Winners and Losers from Arizona Cardinals' Preseason Defeat in Denver

After a promising preseason Week 1 win, the Arizona Cardinals looked extremely poor against the Denver Broncos in preseason Week 2, leading to a one-sided 27-7 win for Denver.

While you could consider the entire Cardinals’ performance as a loser — and it literally was one on the scoreboard — there’s still more we can take away from it. As with any preseason game, take everything with a grain of salt, because it’s still development first, and teams aren’t trying to win at all costs like they do in the regular season.

The starters didn’t play for either team, barring a few exceptions, so the results seen on the field Saturday night don’t reflect how the two squads will look during the regular season. But it’s a good chance to see the depth both the Cardinals and Broncos possess.

After 60 minutes it was clear: Denver’s depth is significantly better than Arizona’s, but let’s get into who specifically impressed and disappointed for the Cardinals as winners and losers.

Loser: Offense led by Clayton Tune

Aug 16, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos linebacker Jordan Turner (55) sacks Arizona Cardinals quarterback Clayton Tune (15) in the second half at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The biggest loser of the night has to be the Cardinals’ offense when it was led by Clayton Tune. After just two drives of Jacoby Brissett, Tune took the field in what could’ve been a bounce-back performance after a poor showing against the Chiefs in the preseason opener.

Spoiler alert: Tune’s performance against Denver couldn’t have been further from a bounce-back, as he looked worse in his second appearance of the preseason. He threw for just 56 yards in eight drives as the signal-caller, averaging just seven yards on each series.

If there was a bright spot for Tune, it was his completion percentage, as his 13-for-20 mark is around league average — something Tune didn’t look like in the slightest against the Broncos.

When he was in the game, the entire offense looked lost. Because Tune couldn’t get the ball moving through the air, the rushing game suffered as well. This resulted in eight straight punts in Tune’s eight drives, and some really ugly football.

Tune’s showing on Saturday night may have been the final nail in the coffin. The third-year QB hasn’t looked the part in either of his first two campaigns, and now in Year 3 he hasn’t seemed to progress in the slightest. The offense looked inept when he was under center, which leads many to believe Arizona will carry just two quarterbacks on its roster, and Tune won’t be one of them.

RECAP: Denver Broncos Rout Arizona Cardinals

Winner: Offense led by Jacoby Brissett

For as bad as Tune’s offense looked, Brissett’s offense looked just as good.

Brissett was out there for two drives, one of which ended in a punt and the other a touchdown. In the opening series, two drops by receivers led Arizona to punt after just one first down, but Brissett still looked solid even in the shortened series.

After Denver opened the scoring with a touchdown, Brissett and the offense led the only productive drive of the game. It took 11 plays for 67 yards and ended with a score to tie the game at 7 with just under four minutes left in the first quarter.

On the touchdown drive, Brissett was 5-for-5 for 49 yards, including the 16-yard touchdown pass to Simi Fehoko to cap it all off.

Brissett’s day was over after the productive series, with Arizona’s backup QB totaling 57 yards on 6-for-8 passing. A passer rating of 133.9 punctuated what was a great day for Brissett himself. And when he was out there, Arizona’s offense as a whole looked complete.

While for the majority of the game the Cardinals couldn’t get anything going, when Brissett was out there, Arizona showed a ton of promise.

Loser: Arizona’s secondary

After Brissett left the game, the Cardinals’ offense was completely out of sorts. But even after a change at quarterback, the Broncos didn’t skip a beat. Between Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger, Denver threw for 395 yards, making Arizona’s secondary look extremely weak.

While the vast majority of starters didn’t play, projected corner Will Johnson did, and he was just about the only bright spot among the defensive backs. The rest of the group allowed Denver to have pretty much anything it wanted through the air, with both quarterbacks looking like prime Peyton Manning rather than second- and third-stringers.

The Broncos averaged 10.3 yards per pass and registered two passing touchdowns, although all five of their scoring drives were anchored by a pass-first approach because of how poor Arizona’s secondary was. The Broncos did rush for 167 yards, but two runs accounted for 65 yards on their own.

If the Cardinals can limit the big rushing plays, the run defense wasn’t subpar. But how they defended the pass certainly was. The Broncos were slinging the ball across the field from the first snap until the fourth quarter, raising questions about whether Arizona has enough depth in its secondary.

INJURY: Arizona Cardinals Lose OL vs Broncos

Winner: Winning the turnover battle

Another saving grace in an overall poor performance for the Cardinals was the turnover battle. After surrendering three giveaways in the preseason opener, Arizona took care of the ball, even though nine of its 10 drives ended in punts.

For an offense that looked like it couldn’t have gotten any worse, it certainly could’ve — and turnovers would have made it worse.

Tune didn’t throw an interception like he did last week, while special teams was flawless in a major improvement since the preseason opener. To allow Arizona to win the turnover battle, the defense forced and recovered a fumble late in the fourth quarter. Elijah Jones forced the ball out of the hands of Cade Prieskorn, while Vi Jones pounced on it to secure the takeaway.

After an otherwise forgettable performance, the Cardinals walked away with an advantage in a critical part of any game. The overall result wasn’t what anyone around the organization wanted to see, but at least they can say one area of the game was an improvement over last week’s contest.