Does momentum exist? Ask Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon

The Arizona Cardinals took a deep dive this offseason to answer an age-old question in sports: Does momentum exist?

In a practical, physical sense, yes. A boulder rolling downhill picks up momentum. On the sports field, momentum swings have explained big games for a long time but are not a measurable data point.

So Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said director of football strategy Kenny Bell got to work.

“That’s looking up historic data from the 1800s in war then going to Olympics and then going to all walks of life in sport,” Gannon said on Wednesday. “Tennis is a good thing, golf is a good thing to study, individual sports. Why does Xander (Schauffele) go bogey, par, bogey and then birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie. Is that momentum? I don’t know. Maybe he just hit some good wedge shots and made some puts.

“It’s something I’m always interested in. Why we did a deep dive on that is a good question. You guys talk about it all the time, the momentum of the game shifted on that play or that series and I always thought to myself, ‘Is that real?”

Does “momentum” exist? #AZCardinals Coach Jonathan Gannon and his staff did a deep dive into the topic this offseason. pic.twitter.com/EdtUz0KFqr

— Mark McClune (@MarkMcClune) July 24, 2024

Did Napoleon have momentum? What about the United States in the the Spanish–American War?

Gannon said if someone went through the Cardinals’ practice facility and asked around whether momentum was real, they would get a myriad of answers.

“Maybe you can feel it or it’s an instinct that you’re thinking you’re on your heels or you’re on the attack,” Gannon said. “What do you do to gain momentum, stop momentum, all of those things. We just wanted to make sure we were versed on what that actually is and what that means.”

Gannon’s conclusion: Perhaps momentum is real, but he has no idea.

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