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Sunday was supposed to celebrate the career of Arizona Cardinals Hall of Fame wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. In some sick irony, the Cardinals did their best impression of the many teams Fitzgerald played on -- falling short of a victory.
Behind a backdrop of orange and navy in Glendale, Arizona came back down to earth from last week's highs, falling back into the loss column, 30-16 to the Denver Broncos at State Farm Stadium. The Cardinals are now 2-5 on the season ahead of its date with the Dallas Cowboys next weekend in Arlington, Texas.
Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly from Arizona's Week 7 performance:
A gold jacket in Canton awaits McBride at the end of his career if he maintains his dominance on the football field. Like Larry Legend, who attended this afternoon, McBride was once again the lone bright spot for a struggling football team.
McBride had his best statistical game of the season, reeling in 10 receptions on 13 targets for a season-high 111 yards and Arizona's only touchdown of the game. The Cardinal tight end leads his position group in the NFL with 49 catches.
Arizona struggled to finish drives and adapt to pressure, settling for field goals or punts on drives that ended quickly. McBride's largest catch of the afternoon, a 27-yard pickup, was negated by a sack on the next play and two incompletions, ending the Cardinals' first fourth-quarter drive on downs.
With no Jeremiyah Love for a second consecutive week, the brunt of the Cardinals' rushing attack fell on the shoulders of Tyler Allgeier and Bam Knight once again. Establishing the run wasn't the focus against Denver, as the offensive line struggled to open viable lanes for big gains.
Knight led the Cardinals' rushing attack with 48 yards on seven carries. Most of his yards came from Arizona's only explosive run, a 29-yard carry on its third drive. Allgeier limped out to just 19 yards on his eight times with the rock.
Many aspects of this afternoon's game apply here, from the offense's inability to finish drives and settling for field goals to the wideouts going mostly silent. Nothing was as adverse as the Cardinals' defense against Denver, who posted its second 30-point game of the season.
The defense's positives against the Rams last weekend stayed in the City of Angels. The Broncos dominated in the air and on the ground, posting one of their best statistical games of the season despite a slow first-half start.
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix dished up the Cardinals' secondary for 222 yards, with multiple explosive tosses of over 20-yards. The former Auburn-Oregon product burned Arizona for a massive 62-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter.
A microcosm of the Cardinals' defense occurred on a Nix dump-off to running back RJ Harvey in the third quarter. Multiple Arizona defenders missed tackles during Harvey's 52-yard house call to grow Denver's lead to 20-6.
As they've done many times this season, the Cardinals' defense has been the "pick-me-up" for struggling or lackluster offenses.
The Cardinals will hit the road and face Dallas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday at 10 a.m. Arizona time.