As Larry Fitzgerald stood at midfield for his Ring of Honor ceremony, delivering a heartfelt speech to Arizona Cardinals fans, few of them were present to hear it.
Behind Fitzgerald, a wall of orange and blue Denver Broncos jerseys adorned the visiting sideline, as has become customary here. And when Fitzgerald thanked the Bidwill family, even the franchise’s greatest icon was met with boos from the scattered home fans in attendance.
It served as an apt representation of the current state of this franchise.
Cardinals find new level of futility in final minutes of loss to Broncos
This was aday to celebrate a man who committed his career to Arizona, playing 17 seasons in red and white, reaching highs that no other Cardinal has approached. The pomp
and circumstance of Fitzgerald’s ceremony offered a few welcome moments for these fans to display adoration for one of their own.
The Cardinals have retired No. 11 for Larry Fitzgerald 🙌
— NFL (@NFL) October 25, 2026
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But for the 60 minutes between whistles, there is no convenient script. That portion of the day remained firmly tethered to reality, in a 30-16 loss.
For the Cardinals, it marked a 10th consecutive home defeat, their longest such streak since moving to Arizona.
No other team currently has a home losing streak beyond five. That’s also how many of the Cardinals’ 10 consecutive home losses have been by at least 14 points.
Here are three takeaways from the latest loss.
Another ugly day for offense
On their first drive of the second half, the Cardinals — trailing by just one touchdown — twice had opportunities for big downfield passing plays.
On the first, Jacoby Brissett underthrew a deep pass to Jalen Brooks, who had two steps of separation on a pair of Broncos defenders. On the second, Brissett fired high and behind Trey McBride, who made an impressive adjustment but couldn’t maintain control as he went to ground.
It was that type of day for the Cardinals offense.
Brissett had one of his least productive days of the season, averaging just 5.7 yards per attempt. He completed 27 of 48 passes for 272 yards and one touchdown. Even when he did make good throws, his pass-catchers often couldn’t complete the job, like when running back Bam Knight dropped a perfectly thrown ball in the end zone.
Last week, the Cardinals were able to move the ball well against the Rams, at least outside of the red zone. But this game offered a reminder of their limitations, with a battered offensive line, a flawed quarterback and a thin group of playmakers.
Cardinals secondary struggles
The Cardinals’ maligned pass rush delivered a strong performance for the second consecutive week, buoyed by another high blitz rate from defensive coordinator Nick Rallis. Before the Broncos stretched the lead to three possessions in garbage time, they pressured Bo Nix on 46.2% of his dropbacks.
The problem was that the Cardinals' secondary failed to hold up its end of the bargain when Nix was kept clean.
Per Pro Football Focus, Nix averaged just 1.4 yards per attempt when pressured. On plays when he wasn’t pressured, that number jumped to 12.5.
Really, the story of Nix’s game was best told in three plays: a 62-yard scramble, a 52-yard screen pass to R.J. Harvey and a 47-yard pass to Marvin Mims after a missed tackle.
For the most part, the Cardinals kept Denver’s offense in check. But on each of those three plays, their second- and third-level defenders disappeared, helping the Broncos find a massive gain.
And with Arizona’s offense struggling, that was all the Broncos needed.
LaFleur’s conservative decisions cost Cardinals
With 4:30 remaining in the second quarter, the Cardinals faced a fourth-and-goal from Denver’s 2-yard line. After initially lining up to run an offensive play, they instead tried to draw the Broncos offsides, then settled for a chip-shot field goal.
Based on ESPN Analytics, the decision cost them 4.6% of win probability — one of the worst fourth-down decisions of Week 7 in the NFL.
It’s not just that the Cardinals had a chance to score seven points, at a time when their offense has been struggling mightily. It’s that, even if they failed, Denver would have been pinned at its own goal line.
Instead, the Cardinals put the Broncos at the 35-yard line, following a touchback. Those 33 yards on their own are worth almost as much as the three points that the Cardinals gained with the field goal. And the Broncos made them pay two plays later, when quarterback Bo Nix scrambled for a 62-yard touchdown.
This is now a trend for LaFleur. He has gone for just 27% of the fourth-down attempts recommended by the analytics this season, costing the Cardinals 21.7% of win probability, per ESPN. Those are both bottom-five rates in the NFL.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 3 takeaways as Cardinals extend home losing streak vs. Broncos
