Coming off a lopsided 44-22 loss to the Seattle Seahawks and staring at a 3-6 record, Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon is not ready to make any changes.
“No,” Gannon said postgame when asked by reporters if he needed to make player or staffing changes given the optics of Sunday’s loss.
“When that happens and the score looks like that, it falls on the head coach,” the head coach added. “It sucks for me to say that because that’s where my mind goes, ‘I didn’t do enough what I needed to do throughout the week to get them ready to go.'”
Looking like the lesser team from the jump, the Cardinals at one point faced a 35-0 deficit in the first half. Sunday marks the first time all season that Arizona had lost by more than one score.
Arizona had no answers for Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold in the first half, so much so that the signal caller thew just two passes in the second half! That stat alone tells you just how off kilter this game was for Arizona.
The same feeling goes for the run game in the second half as it squeezed any remaining life out of the Cardinals’ comeback chances.
Defensively, Seattle defenders were in the backfield more times than not, highlighted by five sacks (all coming in the first half) and 10 QB hits on Sunday. A pair of strip sacks returned for touchdowns headlined the problems.
If there was a place where change is needed, it starts at right tackle given Jonah Williams’ body of work this season.
Any wholesale changes, though, likely aren’t coming until the offseason — whether Cardinals fans like it or not.
The NFL trade deadline is a thing of the past, with Arizona standing pat. Those players still looking to jobs on the open market are doing do for a reason.
And as Gannon has said time and time again this season, especially during a five-game losing streak, Arizona is prepared to stay the course in 2025. Double down on what you know, as Gannon said during the bye week.
Maybe he tweaks things and gets a different play caller at the helm — similar to what Detroit did this week — but even that seems like a stretch.
Once the offseason hits? All bets are off, with an evaluation of the offense and quarterback among the biggest must-dos.