ARIZONA — Pre-season play is officially over for the Arizona Cardinals, giving Clayton Tune and Desmond Ridder their final chance to promote themselves as potential backup quarterbacks for the team behind Kyler Murray.

The Cardinals offense couldn’t do much right in a loss to the Denver Broncos, as the team managed to score just one touchdown to go along with two field goals. Another day at the office to forget, that’s for sure.

The lone touchdown drive came under Ridder, who orchestrated an 11-play drive late in the game to get the Cards back in contention. A few nice completions dragged the team down before they finally reached the end zone. A two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful after a deflected pass was targeted to receiver Andre Baccellia.

On the other hand, Tune looked fine in the first half; not as flashy as in his previous two exhibition games. Tune was pushed back late in the game when Ridder was checked for concussion protocol and threw a pick-six on his first play of the drive.

It ruined a day that was already unforgettable for Tune.

It turned out to be the last pass of the day, as the Cardinals opted to play out the rest of the time rather than attempt to advance the ball.

By the end of the day, the two QBs combined for 210 passing yards on 22 completions, along with Tune’s pick-six. Ridder also had a 27-yard run on his resume, while Tune had a nine-yard dash of his own.

All in all, it wasn’t the performance either quarterback wanted, but it’s a lot less favorable for Ridder than it is for Tune.

Knight needed a great final game of the preseason to boost his chances of a final selection and he didn’t quite get it. He also needed Tune to be terrible and he didn’t get it either.

However, Knight couldn’t find a way to impress and convince us that he deserves to be retained over Tune, which could ultimately cost him a spot on the Cardinals’ final 53-man roster.

There’s always a chance the Cardinals decide to keep three quarterbacks, but neither did enough to warrant the extra roster space for a third QB. Tune was the better of the two and it feels almost certain he’ll claim the backup role behind Murray.

Knight’s time with the Cardinals may be over, but he did enough to hopefully convince other teams to give him a chance.

But now that everything has been finalized, it appears we may have found our champion for the Cardinals’ QB2 battle: Clayton Tune.