TEMPE – Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon never expected to be the star of a viral video. But his recent emotional altercation with running back Emari Demercado was a rare crack in the coach’s even-keeled public persona and evidence of growing frustration with a slow start to the season and a difficult stretch of the schedule ahead.
Gannon appeared to bump Demercado in the chest and chew him out during a disastrous 22-21 loss at State Farm Stadium Sunday to the previously winless Tennessee Titans. When he swung his arm, he forcefully connecting with the running back after officials ruled that Demercado released the ball before crossing the goal line, fumbling on what would have been a 72-yard scoring run that likely would have iced the game for Arizona.
Instead, the turnover gave Tennessee the ball and helped turn the game in the Titans favor. Gannon apologized for the incident, the argument and the Cardinals collapse, which raised bigger questions about where the season is headed.
“I didn’t see the video, but I actually woke up this morning and didn’t feel great about it, honestly,” Gannon said Monday. “And so in the team meeting, I addressed it. I apologized to Emari, I apologized to the team, I just told them, I kind of let the moment of what happened get the better of me there.”
The Cardinals eventually lost on a walk-off field goal for the third straight week and are 2-3, last in the NFC West Division.
“Obviously, I try to be emotionally stable and calm, because my job is to solve problems during a game, and kind of lead the charge on that,” Gannon said. “So it’s not really who I am, who I want to be, and I told the guys that today. So it’s a mistake by me.”
It was far from the only mistake in the loss. The Cardinals fumbled in the red zone when a premature snap hit quarterback Kyler Murray in the face. There was the Demercado giveaway. And then when the Cardinals appeared to end a Tennessee threat with an interception by Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, he fumbled and Titans receiver Tyler Lockett recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.
“(I) talked to the team today about it, showed them the things that we needed to show and correct, and I expect the right response,” Gannon said. “They had a good response, as good as you can have with losing a game like that.”
The Titans snapped a 10-game losing streak that dated to last season, while the Cardinals were left to sift through what is arguably the most embarrassing loss in the history of a franchise that has had a litany of them.
Gannon expressed confidence that the Cardinals will regroup.
“We got the right leaders in the locker room, the players will rally around doing the right things,” Gannon said. “Team over you, urgency to get better, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Arizona tight end Elijah Higgins said the Cardinals can’t panic in the wake of the loss.
“I think one of the biggest messages was to not freak out and just stick to the process, improve upon the process, reflect upon the process and take it upon yourself to do what you can to do the right stuff more consistently,” Higgins said.
However, he admitted that the loss was unexpected.
“You watch the replays of everything that happened from the fumble to the Emari letting the touchdown go,” Higgins said. “So many things had to go wrong for the game to end up the way that it did, and for it all to happen that way is just kind of a shock.”
Despite the blunders, the Cardinals had a chance to put the game away late by picking up a first down. However, after two running plays netted 2 yards, rather than going for the knockout punch, Arizona decided to draw up a run play for third-and-8 that went no gain.
The Cardinals had to punt, and taking over with 1:53 to play, Ward led Tennessee on the game-winning drive that set up Joey Slye’s 29-yard field goal as time expired.
Boos rained down louder with each of Arizona’s three running plays on the final possession, and the play-calling of Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing created more post-game buzz than Gannon’s anger or Demarcado’s gaffe.
Gannon said the Titans weren’t in a defense the Cardinals expected on third down. Arizona could have used one of its three remaining timeouts, but went ahead with the play. Gannon said he discussed the call with Petzing.
“Yeah I talked to Drew about it,” he said. “I think we’ve got to put our guys in a little bit better spot there. We were expecting one thing. They didn’t give it to us. I could’ve used a timeout there. That’s something I could’ve done a little bit better because I know (Petzing) didn’t really love the call either.”
The Cardinals face a tough stretch of games ahead, visiting 4-1 Indianapolis next week before hosting the Green Bay Packers then travelling to Dallas.
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