GLENDALE, Ariz. — Josh Sweat was not aware of the streak. Or maybe the length of it. And that’s fine. Some things are best left unmonitored.

The Arizona Cardinals lost their 10th consecutive home game Sunday, a skid that dates to last season and perfectly reflects their struggles. They have not won in State Farm Stadium in 407 days. That’s an eternity in professional sports. Especially for an organization striving for better moments, trying to become relevant.

“S—, I ain’t even know it was that many, f—,” Sweat, an outside linebacker, said, standing at his locker after the Denver Broncos beat the Cardinals, 30-16. “It’s never good, obviously. I feel like we owe it to ourselves to get it done at home, especially, man, we’ve been playing pretty good on the road. I just don’t know what it is …”

At different times the Cardinals this season have had to overcome offensive issues and defensive issues. Against Denver, it was both, the walls crumbling on all sides, an avalanche that let a winnable game slip from reach.

In times such as these, a team can use extra support, but that’s a complicated issue in the desert. Opposing fans have had a significant presence in State Farm Stadium for so many years, it often blends with the stadium decor. But this season, with the Cardinals again slipping to the bottom of the NFC West, it’s become a storyline difficult to overlook.

Maybe what made Sunday different was the occasion. At halftime, the Cardinals inducted Larry Fitzgerald into the Ring of Honor and retired Fitzgerald’s No. 11. During a short speech, Fitzgerald discussed how much it meant to him to spend his entire 17-year career in one place, most of it in this building.

“Arizona, you gave me so much more than a career,” Fitzgerald said. “You gave me a home.”

What made it so strange: While half the crowd wore Fitzgerald jerseys, the other half wore Denver sunset orange. After the Fitzgerald ceremony, a chant rang out in the stadium. Larry! Larry! Larry! Later, after the Broncos scored a touchdown, another chant took its place. Let’s go, Broncos! Let’s go, Broncos!

Red the rest here for free: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7725425/2026/10/26/arizona-cardinals-denver-broncos-home-losing-streak/?unlocked_article_code=1.LlE.O4Xh.7w6vuQys95WZ&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

Excerpt:

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Jalen Brooks is undergoing season-ending wrist surgery, he posted on his Instagramstory after Sunday’s loss to the Denver Broncos.
Brooks played 64% of Arizona’s offense snaps on Sunday and made one catch on six targets, as he has taken on an expanded role since the Marvin Harrison Jr. trade moved him up the depth chart

Don’t tempt me with a good time, Mike!

In today’s presser, he gave a very different answer than the ”No” under his breath with no eye contact to the reporter.

Today he said that today wasn’t the day to get into role changes, but that they were gonna do a one-on-one workout with him tomorrow to “see where he’s at” and then decide what the plan is going forward.

Just reading between the lines… there were clearly conversations between the end of the game and today’s presser. I would imagine, if Beck has a healthy week, he’s active Sunday. Wouldn’t say he starts, but I’ll be you anything he’s active.

Excerpt:

The Arizona Cardinals surrendered three gains of at least 40 yards in Sunday’s 30-16 loss to the Denver Broncos.

Denver finished with 377 net yards and 159 rushing yards, while the Cardinals failed to contain Nix as a runner or prevent Harvey from turning a short pass into the game’s decisive score.

Excerpt:
On the third play out of the break, Brissett had Jalen Brooks with two steps of separation on a pair of defenders deep downfield. His underthrow forced Brooks to work back to the ball, attempting to fight through contact for the catch.
Brooks took the blame and said, “If I don't make that play, I at least need (to draw) a penalty.” The defenders, though, could have been avoided entirely with a better throw.

After the game, Brooks said that the Broncos were giving the Cardinals a heavy dose of man coverage. Head coach Mike LaFleur added that Denver was trying to “take the air” out of the underneath passing game, knowing that Brissett had the league’s second-lowest average time to throw this season.

“We knew we were gonna have to get over the top,” LaFleur said. “And when you do that, you're gonna hold onto the ball a little bit longer.”
The problem: That requires talent, from the offensive line to the quarterback to the pass catchers.

According to Next Gen Stats, Broncos edge rusher Nik Bonitto generated 13 pressures on Brissett, the most of any player in a single game in two years. Twelve of them came against backup left tackle Jayden Williams. Third-string guard Hayden Conner wasn’t much more effective against the interior pass rush.

Even using the more charitable metrics from Pro Football Focus, Brissett was pressured on 39.6% of his dropbacks, a season high.

