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Cardinals’ Monday Night Football games tell tale of franchise’s history
Deuce Lutui wasn’t giving up the goods. When asked by phone what he said to Derek Anderson that made the Arizona Cardinals quarterback laugh in the midst of a Monday Night Football beatdown by the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 29, 2010 in Glendale, Lutui only offered the G-rated version.
“I was saying something to the effect of, ‘Hey, man, we’re getting whupped, but I got your back,'” Lutui said, laughing. “I told him, ‘Even though we’re down, I’m gonna be out there taking my shots.'”
Whatever else the always personable Lutui said will probably remain a secret. Unfortunately for the offensive lineman and his QB, the moment was also caught on camera so the interpretations that night were as endless as people’s imaginations — and the fallout was not kind to Anderson.
ESPN analyst and former NFL coach Jon Gruden ripped the pair for laughing in the midst of a lopsided loss. Gruden’s analysis sparked a flood of social media hot takes. And all of that attention led to a viral exchange between Anderson and longtime Arizona Republic beat writer Kent Somers in the interview room after the game.
“If this had happened 10 years before, Anderson might have been asked about it, but it wouldn’t have been as big of a big deal,” Somers said. “But it had blown up so much on Twitter, and it was what everyone was talking about in an otherwise really awful Cardinals performance so you had to ask about it.”
That 27-6 loss was the sixth straight for the Cardinals, who went 5-11 that season after a 3-2 start. Anderson only started one more game for the Cardinals — a loss to St. Louis the following week — before his time in Arizona ended.
While Anderson moved on, “I take this sh*t seriously” became as popular a meme as all of those Jim Mora gems, but on the list of strange Monday Night Football moments in this franchise’s history, Anderson’s tirade may not even rank in the top five.
More to the point, when you examine the Cardinals’ pathetic, comical and often bizarre Monday Night Football history, the long view provides a telling perspective of the franchise.
“You can really tell a lot of the Cardinals’ history in Arizona by looking at those Monday night games,” Somers said. “In Buddy Ryan and Denny Green’s cases, they were examples of the dysfunction of the organization. In the very first game in 1988, there were tons of Cowboys fans there so that tells the Cardinals’ story of moving here and struggling to win over a fan base. And all the losing just tells the story of the struggle to gain some traction in the NFL and become known as a marquee team that would even have Monday night games.”
In terms of viral moments, Anderson’s blow-up takes a backseat to the most infamous tirade in Cardinals history. That, of course, came via coach Dennis Green after the Cardinals blew a 20-0 halftime lead to the Chicago Bears by committing a litany of mistakes that led to a 24-23 loss in the first season in their shiny new Glendale stadium.
There have been other epic losses, mind-boggling decisions and truly bizarre moments, however. As the Cardinals prepare to host the LA Chargers on Monday in Glendale, here are some of our favorites in chronological order.
For help telling those stories, we turned to longtime Valley journalists Darren Urban, Scott Bordow, Paola Boivin and Somers, along with former Cardinals such as Bertrand Berry, Lutui and Bruce Arians.
We begin with the very first Cardinals game in the Valley.
Sept. 12, 1988: Dallas 17, Cardinals 13
Cowboys fans far outnumbered Cardinals fans at sweltering Sun Devil Stadium (98 degrees at kickoff) that night, but the Cardinals were decent that season under coach Gene Stallings while the Cowboys were on their way to a 3-13 record that allowed them to select UCLA QB Troy Aikman first overall at the 1989 NFL Draft.
With Dallas leading 10-7, the Cardinals had the ball at the Cowboys’ 24-yard line with three seconds remaining in the first half. Stallings inserted the field goal team for a 42-yard attempt. Instead, holder Cliff Stoudt flipped the ball to 5-feet-10 kicker Al Del Greco, who had the unenviable task of outrunning the Cowboys defense 32 yards to the end zone.
“Del Greco was a good field goal kicker, but if you know Al, he’s not the most athletic specimen on the football field,” said Scott Bordow, then the beat writer for the Mesa Tribune. “Del Greco took off with the football and he looked like an Oompa-Loompa trying to score. He made it to the 16 and then he just got crushed.”
The decision proved costly. The Cowboys won by a field goal.
“It was the perfect introduction to Cardinals football,” said Bordow, who remembers Stallings’ mea culpa after the game. “‘You don’t have to be a Phi Beta Kappa to realize that was the wrong call.'”
Dec. 25, 1995: Dallas 37, Cardinals 13
When Buddy Ryan arrived as the new Cardinals coach for the 1994 season, he brashly proclaimed: “You’ve got a winner in town.” Bragging aside, Ryan had some substance to his claim. He had just led the Eagles to three straight seasons of 10 or more wins, and he had won a Super Bowl with the Bears as the coordinator of perhaps the game’s greatest defense.
