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Josh Weinfuss, ESPN Staff Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. — A day after the Arizona Cardinals were eliminated from playoff contention after sitting atop the NFC West a month ago, coach Jonathan Gannon shouldered the blame for his team’s collapse down the stretch.
The Cardinals have lost four of their last five games, including a 36-30 overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, after heading into their bye week 6-4.
“I’m not satisfied with the performance of the team and that starts with me,” Gannon said. “So, what I’m really saying, that’s an indictment on myself. I’m not satisfied with myself.”
Gannon described a lot of what happened in Sunday’s loss to then-three-win Panthers as “self inflicted.” The Cardinals went down 20-3 in the second quarter only to pull within 23-20. They then went down 30-20 but came back to tie the game at 30 at the end of regulation only to lose in the extra period.
Arizona couldn’t contain Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard, who ran for 152 yards, and struggled to defend quarterback Bryce Young on the ground after he ran for 68 yards and a touchdown on five carries. Gannon said it was “disappointing” but put that on him.
“That starts with me,” Gannon said. “Dug ourselves out of the hole, had some chances to win it and, ultimately, all three phases didn’t do enough. So, it’s a good learning experience.”
Even though the Cardinals don’t have a postseason berth to play for, Gannon said he still feels “great” about having two games left. On Saturday night, Arizona will visit the Los Angeles Rams, who currently lead the NFC West. The Cardinals can’t completely ruin the Rams’ postseason hopes with a win but beating them at SoFi Stadium would make the Rams’ road to the postseason a bit more difficult.
Then the Cardinals return home to finish the season in Week 18 with the San Francisco 49ers, who have also been eliminated from postseason contention.
“It’s obviously not the outcome we wanted that we’re not going to be playing in mid-January, but I’m excited for these two opportunities,” he said. “One on the road versus a playoff team and then a team that’s been winning our division for a long time.”
To Gannon, two more games means more time build toward next year — just like Arizona did last season when they weren’t playing for anything most of the season.
“I understand how a lot of people think, I guess,” he said. “But when you’re in our seat, you get the joy is competition. So, last year we weren’t playing for anything. We made a lot of hay and got a lot better and we did a lot of good things last year that I thought that we built on and followed us a little bit into this year, you know what I mean?
“So, they’re learning opportunities for us and we’re going to go play a really good team and I’m excited about it. That’s the competitor in me, can’t wait to play on Saturday. I wish it was here, but you got to go through the process.”