The Arizona Cardinals lost in Week 4 on the road, a 36-24 defeat to the New York Giants. They were a few yards away from hitting the 30-point mark for the season straight game and one play away from winning the game and evening their record to 2-2, but it didn't happen.
In all, they gained only 270 yards against the Giants.
What did we see from the offense on Sunday?
Hot start for the offense
Unlike in Week 3 when they fell behind 14-0, they jumped on the Giants for a 14-3 lead, scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions. They went 58 yards in eight plays to start the game after Devin Duvernay had a long kick return, and they went 74 yards in six plays on their next possession.
But the offense went cold
After those first two possessions, things didn't go well. After 132 yards of offense in their
first two possessions, they gained only 138 the rest of the game in 11 more possessions.
In 11 possessions after their first two touchdowns, they turned the ball over three times and went three-and-out six times. They had a 33-yard drive ending in a field goal, and a 35-yard drive ending in a touchdown. They scored on four possesions, gaining 200 yards. They had 70 yards on nine other possessions.
Jacoby Brissett's worst game
Brissett had two touchdown passes, but he threw three interceptions, including the game-clinching interception on fourth-and-goal to end the game. It was the first time in his career he had a three-interception game.
He was 21-for-35 passing for 166 yards, an average of 4.7 yards per pass attempt, which is awful. His yards per attempt for the last three games have been 3.4, 5.4 and 4.7.
Brissett and another failed game-winning drive
We know the overall record he has at 2-14 in 16 starts. We know there have been bad losses. However, Brissett has had opportunities to win games. On Sunday, it was the seventh time he had the ball at the end of the fourth quarter or overtime with a chance to win the game. He has failed to produce a game-winning touchdown in all seven of those opportunities. He led a game-tying drive ending in a field goal at the end of regulation in Week 12 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but those are the only points he has produced in that situation. He failed to score in overtime that game and at the end of regulation against the Indianapolis Colts, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons and, then on Sunday, against the Giants.
Trey McBride limited in impact
It was another seven receptions for McBride on Sunday, giving him 33 in four games, and he has had seven or more catches in every game. However, he is not getting any yards after the catch. He produced 31 yards on seven receptions on Sunday and has 147 yards over the last three games on 24 catches, an average of only 6.1 yards per catch. That is even less than the 6.9 yards per catch Zach Ertz averaged for the Cardinals in seven games in 2023 when he was coming back from a torn ACL and looked old and slow.
This could be a QB problem or a scheme problem.
Love in limited action again
After getting 26 touches against the 49ers, Love was in the starting lineup, but his usage went down. He rushed for 63 yards on 14 carries and had one reception for a loss of eight yards. After playing 56 snaps in Week 3, he logged only 30 and played less than Tyler Allgeier. He wasn't in the game on the final drive when the Cardinals failed to score on four straight plays from inside the five-yard line.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: 6 observations on offense in Arizona Cardinals' Week 4 loss