Ryan went 8-8 in his first season in Arizona, but he succumbed to the Valley’s hex quickly, going 4-12 in his second season.
There was a lot of subtext when the Cowboys arrived for just the second Monday Night Football game in the Valley; this one on Christmas Day. Dallas was on its way to another Super Bowl title, Ryan was on the hot seat, and filmmakers were in town, using footage of this game for the 1996 movie, “Jerry Maguire,” starring Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Renée Zellweger.
The real-life ending wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the Hollywood ending. Dallas beat the Cardinals 37-13. The only drama came with one second on the clock. The Cardinals called a timeout and Ryan left the field, running into the tunnel with security personnel.
Some think Ryan was unaware of the planned timeout. Others believe his departure was deliberate. Whatever the case, he was fired the next day and it wasn’t hard to figure out why, given the long-suspected dysfunction in the locker room.
“Two players got into a fight before the game while Dan Dierdorf was in the locker room as part of the broadcast crew,” Somers said. “It was Eric Hill and a defensive lineman named Chadrick Brown. Dierdorf is looking around like, ‘What the hell is going on with this team?'”
The NFL waited four more years to grant the Valley another Monday night game.
There were other memorable moments before and after the Monday Night Meltdown and Anderson’s tirade. Let’s take a look at a few of those before returning to, ahem, the crowning moment.
Sept. 29, 1999: San Francisco 24, Cardinals 10
49ers Hall of Fame QB Steve Young played his last NFL game, sustaining a concussion on a hit by Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams that ended his career.
The Arians era: The best of times
We asked former coach Bruce Arians to pick one of the Monday night games that stood out. Arians refused. “No,” he said. “All of them were special. It was fun.”
Arians went 3-1 on Monday Night Football. He beat the San Diego Chargers in 2014 when unusual flooding in the Valley made the I-10 impassable and the game was in question. He beat the Baltimore Ravens in 2015, and the New York Jets in 2016. The only loss came in Arians’ final year as coach — are you sensing a pattern? — a 28-17 loss to the Cowboys.
“I remember when I was in more of the watching-and-not-covering mode that I always thought that this Monday night stage was so important to the Cardinals,” said, Boivin, then a columnist for The Arizona Republic. “They just don’t have a great national perception, whether it’s all the years of losing, whether it’s the ownership issues, or whether it’s how you would go to a game and it was all visiting fans.
“I always remember thinking, ‘My God, you are on a national stage right now. Make the most of it.’ And there were so many years that they just didn’t, so I think Bruce having success helped paint the Cardinals in a better light when he was the coach. Aside from the wins, his personality really came out. He was that likable, approachable kind of guy that became the face of the team.”
Oct. 19, 2020: Cardinals 38, Dallas 10
Kyler Murray’s return to Texas would likely have drawn a sold-out AT&T Stadium, but COVID-19 kept the socially distanced crowd to just 25,174 spectators in a stadium that normally holds 80,000 and can hold more than 100,000.
Murray still had a special performance, throwing for 188 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 74 yards and another score in the Cardinals 38-10 win.
“He was obviously a huge high school star there and even though the crowd was not anywhere close to how many people that place can hold, it seemed like a mass of humanity after what we all had been going through for eight months with the pandemic,” said Urban, now the team’s website writer. “He throws the 80-yard touchdown pass to Christian Kirk and he’s carving it up and then when the game’s over, I’m rushing to the [team] bus to sit and write on an empty bus.
“It felt really weird. You’re a part of it, but you’re not. Everything was so separated. There’s no face-to-face interviewing, even for somebody like me. It just didn’t feel right.”
Triple trouble in 2022
Monday was an outright hex for the Cardinals in 2022. They got blown out at SoFi Stadium in the wild card round of the playoffs, losing 34-11 to the Rams in a season in which they started 7-0.
Eleven months later — after the Cardinals dropped a 38-10 decision to the 49ers at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City — offensive line coach and running game coordinator Sean Kugler was accused of, and later fired for allegedly groping a woman in Mexico City.
Three weeks later, Kyler Murray blew out his ACL just three snaps into a 27-12 loss to the Patriots on Monday night, hastening the firing of coach Kliff Kingsbury, whose team lost its final seven games.
“You barely remember that Patriots game, but how much did that change the direction of everything with his team and Kyler’s career?” Urban said.
Speaking of altering the trajectory of careers, Green never worked in the NFL again after that infamous 2006 season. He spent three seasons coaching in the United Football League and passed away in 2016 at the age of 67.
