Rapid reactions: Cardinals fall to Lions, their fourth straight loss

The Arizona Cardinals lost their fourth straight game on Sunday to the Detroit Lions, 45-21.

Arizona has given up at least 31 points in all four losses, but Sunday’s total was a new worst mark for the season so far.

The Cardinals (1-4) held the Lions (3-2) to three straight three-and-outs with a total of -9 yards to begin the game. Detroit then scored touchdowns on six of its next seven possessions and still managed three points on the one drive it was held out.

Reactions from Arizona Sports hosts after Cardinals’ loss to Lions

Vince Marotta, co-host of Bickley & Marotta:

There was very little in the positive category for the Cardinals in their ugly 45-21 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Trey McBride continues to make highlight catches and set tight end records. Yay.

Teagan Quitoriano had two touchdown catches. Cool story, bro.

Roy Lopez continues to play hard. Kudos.

That’s about it. Everything else feels like rock bottom for this team and we’re only five weeks into Mike LaFleur’s tenure as head coach. The passing game is boring. The running game is non-existent because the offensive line can’t open holes. The Cardinals doled out $65 million in guaranteed money at the running back spot last offseason and could have got the same production from Emari Demercado and Michael Carter.

The defense? That unit is living up to its expectations (and that’s not a good thing).

Big changes need to happen. (Nick Rallis/Justin Frye) should not have been brought back as the (DC/O-line coach) and his (defense/O-line) hasn’t given anyone any reason to think it’s going to get better.

Monti Ossenfort was able to get a second-round pick from Houston for Marvin Harrison Jr. (that’s nothing to be happy about, by the way), but in no way should he be the man calling in that pick next April. Ossenfort has orchestrated this rebuild, which is now in its fourth year. This roster lacks elite NFL speed, playmaking ability and depth across the board.

Carson Beck isn’t ready, but there’s really no need to keep Jacoby Brissett out there at QB each week, either. Let Gardner Minshew earn some of the money he got paid in free agency until Beck is ready and then hand it to the rookie without looking back.

Yes, I’m venting immediately after ANOTHER miserable performance, but something tells me I won’t feel differently in the morning.

Dave Burns, co-host of Burns & Gambo:

A dismal performance that feels as familiar and routine as the traffic you sit in every morning. You get angry. You’re resigned. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. We’ve been down this road so many times over the last year we could practically drive it with our eyes closed.

The only difference this time was the new dynamic of the Marvin Harrison Jr. trade which briefly seemed to spark all sides of the football for the Cardinals. The offense showed life and flow and moved the ball well in the first quarter. The defense showed some nasty and got in Jared Goff’s face. For a moment — a fleeting moment — it appeared we had a little “addition by subtraction” happening. The moment was short lived.

Seven straight possessions that ended in a score. Six of them were touchdowns. The Cards appeared to lose their will to compete about halfway through the third quarter. Jacoby Brissett threw for nearly 300 yards but it came after the game was decided and meant nothing. The offense was a three-and-out factory after they scored the first touchdown. It’s Week 5 and fan morale has hit rock bottom and the mood is as blue as the color that washed over the stadium. The clock is ticking on the quarterback, the defensive coordinator and the general manager, and we’re still three weeks from Halloween.

Mitch Vareldzis, co-host of Arizona Sports at Night:

I’m sure the Arizona Cardinals have had plenty of bad weekends, but this is certainly one of them.

Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort tells Wolf and Luke Friday that Marvin Harrison Jr. is a “big part” of what they’re doing. Turns out that wasn’t true.

The next day, multiple reports confirmed that Harrison Jr. would be traded… but we were not told where or for what in return. That created a media circus that truly makes you question the role of insiders in sports media. But that’s a separate conversation…

And then today, where the Cardinals displayed their latest act of football incompetence.

I truly wonder if this team knows how to operate beyond the opening script. The Cardinals were up first 7-0 and did not score again until the Detroit Lions had scored 31 straight points.

Where do you go from here if you’re a fan? Do you start daydreaming of what they do with that 2027 second-round pick? Chant for Carson Beck to start? Call for change with the coaching staff? Root for a new team altogether?

I hate to sound overdramatic but instead of capitalizing on the frenzy created by their own leaked reports, the Cardinals fell flat under the Lions offense (who is coached by last year’s coordinator in case you forgot).

We’ll see if Mike LaFleur can get revenge against his former employer next Sunday in SoFi Stadium.

Tyler Drake, Cardinals reporter and co-host of Cardinals Corner: 

Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, the Cardinals say “hold my beer.”

On top of a dust cloud that was the Marvin Harrison Jr. trade news engulfing the Cardinals this weekend before the wide receiver was eventually shipped off to Houston, Arizona turned in its worst showing of Mike LaFleur’s tenure in a lopsided loss to the Lions.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Drew Petzing got a last laugh over the franchise that canned him just last year. Ex-Cardinal Joshua Dobbs finished the game at QB for the Lions due to the blowout nature of the game.

Ouch.

How Nick Rallis has a job after this week is beyond me. Jacoby Brissett shouldn’t keep his starting role much longer, either. The same feeling goes for Monti Ossenfort after the season ends (if not before).

Nothing is going right for the franchise save for Trey McBride being Trey McBride. It is barreling toward another losing season where questions outweigh answers by a long shot.

Change is needed in multiple areas. How fast that happens and how fast the results turn around is a true unknown at this rate.

And if anything else, don’t have Carson Beck be the emergency quarterback moving forward! He missed out on valuable reps this week due to his inactive status.

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