Clayton Tune experiment turns into disaster for the Arizona Cardinals

Through the first eight weeks of the season, many Arizona Cardinals followers have elected to buy into what the new regime has been selling us. It hasn't been easy, considering the fact that the squad continues to pile up the losses. It's the big picture that is most important, however, and the trust that we have in the new regime has helped Cards fans remain positive through the disappointing defeats.

Unfortunately, all of that faith in Arizona's hierarchy may have been tempered a bit following Sunday's 27-0 loss to the Cleveland Browns. It was an embarrassing offensive performance, led by a young quarterback who was basically set up for failure. How can the decision-makers in the Cardinals organization sleep at night after what they did to rookie passer Clayton Tune?

The 24-year-old Tune's first NFL start came, on the road mind you, against a Browns defense that is arguably the best in professional football. Having to navigate through a game with flat-out studs like Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, and Grant Delpit wreaking havoc is no walk in the park. When all was said and done, Tune completed 11 of his 20 throws for a pathetic 58 yards, and was responsible for all three of Arizona's turnovers.

Horrid play at the quarterback spot helped the Arizona Cardinals hit rock bottom this past weekend

Tune's ill-fated opportunity was set in motion last week, when Cards general manager Monti Ossenfort traded journeyman signal-caller Joshua Dobbs to the Minnesota Vikings. At that moment, the "Bird Gang" knew it was either going to be Tune or two-time Pro Bowler Kyler Murray under center versus the Browns. A couple of days before the contest, news broke that Murray was going to remain in bubble wrap for at least one more week.

Ossenfort's handling of the quarterback situation has been misguided from the start of the offseason. It was believed that Colt McCoy would be the starter until Murray was ready, but it eventually became apparent that "Father Time" had caught up to the 37-year-old veteran. Dobbs was acquired in a panic move in late August, a scenario which could've been avoided if management had formulated a better plan for the position back in March.

One can only hope that the disastrous showing against Cleveland didn't do irreparable harm to Tune. When asked about that very subject on Monday, Jonathan Gannon answered that he was "fully confident" that the kid will bounce back. Tune backers can only hope that the head coach of the Cardinals is right.

(Statistics provided by ESPN.com)