👋 GOOD MORNING – Well… Welcome to the seventh edition of Loser Monday, the calling card of the 2025 Arizona Cardinals. The Suns weren’t much help last night, either.
That was another painful Sunday afternoon… On the bright side, it was a very successful overall weekend for the rest of Arizona’s teams. We’ll break down the ugliness first before getting into some of the positives — there were quite a few.
Bear with me!
— Alex D’Agostino, PHNX Sports Daily Editor
Cardinals Break Records in Blowout Loss
The snowball that is the Cardinals’ 2025 season continues to grow in both size and speed. After a 41-22 blowout at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday, Arizona is a dismal 3-7 this season, and 0-4 in the NFC West.
They appear to be en route to another one of the uglier end-season results in recent history, and that’s saying a lot.
The Cardinals simply looked sloppy, and never once appeared to be in the contest. They were outclassed, outperformed and outcoached by San Francisco, and for some reason, the officials decided the 49ers needed all the help in the world.
Some games are just like that. But this was a continuation of an ugly pattern. Arizona has not been able to hang with the Shanahans, the McVays and even the Mike McDonalds of the NFL world.
Something had to change this season, but it’s only gotten worse, and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight for the suffering.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the (ugly) history made by the Cardinals in Sunday’s game.
Cardinals Make History in All the Wrong Ways
Well, it was a historic loss. That’s worth something, right? Maybe not, but it’s worth going over.
Penalties – The Cardinals were called for 17 penalties (worth 130 yards) by Carl Cheffers and his officiating crew. That crew is already known for being flag-happy, but the 17 fouls were a Cardinals record, surpassing the previous total of 16 in a game back in the 1936 season.
Honestly, I shouldn’t say what I really think about some of those calls. Let’s just say I don’t believe the Cardinals committed an impactful foul on all 17 of those plays. (That flag total was also not anywhere near the entire reason why Arizona was dominated in all aspects.)
WR Michael Wilson – Wilson, stepping into the WR1 role, caught 15 receptions for 185 yards. The 15 receptions are the second-most in a game Cardinals history behind Sonny Randle’s 16 in 1962, and the 185 yards in a game are the most by a Cardinals pass-catcher since Anquan Boldin had 186 in 2008.
Wilson consistently rewards whatever amount of faith is placed in him. Regardless of the final score, good for him. He deserves that success to the highest degree.
QB Jacoby Brissett – Brissett didn’t make Cardinals history, he made NFL history by completing a record 47 passes (out of 57 attempts). He threw for 452 yards and two touchdowns, but also two interceptions on the day.
“I promise you, I couldn’t care less,” Brissett said of the record. The fans probably agree, but I still think breaking records is cool.
TE Trey McBride – Didn’t break any NFL or franchise records. But he did have 10 receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown. He’s still the best TE in the NFL.
Quick Hits
Back to Earth: The Suns’ exciting five-game win streak came to an unfortunate end, in a tight-fought heartbreaker of a 124-122 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Mortgage Matchup Center despite leading by 21 in the fourth quarter. Ouch.
Dillon Brooks led the scoring again, with 34 points on 14-for-25 shooting. Devin Booker contributed 27, while Jordan Goodwin and Collin Gillespie had 14 and 15 off the bench, respectively.
Devil Dawgs: Arizona State football continues to find a way to win despite their plethora of critical injuries. Kenny Dillingham’s team engineered a game-winning drive to scrape past Rich Rodriguez and the West Virginia Mountaineers by a score of 25-23, once again off the golden foot of Jesus Gomez.
QB Jeff Sims threw for 207 yards and three touchdowns, adding 77 more yards on the ground. The Sun Devils are now 10-1 in their last two seasons in games decided by seven points or less.
Arizona State men’s hoops ran into a Gonzaga buzzsaw on Friday, losing 77-65 to the No. 19-ranked Bulldogs. Spokane’s finest are a tough matchup.
ASU women had a more successful outing on Sunday, advancing to 4-0 with a 82-77 win over the Santa Clara Broncos. McKinna Brackens had 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Gabby Elliott had 20 points and 16 rebounds. Wow!
Wildcat Weekend Sweep: The Wildcats had an exceptional weekend. First, the No. 5-ranked men’s hoops squad took down No. 15 UCLA 69-65 on the road Friday after a gritty, late-game surge by seniors Jaden Bradley and Anthony Dell’Orso. Dell’Orso led the scoring with 20 off the bench.
Then, Brent Brennan’s guys handled the No. 25 Cincinnati Bearcats, also on the road, for a high-quality Big 12 conference win. QB Noah Fifita became Arizona’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns with 68 in the 30-24 victory.
Arizona women’s basketball won on Sunday by a score of 85-64 over Grambling State. Mickayla Perdue and Daniah Trammell contributed 15 points apiece, and the Wildcat women are now 3-0 in the Becky Burke era.
And to top it all off, Tetairoa McMillan had eight catches, 130 yards and two touchdowns for the Carolina Panthers in an overtime win.
Tip of the Hat by Branded Bills
Marv is all of us.
