The Arizona Cardinals experienced a difficult loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, marking their third consecutive defeat by way of a last-second field goal. Defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson commented on the situation, saying, “Losing is losing, but losing on a last-second field goal stings that much more.”
The Cardinals started strong, highlighted by a deep pass from Kyler Murray to Marvin Harrison Jr. and improved performance in the running game. The team also managed to force turnovers. Despite these positives, the game ended with another narrow loss.
Quarterback Kyler Murray reflected on how close the Cardinals were to securing victory: “They were literally a play away from quitting, but we kept them in the game.” He addressed Emari Demercado’s costly fumble near the end zone, which resulted in a touchback rather than a touchdown. “I’m really close with Emari,” Murray said. “I know his character, I know his IQ of the game. Never in a million years I wouldn’t think Emari would do that, but obviously we all make mistakes. He’s going to take that on the chin. But at the end of the day, we all have to be better.”
Demercado himself acknowledged his error: “I just made a mistake. Really no excuse,” he said. “Obviously emotional. Big play. I just got to be smarter.” He added that moving forward would help but admitted such moments are not easily forgotten: “For sure getting back out there is helpful, but you’re never going to completely forget something,” he said. “You just got to keep pushing.”
Tackle Paris Johnson Jr. offered support to Demercado after the play: “I wanted to be one of the first people to find him on the sideline and say wipe it off. Let’s keep going,” Johnson said.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon addressed the team following the defeat and reminded everyone that time was pressing for players and coaches alike: “You go right back to your process and do it better… You’re behind the eight ball at 2-3 and you feel like you gave one away, whatever. That’s in the past. We’ve got good players in there that care. They’re mentally trained and they’ll go back to work tomorrow.”
Injuries also impacted Arizona during this game; tight end Tip Reiman suffered an injury that could affect their running game depth.
The Cardinals broke an eight-game streak without scoring an opening drive touchdown with Michael Carter’s one-yard run set up by Harrison’s catch.
Defensively, Josh Sweat continued his strong performance with sacks in four straight games—becoming the first Cardinal since Chandler Jones in 2018 to reach such a streak.
Arizona took more deep passing attempts than earlier games this season; however, some gains were negated by penalties or missed connections.
As they look ahead with a 2-3 record, both players and coaches stressed returning quickly to preparation and improvement.
