Frustrations at Home Continues to Haunt Cardinals
In this story:
The Arizona Cardinals failed to emerge victorious in their Week 5 meeting with the Philadelphia Eagles, losing in 20-17 fashion.
The loss signified a few things: The team still can't stop themselves from stumbling out of the gates. Arizona is now 2-3 on the season ahead of their Week 6 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.
The Cardinals have now lost their previous eight games at State Farm Stadium dating back to last season, with a victory against the Houston Texans on Oct. 24 coming as their last win at home.
“It’s one game. It hits everybody differently. Am I taking it hard? Obviously. But, at the end of the day we have to keep pushing forward. Again, one game, we got a lot of season left, we got a great team, a great locker room," said Kyler Murray following the loss.
"[I'm] Confident in everybody in that locker room, we just got to get it together, put it together because right now we’re not playing complementary football and that’s what it takes. Undefeated team, we lost by three points, could’ve easily won the game, but too many mistakes.”
Perhaps it's hard to truly feel like you have a homefield advantage when entire opposing teams invade your stadium.
"I have a ton of respect for that organization and the passion their fans have. It made it an electric environment, there's no doubt. And they travel well," said Kliff Kingsbury on the opposing Eagles fans making their presence felt.
"I don't have an explanation, but like I said all along, to me we've lost three this season [at home]. I don't know what it is overall, but each year is different and we've got to find a way to win at home. We play really good on the road but for whatever reason we haven't got it done here."
Kingsbury and Murray have been adamant the losing streak at home isn't something they harp over or think about, but Cardinals tight end Zach Ertz said the locker room feels the pressure to get a win in front of home fans.
“We’re not pleased at all, not happy. The mood is low. Particularly because we haven’t won at home in a while. We’re all frustrated. We’re here to get that solved and rectified and find a way to win a football game here at State Farm Stadium," said Ertz.
"We didn’t make enough plays obviously. It’s not about one play with the kicker. We had plenty of opportunities to score a touchdown in the red zone and we didn’t get it done. Our defense is playing really good football right now. Holding that team to 20 points or whatever it was, they’re playing good enough football for this team to win a lot of football games so we as an offense have got to figure it out.
"We got to play better, we have to start fast and we’ll be alright."
Safety Budda Baker didn't have a clear answer for the home struggles either:
“I don’t know. I didn’t know that, but we don’t try to lose at home ... It’s definitely difficult to explain. We try to win every single week and haven’t got it done. If I could tell you the reasoning I would tell you but we had a great week of practice, great preparation and today the Eagles were just better.”
The Cardinals travel to Seattle this week before hosting the New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football.
That day, Oct. 20, will mark 361 days since their last win at State Farm Stadium.
The national average for gas was $3.39 last October. Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber's Stay was the No. 1 song in the country. "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" was the highest-grossing film that month.
We'll see if the Cardinals can eventually find their winning ways in their own nest, but frustrations are mutually shared between coaches, players and fans alike during this home losing streak.
Thank you for making All Cardinals your number one choice for Arizona Cardinals news, updates, analysis, and more. Be sure to give us a like on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Cards content.
Antoine Wesley Suffered Season-Ending Injury
Maxx Williams Re-Signed to Practice Squad
Steve Wilks Named Interim Head Coach in Carolina
Cardinals Open as Betting Favorites Over Seahawks
