The Arizona Cardinals have had a few moments this season when they've looked like one of the better teams in the NFL. They've had even more moments when they've looked like one of the worst.
Add those up, and they're a 2-4 team.
The past two weeks have been a good representation of the Cardinals' inconsistency. Seven days after a come-from-behind 24-23 win over the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers, the Cardinals got smoked 34-13 by the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
It was an ugly day for the visitors at Lambeau Field. Arizona had three turnovers, 13 penalties and one frustrated quarterback.
The Cardinals haven't won back-to-back games since 2021.
“To be a good team, you have to be consistent,” quarterback Kyler Murray said. “We just got to look in the mirror. I don’t know if you feel like you did something because you beat the 49ers last week. I don’t know what it is, but that can’t happen.”
As the Cardinals prepare to host the Los Angeles Chargers next Monday night, it's fair to wonder which Arizona team will show up. Second-year coach Jonathan Gannon said after watching video from the Packers game that effort wasn't a problem.
“We’re going to be violent, we’re going to play fast and physical,” Gannon said. “But we’ve got to be cleaner.”
The Packers took a 24-0 lead on Sunday and coasted from there, but Gannon said he expects the Cardinals to bounce back quickly.
“It's very clear why we lost the game,” Gannon said. “We did some good things in that game, too. But there are things that if we continue to do, we're not going to win."
The Cardinals have gotten solid play out of Murray, won completed 22 of 32 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown against the Packers, though he did lose a fumble. Murray ranks eighth in the NFL in quarterback rating through six games, sitting just behind C.J. Stroud and ahead of Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield.
Arizona's defense couldn't get much pressure on Green Bay's Jordan Love, who had plenty of time to throw four touchdown passes. The Cardinals have 11 sacks this season, which ranks 24th in the league.
“We have to do a better job of affecting the quarterback and that starts with me,” Gannon said.
TE Trey McBride had a productive game, catching a season-high eight passes for 96 yards. The 24-year-old is arguably the team's top pass-catching option if Marvin Harrison Jr. has to miss time with a concussion.
Arizona has gained a reputation as one of the most disciplined teams in the NFL during Gannon's tenure and had a league-low 19 penalties through five games this season. The sixth game was not as kind. The Cardinals were whistled 13 times for 100 yards.
Gannon was particularly irritated about pre-snap penalties.
“Those are non-negotiables for us, uncharacteristic of us, so that’s why we have to look at why those things happened and do a better job there,” Gannon said. “You don’t want to go backwards before the ball is snapped.”
The Cardinals had several players leave Sunday's game but Gannon was hopeful that none of the injuries would be long-term. Harrison (concussion), LB Kyzir White (knee), DL Bilal Nichols (stinger), G Evan Brown (ankle) and CB Sean Murphy-Bunting (neck) are among those batting ailments.
Dec. 5, 2021 — That's the last time the Cardinals won a second straight game. Since then, Arizona is 11-34.
The Cardinals get an extra day to recuperate before hosting the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday, Oct. 21.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon yells from the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Green Bay. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Xavier Weaver (89), defended by Green Bay Packers cornerback Eric Stokes (21). is unable to catch the pass during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Green Bay. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Greg Dortch (4) loses control of the ball and fumbles during the second half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Green Bay. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Arizona Cardinals' Kyler Murray answers questions after an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people slightly injured by shattered glass, the Israeli military said Saturday, days after Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi rebels who have been launching missiles in solidarity with Palestinians.
A further 14 people sustained minor injuries as they rushed to shelters when air raid sirens sounded before the projectile hit just before 4 a.m. Saturday, the military said.
The Houthi rebels issued a statement on the Telegram messaging app saying they had aimed a hypersonic ballistic missile at a military target, which they did not identify.
The attack comes less than two days after a series of Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebel-held capital, Sanaa, and port city of Hodeida killed at least nine people. The Israeli strikes were in response to a Houthi attack in which a long-range missile hit an Israeli school building. The Houthis also claimed a drone strike targeting an unspecified military target in central Israel on Thursday.
The Israeli military says the Iran-backed Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and drones during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Houthis have also been attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and say they won’t stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Israeli strikes Thursday caused “considerable damage” to the Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports “that will lead to the immediate and significant reduction in port capacity,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The port at Hodeida has been key for food shipments into Yemen in its decade-long civil war.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said both sides’ attacks risk further escalation in the region and undermine U.N. mediation efforts.
In the Gaza Strip on Saturday, mourners held the funerals of 19 people — 12 of them children — killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and overnight.
One of the strikes hit a residential building in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least seven Palestinians, including five children and one woman, and injuring 16 others, health officials said.
In Gaza City, another strike on a house overnight killed 12 people, including seven children and two women, according to Al-Ahli Hospital where the bodies were taken.
Mourners gathered at the hospital in Gaza City Saturday morning. Women comforted each other as they wept over the bodies before they were carried away. One man, stony-faced, cradled a tiny shroud-wrapped body in his arms as he carried it along the funeral procession.
In Al-Aqsa Hospital of Deir al Balah, white body bags containing those killed in Nuseirat were taken from the morgue and loaded onto the back of an open truck to be taken for burial.
Overall, Gaza's Health Ministry said Saturday that 21 people had been killed and 61 were wounded over the past 24 hours.
Israel faces heavy international criticism over the unprecedented levels of civilian casualties in Gaza and questions about whether it has done enough to prevent them.
Israel says it only strikes militants, and blames the Hamas militant group for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in residential areas.
More than 45,200 people have been killed and more than 107,500 wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, when a Hamas attack in Israel killed about 1,200 people and triggered the devastating 14-month war in Gaza. Local health officials do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but have said more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The Israeli military organization dealing with humanitarian affairs for Gaza said Saturday it had led a “tactical coordinated operation” delivering thousands of food packages, flour and water to the Beit Hanoun area in the north of the Gaza Strip.
The organization, known by its acronym COGAT, said trucks from the U.N. World Food Program transported 2,000 food packages, 1,680 sacks of flour and thousands of liters of water to distribution centers in the area on Friday.
Aid groups have said previously that military operations and armed gangs have hindered their ability to distribute aid to civilians in need.
Gaza's Health Ministry issued an urgent appeal Saturday for medical and food supplies to be delivered to Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, while the hospital director described dire conditions.
The ministry said in a statement that there was continuous gunfire and Israeli shelling near the hospital. “Shells have struck the third floor and the hospital’s entrances, creating a state of panic,” the ministry said.
Hospital Director Dr. Husam Abu Safiyeh said the facility was “facing severe shortages."
“Despite promises, we have not received the necessary supplies to maintain electricity, water, and oxygen systems," Abu Safiyeh said. "Our requests for essential medical supplies and staff have largely gone unmet.”
He said the World Health Organization had delivered 70 units of blood, but that the hospital requires at least 200 units to meet urgent needs. He said 72 wounded people were being treated at the hospital.
The shortages extend beyond medical necessities. “Food is very scarce, and we cannot provide meals for the wounded. We are urgently calling on anyone who can provide supplies to help us,” he said. “The staff is working around the clock, yet we cannot even provide meals for them.”
Shurafa reported from Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Majdal Shams, Golan Heights, contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
An Israeli soldier observes the site where the missile launched from Yemen landed Jaffa district, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)
