The Valley was on fire prior to the Arizona Cardinals Week 11 bye, watching its hometown team sit in solid position to make the playoffs for the first time since 2021. It may not snow in Glendale, but the winter months have left Arizona frozen and without any holiday cheer.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!After kicking off the season 6-4 — entering the bye week off a four-game winning streak and sitting at a close second in the NFC West — the Cardinals lost five out of six games since Nov. 24, destroying any postseason hopes in cataclysmic fashion. They dropped two crucial division matchups to the Seattle Seahawks, saw a tough one-point loss to the top-ranked Minnesota Vikings and handed out Christmas presents to abysmal Carolina Panthers and ascending Los Angeles Rams in consecutive weeks to destroy any glimpse of postseason hope.
Bah humbug!
Cardinals fans watching their playoff hopes fade away : pic.twitter.com/PPif9duaoM
— LilRocketNasa???? (@lilrocketnasa) December 22, 2024
The Cardinals have one game left in the regular season, and its truly a mystery of how they will handle it.
Arizona takes on the San Francisco 49ers in the regular season finale on Sunday. While we’re all looking to the future and offseason for head coach Jonathan Gannon and the organization to repair their broken wings, the Cardinals need to finish out with some pride and respect.
Both teams are playing to stay out of last place in the NFC West. Arizona sits at third, and their best bet is to show a disgruntled fanbase that they don’t take their disappointing back half of the season lightly.
Losing will truly do nothing for the Cardinals when it comes to the 2025 NFL Draft. Arizona currently holds the 14th overall pick, and will not drop any lower than No. 11 if they lose to the 49ers. When you get out of the top 10, it’s more about picking what is best for your team, not the best player available. The reality is, they Cardinals will probably end up picking a lineman on either side of the ball this year.
Hate to break it to you Valley faithfuls: Kyler Murray isn’t going anywhere this year.
Updated 2025 NFL Draft order (via @tankathon): pic.twitter.com/x88yIaEBCS
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano) January 5, 2025
The Cardinals have nothing to lose besides the little bit of dignity and self-respect that is left to salvage from this season, so go out there and get it!
There will be some challenges for Arizona in this game. Murray will have to step up in the absence of running back James Conner (knee), who was placed on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury in last week’s 13-9 loss to the Rams. But maybe there will be a possibility to show us a glimpse of the future and put a muzzle on The Valley for a brief moment about replacing him.
Murray finally found tight end Trey McBride for his first touchdown reception of the season, and we’d all love to see the Pro Bowl selection and Cardinals’ Walter Payton Man of the Year one last time in the end zone. The Marvin Harrison Jr. experiment has shown promise, but has lacked efficiency. Harrison’s 57 catches for 822 yards and seven touchdowns look great on paper by themselves, but not when you place them next to the 53 targets the QB-WR duo didn’t connect on. The Cardinals franchise quarterback should take the opportunity to show the league what’s to come next year.
Even if Murray and his pair of talented targets can’t show out like most would hope, the 49ers are missing primary starters on offense in starting quarterback Brock Purdy (elbow), running back Christian McCaffrey (knee) and utility wide receiver Deebo Samuel (rib, wrist).
The Cardinals defense will be playing a familiar face in Purdy’s absence in backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who filled in for Murray for eight games during the 2023 season after Murray tore his ACL before being traded to the Vikings prior to the trade deadline. Dobbs played some of the best games of his career during that stretch, so Arizona should know exactly what he’ll be trying to do. While Dobbs will still have Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle, that’s a hard stop on the help he’ll receive without the dynamic contributions of McCaffrey and Samuel.
Is this last game the ending Arizona or its fans want? Absolutely not. But a win is the one The Valley needs before the Cardinals fly south for the offseason.
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Reporter Jordyn Bennett covers the Arizona Cardinals, Arizona State, Phoenix area sports and sports related topics. You can follow him on his X account, @j_bennett_live
