The Cardinals suffered a lot of pain on Sunday. Unfortunately it ended up on the wrong target.

It landed on us, overwhelming a fan base in Arizona, weaned on a steady diet of moral victories.

A 42-14 loss to the Commanders at State Farm Stadium changes the mood and the stakes.

For the first time in Jonathan Gannon’s tenure as head coach, Valley fans are wondering about Team Try Hard’s ceiling and direction. The Cardinals are 1-3 and have just lost their ability to make you feel good about losing.

The honeymoon is over. The schedule gets rougher. There are many layers to our grief:

It hurts to see Jayden Daniels emerge as one of the great young quarterbacks in NFL history. We all witnessed his unusual poise and skill as a freshman at Arizona State, only to deteriorate under the guidance of careless and incompetent hands. Since leaving ASU, he has won a Heisman Trophy and is currently setting the NFL on fire. Good for him.

Even worse:

Kliff Kingsbury was once tasked with developing Kyler Murray, the No. 1 overall draft pick and our very own Heisman Trophy winner. Results were mixed during their celebrated collaboration in Arizona. Murray flashed as an MVP candidate and quickly faded. His only play-off experience under Kingsbury was an epic nightmare. It was clear that the two competitors could not get along.

It was also clear that Kingsbury’s static and stagnant offense was an insult to defensive coordinators in the NFL, and nothing more will come in November. By the end of their relationship, we also knew that Kingsbury was not a good head coach because he lacked the leadership skills and alpha male power to challenge underperforming players.

But on Sunday, he proved that with the right quarterback, he could be a great offensive coordinator. And to see Kingsbury pouring over the Cardinals with a starting quarterback also strongly suggests that our sixth-year franchise quarterback might not be the answer either. It was a loss that quickly and rightly woke up Murray’s most ardent critics.

“It can’t seem like that,” Gannon told reporters of his team’s overall performance.

It’s not just Murray. The Cardinals didn’t press Daniels because they are largely underfunded and are currently cutting back on pass rushers, pass defenders and offensive line depth. These shortcomings are the responsibility of owner Michael Bidwill and general manager Monti Ossenfort. But you would never expect the Cardinals to have to contend with the Commanders’ abysmal defense, which was among the worst in the NFL.

The outcome shook the faith of those who thought 2024 was Murray’s time for revenge, receipts and redemption. And it led to uncomfortable conclusions that Murray’s best might not be good enough for an NFL team with real aspirations.

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