It was clear in the aftermath of Green’s tirade that he was ready to blow. The question that reporter Mark Brown asked had little if nothing to do with his answer. He was simply miffed that his team had blown such a comfortable late lead, that the undefeated Bears were getting so much national respect, and that Chicago coach Lovie Smith had dismissed the third preseason game of the season when the Cardinals beat the Bears 23-16, running up a 20-6 lead while the starters for both teams were playing.
“There was a lot of backdrop to that game because we had heard what Lovie Smith said and at that point we took everything personally because we were still trying to find our own way,” said Berry, a defensive lineman on that team. “We knew we had a team that was talented. For whatever reason, we just couldn’t figure out a way to get a win so we figured what better statement to make than against a team that was undefeated and that we had beaten in the preseason?”
Berry remembers watching in disbelief as the events of the second half unfolded. With the Cardinals leading 23-3 late in the third quarter, QB Matt Leinart fumbled and Bears safety Mike Brown returned it for a 3-yard touchdown. With 5:11 left in the game, Cardinals running back Edgerrin James fumbled and cornerback Charles Tillman returned it 40 yards for a TD. One series later, Devin Hester returned Scott Player’s punt 83 yards for the go-ahead score.
Despite all of that, Leinart got the Cardinals in position for a Neil Rackers 40-yard field goal to win the game. But Rackers missed, setting up Green’s eruption.
Berry wasn’t around to hear it that night. He beat a hasty exit from the locker room, but the next day at the team’s practice facility, the TVs were on in the locker room and a number of players witnessed it for the first time.
“Denny spoke for all of us,” Berry said. “I know a lot of fun has been made of it, but that’s exactly how we felt. They were who we thought they were. We felt Rex Grossman was a guy that if we could get some pressure on him, he would turn the ball over, and that’s exactly what he did. He turned it over six times!”
Green never got the chance to say anything more that night. Sensing the shock in the silent press corps, and sensing his coach’s emotional state, Cardinals senior VP of media relations Mark Dalton adroitly stepped into the breach, pressed his hands quietly together and said: “Thanks, coach.”
Green departed. Two and half months later, he was fired.
Cardinals’ all-time MNF results in Arizona
In their Valley tenure, the Cardinals have played 14 of their 18 MNF games in Arizona, including Monday’s game against the Chargers. Two games were played in San Francisco, one game was played in Dallas, and one game was played in Mexico City.
Dec. 12, 2022: New England 27, Cardinals 13
Nov. 21, 2022: San Francisco 28, Cardinals 10
Dec. 13, 2021: Los Angeles Rams 30, Cardinals 23
Oct. 19, 2020: Cardinals 38, Dallas 10
Sept. 25, 2017: Dallas 28, Cardinals 17
Oct. 17, 2016: Cardinals 28, New York Jets 3
Oct. 26, 2015: Cardinals 26, Baltimore 18
Sept. 8, 2014: Cardinals, 18, San Diego 17
Oct. 29, 2012: San Francisco 24, Cardinals 3
Nov. 29, 2010: San Francisco 27, Cardinals 6
Dec. 14, 2009: San Francisco 24, Cardinals 9
Nov. 10, 2008: Cardinals 29, San Francisco 24
Sept. 10, 2007: San Francisco 20, Cardinals 17
Oct. 16, 2006: Chicago 24, Cardinals 23
Sept. 27, 1999: San Francisco 24, Cardinals 10
Dec. 25, 1995: Dallas 37, Cardinals 13
Sept. 12, 1988: Dallas 17, Cardinals 14
All-time record: 5-12
— Bold signifies home team
Lopez lifting his D-line mates
Roy Lopez embraces the next-man-up mentality as much as any Cardinal, but when he looks around the room, it’s hard to avoid a last-guy-standing feeling on the interior of the Cardinals defensive line.
Darius Robinson hasn’t played a game due to a calf injury sustained in the final week of the preseason. Justin Jones is out for the season with a triceps injury. Bilal Nichols is out for the season after leaving two consecutive games with a stinger that suggests further issues. Khyiris Tonga has missed time with a knee injury. Dante Stills has been inactive and also missed time with a shoulder injury, and the Cards had to re-sign Naquan Jones after cutting him before the season opener.
“At the end of the day, those are my friends, those are my brothers, those are the people you build relationships with and you look forward to playing with,” Lopez said. “It’s weird because those guys have been fairly healthy most of their careers.
“Everybody’s like, ‘It’s tough not having them out there,’ but it’s more than that. It’s not having them in meetings. It’s tough not hearing their voices, their knowledge of the game. It’s an emotional season with ups and downs and those are the guys who help you through — we help each other.”
Those emotions have been magnified by the struggles of the Cardinals defense. There is still some experience along the line to help buoy spirits, but Lopez knows he has a role to play with the younger players, even if he believes that role is sometimes overstated.
