There were a lot of stats the Cardinals put up on Sunday [in their loss to the 49ers](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/cardinals-can-t-find-way-past-49ers-on-return-home-jacoby-brissett-michael-wilson-trey-mcbride), but some of them are the ones that evaporated. In particular, Bam Knight's 60-yard touchdown run that wasn't.
Knight finished with only 24 yards rushing, thanks to a game in which the Cardinals were behind big for a long time. Knight's "TD" could've changed that, but tight end Pharoah Brown was flagged for holding – and Knight was five yards beyond Brown and his opponent by the time it was called – and it all came back.
This isn't about whether it should've been called or not. In the moment, Cardinals analyst A.Q. Shipley said Brown was finishing a block and it shouldn't have been a penalty. Brown clearly disagreed after. The score and an extra point would've made it 25-17, and who knows what happens then. But it was also a microcosm of the flags that turned Sunday's effort sideways.
It was other stuff too. Elijah Higgins was less than a yard from scoring a touchdown, and he got hit and lost a fumble. The near-miss on a deep shot from Jacoby Brissett to Michael Wilson, had the ball just been a little bit more to the inside part of the field.
Brissett said the Cardinals can't stop trying to fix their problems. Calais Campbell talked about keeping the standard of play high week to week. Jonathan Gannon talked about needing to adjust, like when a team knows they have an officials' crew that throws a lot of flags.
Gannon noted again, the issues start with him, and asked why he keeps saying it, he was blunt. "I'm the head coach and I am obviously not doing a good enough job right now."
The Cardinals have to find a way to make plays like a 60-yard touchdown run stand up.
\-- [Michael Wilson has always been capable of games like Sunday](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/in-first-game-as-wr1-michael-wilson-finishes-with-career-day). OK, maybe not 15 catches every week kind of stuff – few are – but the idea he needed to be replaced never made sense to me.
\-- Huge passing numbers often come when a team is behind. Brissett said plainly, "I promise you I can't care less" about his 452 yards or his NFL-record 47 completions. It mattered to teammates, however.
"It's guys like that, they're going to fight through the entire game to try to pull us back in the game," left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. said. "I think I see a guy like that, and we're going to continue to follow him, because he's choosing to make that decision each and every drive."
Brissett broke the record of 45 shared by the Rams' Jared Goff in 2019 and the Patriots' Drew Bledsoe in 1999. The Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger had 47 in a 2020 playoff game, but the postseason has a separate record book.
\-- Brissett also had a streak if 168 straight passes without an interception snapped.