Fans are still fuming about Sunday's choke job of a game by the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. The team held a 21-6 lead going into the fourth quarter against the worst team in the NFL and looked to be running away with everything until the Tennessee Titans had a spark of hope and rode that all the way to a 22-21 win.
The collapse and loss were tough enough pills to swallow but Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon made things so much worse. Before we get to what Gannon said that has Cardinals fans so enraged, let's rewind back a bit, as painful as that might be to do.
The Titans had made it a one-possession game with the bizarre interception/fumble that led to a Titans touchdown and cut into Arizona's lead. Tennessee was down by two points with under five minutes to go but the Cardinals had a chance to bleed the clock and put the game out of reach once and for all.
The Cardinals had the ball at their own 35-yard line on 3rd-and-8 with a little over two minutes to go. They opted to try an Emari Demercado run, which went for no gain. The Cardinals then were forced to punt, and, well... we know what happened next.
The worst part of all of this is that Gannon apparently didn't even like the play that was called in that moment. Even offensive coordinator Drew Petzing didn't like the call but isn't his entire job to call plays for the offense? If he didn't like the call, why did it happen then?
Jonathan Gannon's latest comments about brutal third down call make no sense
Gannon said while speaking to the media that he nor Petzing liked the call and instead of using a timeout to try and hash things out, he let the call go on as planned. And... well, again, we saw how that played out. Gannon said this was a learning experience for him but, considering it's his third year in the league, that excuse is not going to fly.
This whole game was just a gross performance from the Cardinals. They not only lost to the worst team in the league but they did so after having, at one point, an 18-point lead. Their running back dropped the football before crossing the goal line, which would have iced the game at that point.
Then, to make matters worse, the head coach and offensive coordinator didn't like the play call on the most important call of the game but ran with it anyway? What is Gannon even doing if he's not questioning things there or at the very least calling a timeout to talk it over?
If the Cardinals continue to flounder this hard, no one will be surprised if Gannon doesn't get a fourth year in Arizona. Stuff like this shows exactly why that result could end up happening sooner rather than later.