teams I’ve watched most of my life. Undisciplined, stupid, mindless football. A handful of idiotic mistakes you can recite by memory from each week’s loss. That canceled out a week of actual individual impact from the Cardinals defense for the first time this season, so they still gave up 319 yards to a JAMEIS WINSTON OFFENSE.

Can I at least get a competent offense in the meantime while I watch the same old crap?

Luke Lapinski, co-host of Wolf & Luke:

This felt like a crossroads game for the Cardinals’ season. Win in New York, and you’re 2-2 with a couple road victories over both Harbaugh brothers already. Sure it would’ve been against the Giants’ backup quarterback, but nobody would’ve cared. That’s life in the NFL, and a win’s a win — especially when you’re the team from the West traveling east to play an early game. Plus a 2-2 start with a new head coach really gives you some tangible progress to point to — both as a fan base and in the locker room.

A 1-3 start is a very different story, though. And unfortunately that’s the path Mike LaFleur’s group is on now. It’s not just the painful last-second loss; it’s the missed opportunity mixed with the notoriously brutal schedule coming up. The 2026 Cardinals look significantly better than the product they were running out there last year, but the harsh reality is this could go very south very quickly. With the Lions, Rams, Broncos, Cowboys, Seahawks, Rams again and Chiefs coming up in the next seven games, a 3-8 or even 2-9 start is absolutely on the table now.

The Cardinals did some good things in this game, but they all come with caveats now. They mostly shut down the Giants’ running game while forcing them into three turnovers, but they also took destructive penalties at just the wrong times to extend New York drives.

The Cardinals’ offense looked unstoppable on the first two drives of the game… but then went largely silent. And while the defense was forcing Jameis Winston into turnovers, the offense was giving the ball right back. Marvin Harrison Jr. opened the game with a great touchdown grab… and then never had another catch. Jeremiyah Love already runs the ball like a pro… but they can’t give him any room to break off a long play. And I’ll never understand why Arizona didn’t at least try one run when they had first and goal from the New York four, with 27 seconds left on the clock and a timeout to work with. Brissett’s fine, but he’s not Patrick Mahomes. The whole game doesn’t have to be in his hands right there.

As it turns out, this afternoon ended up being a reminder that the Cardinals are a team that just doesn’t have much margin for error right now. And those errors caught up with them in New York.

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