Reacting to Cardinals Loss vs Colts

The dust has settled on the Arizona Cardinals' loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6, and as expected, we leave with more questions than answers after what's now a fourth consecutive loss.

The Cardinals now find themselves at 2-4 on the season with some serious soul-searching to do if they'll turn things around and miss the playoffs.

On the latest episode of the Cardinals On SI podcast, we quickly broke down the team's 31-27 loss to the Indy:

WATCH: Reacting to Cardinals' Loss vs Colts

Below is a transcript of Jonathan Gannon's post-game press conference:

Opening Statement:

“Ok, from an injury front real quick, 31 (Emari Demercado) had an ankle, could not return; 18 (Marvin Harrison Jr.) went in concussion protocol and could not return. Obviously, Emari, the ankle; Marv had a concussion; Travis (Vokolek) had a neck/concussion; 14 (Michael Wilson) had a hand/finger, went and got checked out, came back in. Obviously, disappointing, that’s a good football team. I thought we did some good things today, but ultimately not enough to win the game. But proud of them and how they battled. With a lot of guys in and out of the lineup there a lot of guys stepped up and made some plays. So, it's disappointing. Give credit to Indy, Shane (Steichen) – that’s a well-coached football team. They’re playing well right now. But we’ve got to do more to get back in the win column here – that’s our only focus. When we get back to Arizona tonight, we’ve got to put our best foot forward and win a game here.”

What do you think of Jacoby Brissett’s play today?

“I thought he played well.”

How’s Kyler Murray’s foot doing?

“Good.”

When did you guys realize Kyler Murray wouldn’t be able to play?

“Yesterday.”

With Travis Vokolek’s injury, what exactly happened on that play, do you know?

“I didn’t see the replay. But I knew he (Travis Vokolek) had a neck or head, but he was moving. Indy and our staff did a good job, those are scary. They did a good job with that. I think they took him to the hospital, so I don’t know.”

I think you guys had several completions of 20 yards or more. What can you say about your ability to go down field?

“Yeah, we had some good concepts up. Guys got open and he (Jacoby Brissett) found them. Protection was pretty good for the most part, especially on mix downs. I thought we did a good job. We generated a lot of explosives and got out of a hole a couple times with some explosives on third down. That was good to see.”

What impressed you most about Jacoby Brissett?

“Just his poise and his command. I hate to say I’m not impressed by it, but I know that’s who he is.”

Is what Jacoby Brissett did even more impressive considering who he didn't have out there?

“You know what, we’ve got good players out there with him. Mike (Michael Wilson) and Zay (Jones) and (Greg) Dortch and (Elijah) Higgins and Trey (McBride). I thought the two backs were awesome, picking up the slack being down Emari (Demercado) there. I thought Mike Carter, Bam (Zonovan Knight) made plays – we’ve just got to make a couple more.”

Do you still see Kyler Murray as the starter as soon as he is healthy?

“Yeah.”

Do you think there was maybe a holding penalty on that last offensive play call?

“They call what they call.”

What was it about the offense’s performance that kind of allowed them to play all four quarters?

“It's always generating some explosives, some good catch and runs, again, some good concepts. They're a hard defense to go against because they give you multiple looks. But at the end of the day, it takes all 11 and protection was there – Jacoby (Brissett) was throwing it to the open guy down field – they were getting open. And I thought that we had some good catch and runs – that was good to see. Guys making guys miss in space, breaking tackles, and that hidden yardage in there with some YAC (yards after catch), that was good.”

It looked like you gave Bam Knight a little bit more run today, and he seemed like he was very effective. What did you like about what you saw?

“Yeah, I think he's getting better and better each week. He's getting comfortable with timing and where to put it. But he's a violent runner. I know he had the one explosive off the check down, which he made a guy miss – I think that was good to see. But I feel good about those guys.”

You seemed to switch the order of those guys around in the second quarter. What went into that switch?

“A little bit of Emari (Demercado) going down, in all honesty. But all three of them I felt good about in the first, second (and) third down. But we kind of have their roles structured how we have them with the plan. So, I don't know if it'll be the same next week, but with Emari going down, and Mike (Michael Carter) having to pick up a little more third down, that's why you saw a little more first and second down with Bam (Knight). But they were all going to touch it and play today.”

How do you respond to four losses in a row?

“Yeah, it's hard, it's hard. That's what I just told them I'm proud of them because I thought they battled. But, like I said, we're in a tough spot right now. Four in a row is tough, but we'll be resilient. I'm confident in those guys to have a good week. We’ve got another good football team coming in here before our bye (week). But we’ve got to put two good plans together, travel back, get reset to put two good plans together and keep our mode of play where it needs to be and execute at a higher level. I thought it was a good football game. That's a good team, and we went back and forth with them. We're a good team. I know their record is what their record is, and ours is what we are, so I'm not discounting that because our record shows that we're not a good football team. But I do think the battle is there and we’ll just keep sawing away. We’ll just keep sawing away.”

What do you think went wrong for the defense in the fourth quarter?

“Yeah, we didn't stop them. I don't think anyone got stopped there till the very end. I thought some explosives. Jonathan Taylor is a good player – we knew that coming in, but I thought he had a little too much today. Some explosives in the pass game, and then when we got some opportunities to get off on third down – I’ve got to look at it – it was probably we’re a little tick off here, tick off there, and that’s where you need to be. You’ve got to be on those details to keep points off the board. So, we’ve got to look at it, and they were doing some good things too, so we’ll see it again.”

What did Indy do to limit your pass rush? I think you only had one sack today.

“I’m not sure, it was a good mix of blocking it up, kind of like we were doing, blocking it up. I thought they kind of changed a touch after the first – I think the one drive they went all the way down the field (and) scored. Then we had three-and-out, three-and-out and then the interception. They made some adjustments, so we just got to make sure we keep making adjustments. You’ve got to affect the passer, that always has to be a core staple of us. We’ve got to make sure to put them in the right spots and winning, and it's not just the front, it's the back end as well. So those things got to be coordinated together.”

Why do you still see Kyler Murray as the starter?

“He's the starting quarterback.”

Losing these games by a combined nine points, does it make it easier or harder to handle?

“A loss is a loss.”

You have talked a lot about the sloppiness on offense – I think there were a couple more false starts and illegal formations today. How did you think you were in that area?

“I thought our operation was okay, but we did have some negatives. I think we actually ended up overcoming the one, but I felt like there was a couple. The place was rocking, but you play in environments like that and you have to do a good job. We have to make sure we eliminate the negative plays that hurt. That hidden yardage in there is, it's hurting right now, and it makes it really hard to put points on the board. We just got to make sure we stay on schedule and not have negatives – penalties, non-negotiables. I know penalties happen, but pre-snap stuff, we’ve got to continue to make sure we're doing a good job. Again, I'm not making excuses, but that's a whole different crew out there with 81 (Travis Vokolek) and 18 (Marvin Harrison Jr.) going out. So, it's our job to get them right."