EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Arizona Cardinals entered Week 4 with a distinction they had not held in 364 days: They were favorites in a regular-season game.
If you do some math and jog your memory, you’ll recall the last time that was true. It was Week 5 of the 2025 season, when the Cardinals blew an incomprehensible game to the Tennessee Titans. In many ways, that marked the turning point of the Jonathan Gannon era. In a 3-14 season, they never quite recovered from that loss, in which they beat themselves by every means possible.
This time around, against the New York Giants, was not quite as remarkable. But the overarching themes were similar. Again, the Cardinals beat themselves in all three phases. And again, they were defeated by a beleaguered,
depleted opponent.
The final blow came at the four-yard line with 12 seconds left, when Jacoby Brissett searched for a game-winning touchdown and instead threw a loss-sealing pick-six. It felt all too familiar, as the Cardinals struggle to turn the page toward a new, more optimistic future.
“This one's gonna sting,” head coach Mike LaFleur said. “It's not gonna be the most fun ride home.”
Here are five takeaways from the 36-24 loss, which dropped the Cardinals to 1-3.
A squandered opportunity
When a questionable pass interference call gave the Cardinals a first down at the Giants’ four-yard line with 27 seconds remaining, it seemed that they would escape New York with a win, despite all their missteps over the preceding 59 minutes.
Instead, their hopes ended right there, four plays later.
Of those four plays, a pass catcher only came open one time: On first down, when Trey McBride leaked into the flat off play action.
“I missed that,” Brissett said. “I didn't get my head around fast enough off the play fake.”
It’s difficult, then, to assign blame to one person. Brissett missed a touchdown on first down. The pass catchers did not get open well enough on the ensuing three plays. The offensive line was leaky. LaFleur could have schemed up easier opportunities.
It was little surprise, then, that LaFleur shot down the notion that the Cardinals could consider a quarterback change this week. He offered up a one-word response: “No.”
For the Cardinals, the puzzle is not that easy — not least because they have no better place to turn.
Cardinals offensive line starts hot, then collapses
The story of this game can be summed up by the Cardinals' offensive line.
For two drives, that group was dominant, moving the line of scrimmage with ease. The Cardinals scored touchdowns on both drives, rushing for 87 yards on just nine carries. And when they did drop back to throw, Brissett was well protected. They appeared on course for a comfortable win, taking advantage of one of their weakest opponents of the season.
Then, the advantage up front disappeared. With it, the game slipped out of the Cardinals' grasp.
After that first drive, they struggled to move the ball at all on the ground. The pass protection may have been even worse, with right tackle Elijah Wilkinson and right guard Isaiah Adams particularly porous, before Adams exited with an ankle injury.
It served as a reminder of the flawed areas that continue to plague this roster.
“They didn't do anything to slow us down,” running back Jeremiyah Love said. “We slowed ourselves down through just the way we executed.”
More self-inflicted wounds from Cardinals defense
The Giants, with a flawed roster besieged by injury, have one player who strikes fear into the heart of every opponent. One player around whom every opposing game plan revolves.
That player, Malik Nabers, is exactly who the Cardinals allowed to shred their defense, time and again. He finished the day with six catches for 112 yards and a touchdown.
This is a concerning trend for the Cardinals defense. In four games this season, they have allowed their opponents’ top pass catchers — Ladd McConkey, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, George Kittle and Nabers — to combine for 431 yards and seven touchdowns.
And, as has often been the case this season, Nabers’ big day occurred largely because the Cardinals beat themselves — not because he was torching their top cornerbacks all afternoon.
On the first drive of the game, he hauled in a 39-yard catch after cornerback Denzel Burke appeared to be responsible for a busted coverage. Later, he caught an open touchdown when the Cardinals matched him up with linebacker Mack Wilson Sr.
It wasn’t just Nabers that the Cardinals struggled with. Twice in the second half, they allowed third-down conversions on busted coverages, with backup safety Wydett Williams seemingly the culpable party.
“I've gotta go look at the tape and see where some of those breakdowns occurred and work to get it fixed, and fixed fast,” LaFleur said.
There was also a game-altering defensive holding penalty against Dante Stills on a Giants field goal attempt. It was a soft call, but Stills did appear to briefly grab an offensive lineman’s jersey. New York took advantage of the extended drive, punctuating it with a touchdown and two-point conversion.
“The explanation was that we jerked the guy,” LaFleur said. “… If that's what happened, you can't do that.”
Josh Sweat, Walter Nolen come alive
Over three weeks, the Cardinals saw precious little production from their two most important pass rushers, Josh Sweat and Walter Nolen. Combined, they had zero sacks and a 3.9% pressure rate. For comparison, that duo had 14 sacks and a 13.7% pressure rate in 23 total games last season, with Sweat providing the bulk of the production.
Then, ahead of the trip to New York, Sweat landed on the injury report. And before the game, ESPN reported that he is seeking a new contract and could be a trade candidate at the deadline. Everything seemed to be trending in the wrong direction.
That proved to be short-lived.
On the Giants' first play from scrimmage, Sweat got his first sack of the season, bringing Winston to the turf in a messy pocket. A play later, he nearly had his second, before Winston got rid of the ball quickly. Later in that quarter, Nolen followed suit, with another clean-up sack as the Cardinals' pass rush made life difficult for Winston.
That wasn’t the end of Sweat and Nolen’s contributions. Early in the second half, they combined for a crucial run stuff, which set up an interception from Budda Baker on the next play. And a few drives after that, Nolen tipped a third-down pass at the line of scrimmage, again slowing a Giants possession.
This is the type of production the Cardinals need moving forward from Sweat and Nolen, who profile as their two biggest defensive difference makers.
Cardinals battered by injuries
It was an ugly day on the injury front for the Cardinals.
Safety Andrew Wingard (knee), right guard Isaiah Adams (ankle) and left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. (biceps) all exited and did not return. LaFleur was not yet sure of the severity of any of those injuries, although Johnson did appear in the locker room postgame with his injured arm in a sling.
If Adams and Johnson miss any time, the Cardinals’ starting offensive line would project as follows, from left to right: Jayden Williams, Isaac Seumalo, Hjalte Froholdt, Jon Gaines, Elijah Wilkinson.
That’s an unnerving proposition.
Love, meanwhile, was held under a 50% snap share, which he said was partially a product of the Cardinals managing his workload. He is now seven weeks removed from a high-ankle sprain sustained in preseason.
“Not really bothering me,” Love said. “Kinda just managing it. Cause we've got a long season, coaches don't want to overload me. So not necessarily bothering me to the point where I can't play, cause I can go out there and play regardless.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 5 key takeaways as Arizona Cardinals upset by New York Giants