“I lean on them just as much as they lean on me, but when you talk about that leader role, I’ve been that way my whole life,” he said. “You get what you give in this league. That’s how you earn respect. Respect comes through your reps. Your reputation comes through your reps.
“If you’re able to be first in line, do the drill and bring energy every day, I think that helps and I hope that’s something that people can say about me every single day. Maybe a guy’s not feeling it one day so I can make him laugh and snap him out of it. I want them to understand that everybody’s here for a reason, and that’s because they can play ball, but at the same time, you’ve got to show that every single day. This is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league.”
3 keys to victory
Limit JK Dobbins: Chargers’ reborn running back JK Dobbins enters the game fully healthy for the first season in a long time. Couple that with coach Jim Harbaugh’s smash-mouth philosophy and Dobbins was tied for sixth in the NFL in rushing yards (438) through Week 6. He is averaging 5.4 yards per carry; third among backs with at least 60 carries.
The Cardinals’ injury-decimated defense ranks 29th in yards allowed per game (153), tied for 23rd in yards allowed per carry (4.7) and tied for 29th in rushing TDs allowed (8). While there were signs that the Chargers passing offense was emerging in last week’s win against the Broncos — a game that came after a bye week in which LA tweaked some things — offensive coordinator Greg Roman has a run-first mentality. Arizona must rise to the occasion.
Don’t sleep on Justin Herbert: As we noted above, the Chargers came out of a bye week and voilà, Herbert looked more like his old self, completing 21 of 34 passes for 234 yards and a TD. He threw to nine different receivers in that win against Denver.
It’s too early to say whether Roman is diversifying the offense after a run-heavy start, but he has a QB who has thrown for more than 4,000 yards in three separate seasons, with a career completion percentage of 66.5 and a nearly 3:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Letter-perfect special teams: This is probably going to be a low-scoring, tight affair where mistakes are magnified. With Chad Ryland taking over the kicking duties, the Cardinals can’t afford any missed scoring attempts.
If he gets any return opportunities, DeeJay Dallas needs to keep doing what he has been doing; be one of the best return men in the game. And when it comes time to play the field-position game, punter Blake Gillikin must be at the top of his game, pinning the Chargers deep and forcing them into long fields.
Matchup to watch
James Conner vs. the Chargers defense
The Commanders game is an outlier. Conner’s yards were largely meaningless against Washington because they came too early or too late in the game, sandwiched around an afternoon in which the Cardinals could not get any stops defensively.
If you look at the two wins, however, Conner had 40 carries for 208 yards (5.2 average) and one TD. In the other three losses, he had 32 carries for 91 yards (2.84 average) and one TD. It’s fair to say that as the Conner goes, so goes the Cardinals offense.
The problem? The Chargers run defense is stingy, allowing 97.2 yards per game (sixth in the NFL) and 4.2 yards per carry (tied with Detroit for seventh). With Will Hernandez (and Jonah Williams) out of the lineup, the Cardinals will be need yeoman’s work from the three remaining starters (center Hjalte Froholdt, tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and guard Evan Brown if he plays), plus strong work from tackle Kelvin Beachum and the guard rotation of Trystan Colon and Isaiah Adams.
We can talk about the Cardinals passing offense needing to get on track, but without a strong running game, that won’t happen and the Cardinals won’t win.
The week in Quotes
Final injury report
News and notes
- With a TD of any kind, Conner would have seven TDs in seven career starts on Monday Night Football.
- Twenty Cardinals players will make their primetime debut on Monday night. That is 38.5 percent of Arizona’s 52-man active roster.
- Neither of Cardinals edge rushers Zaven Collins and Dennis Gardeck has a sack since Week 2 against the Rams.
- The roof is expected to be open for the game against the Chargers, marking the first time fans will look at open sky in the stadium this season.
- Aside from his kickoff return for touchdown in the season opener, Dallas is second in the NFL with a 32.3-yard average on 11 returns.
- The Cardinals have only forced three punts in their past three games.
- After retiring in 2023, former Cardinals safety Tony Jefferson made a comeback with the Chargers this season and will be in Glendale on Monday. If you asked media who have been around this team for a while to list their favorite players to deal with, Jefferson would be on the short list.
- The Chargers lead the NFL in points allowed per game at 13.2.
- Kyler Murray has thrown a whopping 20 incompletions to Marvin Harrison Jr., whose catch rate is 59th among 62 receivers with 30 or more targets.
Predictions
Top photo via Getty Images: Chicago rookie Devin Hester returns a punt 83 yards for a TD against the Cardinals to complete the Bears’ rally from a 20-point deficit to a 24-23 win on Monday Night Football in 2006 in Glendale.
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