Arizona
Instant Takeaways from Cardinals’ Costly Loss to Vikings
The Arizona Cardinals surrendered a 19-6 lead, losing to the Minnesota Vikings 23-22. It was a game they had to have, and they now fall to 6-6 and trail the Seattle Seahawks by a game and a half for the NFC West.
This is the type of loss that has a rebounding effect on a team. The ability to bounce back from a poor showing in Seattle last week would have spoken volumes in a positive direction.
Unfortunately, this game spoke volumes in the wrong direction.
Here are the instant takeaways from a devastating loss:
The Cardinals have shown their fair share of surprising proficiency in 2024. Winning four in a row and sitting atop a weak division maybe oversold their ability to make the playoffs this soon.
I’ve written before that this team isn’t “ahead of schedule,” but rather right on schedule. They aren’t ready for a playoff berth just yet. Granted, the Vikings are a good squad, but you cannot choke a lead of that magnitude and be taken seriously.
There’s plenty of talent to be added and development to be done with young players, but if this team can’t win games like Sunday’s, they can’t win in January. Their division-winning could be all but gone, and their overall playoff hopes are in serious trouble, with another extremely bad matchup with the Seahawks coming to Phoenix next week.
It’s never on one guy, or even one coach, but head coach Jonathan Gannon needs to find a balance between his over-aggression in 2023, and the playing-to-lose that occurred on Sunday.
Five field goal attempts, punting on fourth and short, not going for a touchdown to seal the game late, and ignoring a potential two-point conversion to go up 14 were conservative decisions that didn’t pan out.
It’s easy to scrutinize each one in a vacuum and overreact to them – plenty more went wrong than these, but those decisions don’t win you big games against good opponents. The Cardinals need to be playing with more urgency, and that extends to Gannon.
Finding the proper balance between smart and reckless is the key to game management with an up-and-coming team.
Again, it’s easy to criticize Drew Petzing, but it’s not all on him. There were plenty of terrible mistakes in the form of penalties, sloppy play by the offensive line at times, and poor decisions and throws by Murray.
But as the Cardinals came up to run a desperation drive, I thought to myself “this team has no explosive ability.”
That’s fine, when you’re able to pound the rock and maintain a lead, or when you’re playing inferior teams. But when you’re facing a two-minute drill, there’s rarely a play designed for quick chunk yardage, and outside of the occasional flashes from Marvin Harrison Jr., there’s no big play or deep ball threat from most of the offense.
You can’t necessarily live and die by the vertical, but the lack of explosiveness keeps the entire defense right in Murray’s face. Even when he escapes the pocket, there’s not much open field to survey.
The broadcast also talked at length about getting the job done on first and second down, and staying out of third down. Arizona’s offense isn’t nearly reliable enough to make a living on third down.
It’s not that they need to be converting on first down, but far too many plays on early downs went for losses, or penalties, or barely a yard or two. Couple that with the fact that no one is worried about a throw deeper than 10 yards downfield, and the Cardinals’ offense simply isn’t a threat to teams who are fundamentally sound.
Feeding Trey McBride and James Conner is a great way to control the time of possession, but in this league, against the better teams, you need explosiveness, and you need to keep the defense honest. Arizona hasn’t been able to do that outside of their blowout of the Rams, and in smaller part the Jets.
Arizona
Arizona boy named Disneyland’s one billionth guest on his 8th birthday in memorable ceremony
An Arizona boy received the present of a lifetime while celebrating his birthday at the Happiest Place on Earth when he was honored as the one billionth guest at the California theme park.
Andres Robles, 8, walked through the gates of Disneyland Resort Friday morning ready to celebrate his 8th birthday with his parents when he received the heartfelt surprise, DisneyParksBlog reported.
The birthday boy and his parents Alejandra and Jose attended a ceremony at the Main Street USA train station platform where the beaming 8-year-old unveiled a sign showcasing the updated population of the theme park.
“Population 1,000,000,000,” read the sign.
Fittingly, Mickey and Minnie Mouse were in attendance for the special ceremony, as well as their friends Daisy and Donald Duck.
The birthday celebrations for the youngster continued after the ceremony when he was gifted with a VIP tour guide for the day — which can start at a whopping $3,500 for the luxury service.
The lucky family was treated to a tour of Walt Disney’s private apartment located on park grounds as well as the new Soarin’ Across America attraction commemorating America’s 250th birthday.
“The Robles family visit is just one of the many lifelong memories that have been created here at Disneyland Resort,” the blog wrote.
“From vacations and reunions to birthdays and more, generations of families and friends have come to Disneyland Resort to have fun together.”
Disneyland Resort — which encompasses Disneyland and Disney California Adventure — celebrated its 70th anniversary last year.
Known as the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland “has served as the inspiration behind the creation of more Disney theme parks and experiences across the globe,” according to DisneyParksBlog.
“Today, Disneyland continues its legacy as a worldwide icon and industry leader in entertainment and theme park experiences.”
“The resort continues to invest in creativity, technology and innovation to bring storytelling to new heights, while fulfilling Walt Disney’s vision that ‘Disneyland will never be complete as long as there is imagination left in the world,’” the blog added.
Why Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski is unlikely to appear in all-star game
Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski probably won’t pitch in the all-star game despite his amazing season, and here’s why
PHOENIX – The Milwaukee Brewers begin an 11-game, 10-day road trip by taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 3.
Follow along for live updates as Kyle Harrison (8-1, 2.57) faces Jose Cabrera (0-1, 3.60) in the pitching matchup.
What time is the Brewers game tonight?
Time: 8:45 p.m. CT.
What channel is the Brewers game on?
AppleTV+
What is the Brewers record?
53-32.
Brewers lineup
TBA
Diamondbacks lineup
- Ketel Marte 2B
- Geraldo Perdomo SS
- Corbin Carroll RF
- Gabriel Moreno C
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. LF
- Nolan Arenado 3B
- Ildemaro Vargas 1B
- LuJames Groover DH
- Tommy Troy CF
Brewers probable pitchers and schedule
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