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By Keller Brown
Cronkite News

TEMPE – After an explosive victory over the Los Angeles Rams in their second game of the season, the Arizona Cardinals sputtered offensively in a home loss to the Detroit Lions.

By Monday, the Cardinals were already looking ahead to the Washington Commanders, who visit State Farm Stadium next, and when they did, they might have noticed some faces familiar to Valley football fans.

Jayden Daniels, the Commanders quarterback and the second overall pick from last year’s NFL Draft, returns to the desert after playing his first three collegiate seasons at Arizona State. Daniels transferred to Louisiana State following his 2021 campaign and went on to win the 2023 Heisman Trophy before declaring for the NFL Draft.

And former Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury is the Commanders’ offensive coordinator. Following his firing after the 2022 season, Kingsbury coached at USC during the 2023 season before returning to the NFL in the nation’s capital, where he leads an offense headlined by Daniels.

In Kingsbury’s four seasons as the head man in Arizona, the Cardinals posted a 28-37-1 record with one playoff appearance, which came in 2021. When asked about Kingsbury, Cardinals outside linebacker Dennis Gardeck said, “I’m excited to see him on Sunday.”

Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon, who replaced Kingsbury, said he will use anything he can to try and win Sunday, including picking the brains of his current players who played under Kingsbury.

“We turn over every stone,” Gannon said. “Obviously, high opinion of Kliff, what he does.”

Of course, that can work both ways.

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray played his first four seasons under the now Commanders offensive coordinator, so Kingsbury will have some ideas of his own.

Meanwhile, Gannon doesn’t believe Murray will need extra motivation for Washington after he and the offense struggled to get untracked against Detroit.

“He’s going to look to play better than last week, rebound and get us back to 2-2,” Gannon said.

The loss to Detroit left the Cardinals in a three-way tie with the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams for second place in the NFC West, behind the Seattle Seahawks.

From an interception in the endzone thrown by Murray, to a failed fourth-down-and-one attempt in Lions territory, the third quarter presented opportunities for the Arizona offense that the Cardinals failed to capitalize upon in the Detroit loss.

While Gannon wasn’t pleased with the outcome, he hasn’t lost faith in his players’ ability to respond correctly.

“We got mature and serious people,” Gannon said during a Monday press conference. “You got to be able to take it on the chin after a loss, but learn from it and also see the good from it, too.”

The Lions and Cardinals both scored touchdowns on their opening possessions, with Murray answering Detroit’s score with a back-corner touchdown strike to rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Murray would go on to finish with 207 passing yards. He didn’t throw another scoring pass and was intercepted once.

Although Murray didn’t play well enough for the Cardinals to win Sunday, Gannon is confident in his quarterback’s ability to put the loss behind him and move on.

“He’s a mature person,” Gannon said. “There’s a lot of ball to play.”

Arizona’s defense had a solid showing for a second consecutive week, highlighted by a third quarter interception from Gardeck, who was surprised by the play itself. He was not expecting a pass.

“I was actually yelling out ‘It’s a run, it’s a run’ pre-snap,” Gardeck said in the Monday news conference. “I’m just able to be in my zone with vision. (He) just kind of threw a dart into my chest.”

The Gardeck interception didn’t end up leading to any points, as Murray was unable to pick up a first down on a fourth-down scamper.

Gardeck said the Cardinals are ready to move on and aren’t letting the loss get into their heads.

“That would be a rough work environment to just let those losses linger on you,” Gardeck said. “I love it,. Roll the ball out, let’s go again.

“I think that’s the maturity of the team, to be able to correct the things without getting personal. This is a long season. We’re a good football team, and we’re just ready for the next game.”

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