Cardinals Still Searching For Answers on Offense

The Arizona Cardinals know they need to be better.

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon looks on from the sidelines during their game against the Carolina Panthers at State Farm Stadium on Sept 14, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals suffered their first loss of the 2025 season, and all eyes are on the offensive side of the ball following another dismal performance.

It's been now three consecutive weeks where the offense has sputtered, and with a short turnaround incoming thanks to Thursday Night Football, the Cardinals will have no choice but to bluntly address some of their biggest issues.

Meeting with reporters ahead of Week 4, Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon spoke on the following issues:

Jonathan Gannon Gets Candid on Offensive Issues

Sep 21, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon on the sidelines during the first half against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

On being 27th in the league in passing yards and whether he feels the receivers are producing enough:

“Yeah, I think that's a very good point because… I always laugh. You can take a stat and make it look how you want it to look. Where my mind goes is we haven't had a lot of passes after… a three-game sample size with stats to me is… you can maybe see a trend, but I don't think it's the end all be all. That's why I don't hang my hat on stats.

"The good thing yesterday too (is) we didn't turn it over. We did a good job there, we won the takeaway battle (and) still lost a game on a walk off. That's typically what's going to happen… meaning games are going to be really close when they win the explosive play battle (and) you win the takeaway battle, that’s probably a pretty close game. I think just like the run game, it needs to be more efficient. I think we're doing some really good things (but) I think everyone has to do a little bit better.

"That’s the pass game on defense, that's the run game on defense… it's collectively as a team. Again, when the defense knows that you have to pass in known pass (situations), they have an advantage. We need to make sure that we're playing a little bit more straight up on second down.”

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On the area yards per attempt ranking near the bottom in the league and why:

“A number of factors. I'm pleased with what's getting called to push the ball down the field. Sometimes they have a say too. A couple plays came up yesterday that they did a good job getting underneath it and then did a good job tackling the check down. That’s where the ball should go when they play that type of coverage structure, but when you can't run it, it's going to be hard to pass it.

"When you can't pass it, it's going to be hard to run it. They go hand in hand. If you can get the run game going a little bit better, you will get more advantageous looks to push the ball down the field. When you can't run it, they're taking away you pushing the ball down the field, so it works hand in hand. That stat to me works hand in hand with the run game (and) what the run game's doing.

"That's a long-winded answer to, ‘Yeah, that needs to be better, but it can be a direct correlation to what else is going on in the game too.’”

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On his satisfaction with the receivers group being able to get open downfield:

“Yeah, I am. I've seen them do it. In games whether the ball goes to them or not, I've seen them get open versus in practice, in training camp, all those things. (When) you’re playing new schemes, different opponents, different environments, we have to be able to handle all that and execute at a high level when we need it. It's just time on task, it's still early. I told the coaches, ‘The sky's not falling. There is no panic in my game,’ I told the team that. I haven't lost confidence. We lost a game and things over the first three weeks that we haven't done a good enough job, we have time to correct it, but we have to correct it.”

On whether there is enough time to tweak the run game on a short week:

“Well, that’s a really good question. I went back and kind of looked and I think we called somewhere around 24 runs, and 17 of them were not efficient. We have to get that better because the hat that I wear, or that I did wear on defense, when you're not running the ball efficiently, you're making it a lot easier on the defense to defend you. That's what I would say.

"There's not a lot of good calls, run or pass, when you're behind the sticks. When I say behind the sticks on second down, you have to look at play types. What are they defending and what do you have to call? I think to answer your question, this team is significantly different than San Francisco, right? So, we're going to have a different plan for it and pull a different plan to attack Seattle than we did San Francisco.

"With saying that, our fundamentals and our techniques have to show up a little bit better. They have to improve from this last week (with) what we did, and we have to realize why runs aren't being efficient and how everybody fits into that. I think if we just control that, we'll put them in the right spots. That's our job but then let's control the technique part of it and make some hay.”