The Arizona Cardinals won by a score of 27-22 on Sunday afternoon. It should not have been that close. A game in which Arizona led 27-9 while deep in opposing territory once again came down to a bend-but-don’t-break stand by an extremely banged-up defense.

An instant reaction to Arizona’s 2-0 advent to the 2025 season:

Instant Reaction: Cardinals Hold off Panthers

The Cardinals found some early offensive rhythm and appeared to be cruising towards a blowout victory. There was plenty of early eye candy, as both sides of the ball showed flashes of what fans had hoped 2025 would look like.

Unfortunately, that evaporated into what would become one of the most stressful victories of the season — and it’s only been two weeks.

Arizona’s offense looked to be finding its familiar identity, as both James Conner and Kyler Murray turned a corner toward the end of the first half and into the second half. But a bevy of mistakes by the offensive line and a discouragingly poor interception by Murray set Carolina up to have a chance.

It was a thin chance, but the Cardinals found a way to make it wider and wider with each progressing drive, as Panthers QB Bryce Young seemed to gain confidence with each play.

Arizona’s defense was able to ultimately get pressure when it mattered the most, but a prolonged period of silence by the front seven and more issues with containing underneath routes was anything but encouraging. The complete downpour of defensive penalties (some valid and some extremely questionable) wasn’t a good look, either.

Ultimately, there were glimpses of what this team can truly become, but a glaring lack of discipline and late-game execution provides little comfort that Arizona is deserving of a spot among the NFL’s contenders.

Perhaps the Cardinals once again played down to their competition, but a lot is going to have to be cleaned up, and quickly, if they want to take down even a banged-up San Francisco 49ers team next Sunday.

Jonathan Gannon’s team has a lot of work to do, and they may be down half their secondary after Max Melton and Garrett Williams suffered injuries. Denzel Burke and Kei’Trel Clark played well enough when called upon, but that is likely not a sustainable secondary with regard to long-term depth.

The Cardinals played gritty, but they shouldn’t have had to. Arizona needs to find a way to close games offensively, especially when given a big lead.