The Cardinals have a 24-hour rule.

To a man, they are required to forget the outcome of a game — good or bad — 24 hours after it is over.

It’s a nice thought. But I’m not sure they want to forget what happened against the Chargers on Saturday night.

Obviously, the game was terribly deflating. The new quarterback was very average. Their new defense couldn’t get off the field. The new head coach called the first-half performance the dumbest 30 minutes of football he’s ever seen.

Clearly, he’s not familiar with our own history of dog-breath football.

But here’s the silver lining: The preseason embarrassment will bring some humility and fear back into the locker room. And I believe that will help a team that was possibly growing too comfortable in their status as NFC dark-horse.

Earlier in camp, we heard GM Steve Keim compare Patrick Peterson to Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson. We’ve heard Bruce Arians downplay the dominance of San Francisco and Seattle. We heard many players talking like the team had turned a competitive corner.

Truth is, they haven’t done anything yet. And this team needs a sense of urgency and an underdog mentality if they’re going to succeed.

We know the starters won’t play much in the final preseason game. That means the Cardinals will start the season in St. Louis on Sept. 8 under a shadow of doubt, with something to prove. They will not be acting like they have already arrived.

With this football team, that’s an important distinction.

The above was transcribed from the Bickley Blast, heard on The Dan Bickley Show with Vince Marotta every Monday through Friday at noon on Arizona Sports 620.

Follow @AZSports