“I'm not even gonna talk about any of the individuals,” LaFleur said. “It's us collectively.”

Excerpt:
“He’s still the starter. … It’s collective,” LaFleur said “If the ball was just stagnant for 60 minutes and you couldn’t even cross the 50-yard line, it’d be one thing. But we’ve been down inside the 10-yard line 10 times over the last two games. The ball is moving, but we got to finish jobs. And again, that starts with me, but that’s a collective effort.”

“The players got to go execute and I got to put them in better positions and give them the clarity to go do so. And then when they do have that clarity, they got to make the place. We know that. We’re not going to shy away from that. We got to finish the job when we’re down there and I don’t even think we’re having these conversations right now.”

LaFleur isn’t wrong when it comes to Arizona moving the football. The offense has logged 14 12-play drives through seven weeks. It is a top five unit when it comes to red-zone trips this year.

The only problem? The Cardinals’ 43% success rate (12-for-28) where it matters most.

I did a post a few weeks ago for Rallis during the Giants game, how I thought it was his worst game and the discussion around him was done.

The discussion for Jacoby is already over, it has been over after week 2 vs the Seahawks. But I believe this was his worst game.

Stretching the field

This was the first game where Jacoby looked like he was actually airing the ball. He still had plenty of his classic need 10 yards dump it for 3 but he had to push it, and boy was he terrible.

Under throwing Jalen Brooks on what could have been a touchdown. The perfect separation by a backup and Brissett lobs it up weakly. The no catch by McBride because for some reason Brissett threw the ball 4 feet above him. How many passes he missed to Wilson and I’ll get to the 2 almost pick sixes to Kendrick Bourne. Those are a few examples I’m sure there are more where he just misses and basically wastes a down

Playmaking

He refuses to throw to anyone in stride, all YAC are completely down to receivers and backs to make the play work.

If he’s pressured he cannot complete a pass, a check down, nothing. Experience is supposed to mean you have veteran instincts. Jacoby has none, except looking for a flag every time he’s hit.

At one point one of the announcers said the Broncos are taking off the top and forcing short passes by Brissett, and I thought, “oh I’m sure Brissett is crushed to have to dump it off. How else does he keep his bullshit completion percentage high.”

Making everyone worse

If a ball goes more than 15 yards Brissett throws the weakest, wobbliest ball you’ve ever seen. Otherwise when it’s close he throws the ball as hard as humanly possible. I wondered why do there seem to be so many drops, and it’s easily because he has no other pitch. Those two short passes to Bourne, which both could have been pick sixes, but because Brissett throws the ball so hard the defenders couldn’t come down with it are the perfect example. He’s throwing uncatchable balls that have to be caught with the body.

The most catchable ball he threw to Micheal Wilson was a lobbed up interception that Wilson basically wrestled away.

Lately is how he’s failing his coach. He is sinking Lafleur, it’s not Lafleur’s fault Brissett misses passes, stares down where the balls going from the snap, never looks past the first read to see if any other concept on a play created separation.

I don’t think Lafleur is a bad coach. (At least not yet) but playing Brissett whether he’s being pressured to or not makes him look weak. No good NFL head coach has been weak.

Yes we are awful. Yes we were missing players, so is every team 6 weeks in.

Second to last Broncos drive was starting to feel eerily similar to Seattle's last drive when we played them. Defense looked like they were giving up and losing heart. Something happened around midfield and they pulled it together and showed something. It definitely helped they tried that trick play to Waddle, but they didn't just give in like they did against the Seahawks. Small and minuscule, but it mattered to me.

This run broke the fan base at the time, this was talked about for weeks on the local radio. It was a low point for AZ football

It was unacceptable then, it is unacceptable now

It’s no surprise that the fanbase wants a change in ownership, and I share those same sentiments, too. My thing is that people are also apathetically pessimistic that there’ll be a change in ownership any time soon, which I also agree with. So, this leads me to the next-ish best thing: Would hiring a quality Team President be enough?

In some world where Bidwill relinquishes his control issues and hires a quality Team President and just enjoys making money, would it be enough? And who would be some candidates?

Throwing it out there, what if the fans in attendance of the game left their seats and went to the concourse or concessions during the National Anthem. Everyone can still stand in appreciation of America during the Anthem, but it would show empty seats or an empty stadium on TV during the Anthem. With the intent of embarrassing Bidwill on national television. Ideally this would be organized on a stand alone prime time game if possible, but I don't think we have any of those this year. I know this would be difficult to organize but worth it to me. Thoughts?