Happy Monday! I hope you had a nice weekend.

I’ll get to the Cardinals below, but first, did you catch the Iowa State / Kansas State game on Saturday? It was an ugly first half considering two ranked teams were facing off, but they both put things together in the second half to make it an entertaining way to kick off the college football season.

I’ve got to tip my cap to both schools, because a key conference matchup to start the year is tough. You know both of these teams will look very different later this season, and now the Wildcats are under even more pressure considering they’re now 0-1 in the Big 12.

You better believe the results will slightly alter this week’s PHNX Sports Daily Big 12 power rankings, which will drop on Wednesday of this week.

On to the show!

Preseason Wrap Up: What’s Next for the Cardinals?

That’s a wrap on the NFL preseason. Up next: A date in New Orleans against the Saints, who finished the preseason 0-2-1.

But what did we learn from Arizona’s exhibition slate, in which starters appeared just once?

Easy. Plenty.

First, from a logistical perspective, Saturday’s game basically featured the Cardinals’ third-stringers, led by quarterback Clayton Tune, as they topped the Las Vegas Raiders 20-10 at State Farm Stadium on Saturday. Arizona finished the preseason 2-1 with wins over Oakland and Kansas City, and answered some questions along the way.

Quarterback Jacoby Brissett appears to have locked down the backup spot, as evidenced by his omission from Saturday’s game.

All teams are required to reduce their rosters to 53 players by Tuesday at 1 pm AZ time — make sure to stay tuned to our incredible PHNX Cardinals team for updates!

What we learned in Saturday’s Cardinals Win

Yes, it’s just preseason, but there’s still a reasonable expectation to see teams make adjustments as they evaluate their rosters to trim them down to the required 53 spots.

Here’s what came from Saturday’s 20-10 triumph:

• Finally, a ground attack

After putting up a combined 128 rushing yards over their first two preseason games the Cardinals ran wild, posting 210 yards on 28 total carries, with Bam Knight’s 83 yards and one touchdown leading the way.

It’s not that you should be concerned about the rushing attack, considering Arizona ranked seventh in the league last year with 144.2 rushing yards per game, but it was nice to see the Cardinals put together a strong game on the ground.

• Defense Stepped Up

A week after allowing a number of big plays to the Broncos, Arizona’s defense locked everything down quite nicely.

Oakland was held to 241 total yards, including 138 through the air, and the longest play from scrimmage was a 29-yard pass to Shedrick Jackson. They stifled the Raiders’ running attack, allowing 103 yards on 31 attempts, allowing just 3.3 yards per carry.

The longest rush of the day? Nine yards.

The Cardinals won the turnover battle 1-0 as well, recovering a fumble on the Raiders’ second drive of the game. The only Vegas touchdown came on its first drive of the game, as the Raiders played their starters against second-and-third string defenders.

Mykal Walker led the team with eight tackles, while Xavier Thomas added six, including two sacks.

All in all, a solid showing.

• Clayton Tune Did Not Set Himself Apart

Tune finished with a quarterback rating of 86.0 after going 12-of-20 for 83 yards and on touchdown. He was also sacked five times for a loss of 24 yards, though he did have a few nice highlights on the day, like has 26-yard completion to Josiah Deguara.

He also threw a touchdown pass to Simi Fehoko and added five rushes for 47 yards — including a 26-yard scamper — but you have to think Brissett has done more than enough this preseason to finish with the No. 2 spot secured.

My Take: Enough with this preseason stuff. Time to get on to the main event!

Buckle Up: The Diamondbacks had their four-game winning streak snapped yesterday with a 6-1 loss to Cincinnati, but they still took two of three from the Reds to finish their home stand 4-2. Believe it or not, Arizona is still within striking distance of the final Wild Card spots (5.5 games back), but a daunting road trip awaits.

The D-backs hit the road for seven straight, beginning with four games in Milwaukee against the MLB-leading Brewers. They’ll then wrap it up with three games against the Dodgers in L.A. before returning to Chase Field on Sept. 1.

MVP Numbers: Cheers to everyone who joined us on Friday for our PHNX Mercury takeover, as we watched Phoenix top Golden State 81-72 in front of a raucous PHX Arena crowd. Alyssa Thomas notched her sixth triple-double of the season, which ties the WNBA single-season record that she set in 2023, with 13 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high-tying 16 assists.

The MVP candidate has 17 career triple-doubles.

Phoenix is back in action tomorrow in Los Angeles, facing the Sparks at 7 pm (NBA TV).

Leavitt to Sam: Sun Devils quarterback Sam Leavitt picked up yet another preseason honor, as he is included on the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award Preseason Watch List.

Leavitt is one of eight Big 12 QBs on the list, and the Sun Devils begin their season at home on Saturday against Northern Arizona.

Needed That: Rising FC topped Colorado Springs 4-1 on Saturday, recording their largest margin of victory this season against the team directly behind them in the USL Playoff hunt. 18-year-old Pierce Rizzo notched another tally just a week after becoming Rising FC’s youngest goal-scorer, and Phoenix created a little separation in the postseason chase by moving up to sixth in the USL Western Conference table with 28 points.

Phoenix is back in action at home on Saturday, hosting third place El Paso at 7:30 pm.

What a great day on Friday!