Welcome to another game day, Arizona Cardinals fans.
The Cardinals are in Los Angeles today to face the Rams in their third NFC West matchup of the 2026 season. Arizona's 1-4 and to say they need a win at SoFi Stadium would be underselling it.
Thanks to everybody for asking questions for my mailbag. I know times are tough right now in the desert, so I appreciate you guys sticking around:
It may be a longshot, but what would be your recipe for cooking up a win with what we have in the kitchen? - Bryan
It's a tall task for the Cardinals today, no doubt. What I would say is don't let the 2-3 record fool you — this is still very much the same Rams team we all expected to make a Super Bowl push this season.
I do not think Arizona is equipped to win a track meet with Los Angeles. Given the absences of Jeremiyah Love (injury) and Marvin Harrison Jr. (trade), the Cardinals don't have the firepower to outmatch a talented Rams defense while Arizona's own defensive unit is one of the worst in the league.
Quite frankly, the Rams are going to have to lose this game, if that makes any sense. That requires the Cardinals to force multiple turnovers.
Los Angeles isn't very good against the run, so Arizona does have an opportunity to move the chains that way and keep their defense off the field at the same time.
My recipe? Long offensive drives by moving the ball on the ground coupled with an aggressive, blitz-heavy approach from the defense.
Vibe check of the team, where is morale at for the players and coaches? - Shadrick
Shadrick, love the show first of all. Hopefully I can join you guys soon over at Cardinalytics for a new pod episode.
The Cardinals are obviously frustrated at the lack of winning, though I think some key members of the organization are able to see the big picture. Faces such as Mike LaFleur and Trey McBride spoke this week on continuing to trust and tweak their process while wanting to turn things around.
The vibes are probably as high as they could be for a 1-4 football team. No, players aren't playing ping-pong in the locker room, but I think there's an overall understanding that the Cardinals are in the midst of an early rebuild, one that is laying the foundation for something bigger.
I think it's easy to get caught up in the immediate results, which makes sense because this league is only about wins and losses. However, when you have franchise guys such as McBride and Michael Wilson fully on board with LaFleur despite the 1-4, that says a lot about where Arizona wants to go and not where they're at currently.
Which concern is bigger: averaging under two yards per carry with the running backs, or needing 37 offensive plays to produce three touchdown drives? - Econprofaj
AJ, it all starts up front brother.
For as much as the league continues to evolve, one facet that will seemingly never change is the importance of running the ball. Whether it be clock control, wearing a defense down, keeping your own defense off the field and the ability to keep a balanced attack — if you can't run the ball, you're one-dimensional and an easy offense to solve.
Cardinals fans know this all too well, as Drew Petzing's attack suffered a similar fate to what Arizona is enduring right now under LaFleur.
The funny thing is the Cardinals' offense is doing perhaps the hardest thing easily in sustaining long drives. That's incredibly hard to do in the league (on a consistent basis) though Arizona has managed drive after drive of dink-and-dunk play while failing to create explosives.
If Arizona can't get their run game going, it feels like everything else is a moot point. The Cardinals will continually find themselves in obvious passing scenarios, which only makes it easier for defenses to attack.
Why can't we run more 12 personnel with Trey McBride and Elijah Higgins? - xxman
It's funny you bring this up because this was a change I pounded the table for earlier in the season. The Cardinals have a very good tight end room and guys like Elijah Higgins aren't being utilized enough.
And to marry the above conversation, perhaps more 12 personnel can help get Arizona's run-game going along with slowing down some edge rushers in the process.
Especially now with no Harrison in the offense and a clear talent gap between Wilson/Bourne and the next set of receivers, the Cardinals might just turn to this more often.
We all know MHJ wanted the trade. Who based on the structure do you think was the winner of the trade? - Ryan
I do think there's reason to believe both sides won the Harrison trade, though quite honestly the Cardinals did about as best as they could in terms of a return.
To get a second-round pick for a receiver who had just five receptions this season was incredible. It's so obvious Harrison, with hindsight, wanted a change of scenery and the Cardinals felt the same. Arizona, after paying McBride, likely wasn't going to pick Harrison's fifth-year option up next offseason.
With that, the Texans are banking on Harrison's potential still being near the top of the league. He was virtually a can't miss prospect emerging out of Ohio State and to Harrison's side of the argument, he's still shown flashes of doing just that.
Essentially, you have to ask yourself if you believe Harrison can consistently play at a WR1 level in a new offense.
If you say yes and bank on Harrison's pairing with college quarterback C.J. Stroud, the Texans getting top WR play for a second-round pick is good value. If you think Harrison's drops and other issues will remain consistent, Arizona getting that high of a pick for essentially a diminishing player makes them a clear winner.
I think ultimately the Cardinals won this trade.
When is Carson Beck starting? -jarjarbinx
Jarjar, that's one of the more prominent questions being asked in the desert right now.
I've been pretty vocal about Week 12 being the latest I would start Beck, which would give him two games before a bye week + three more games to finish the regular season.
Yet if the losing continues, we may find Beck approaching action earlier than that.
The one roadblock is veteran quarterback Gardner Minshew, who is above Beck on the team's depth chart. Do the Cardinals want to convince themselves they're still in win-now mode with Minshew, or does the evaluation process of Beck begin?
That's a question the Cardinals will have to face sooner as opposed to later, but Beck is coming — it's just a matter of when, not if.
If Beck isn’t ready by the staff’s standards, why is Minshew not in line to get playing time? Brissett has had some difficulties, to say the least, finishing games and finding wins. What needs to happen for a change at QB? - Brick Mustang
Brick, I think we're extremely close to that line of thinking.
LaFleur seems fairly adamant that Brissett is not the biggest problem the Cardinals have. In fairness, no run game and no defense aren't exactly ingredients for a quarterback to be successful.
Yet Brissett isn't a solution, either. He clearly is capped in his limitations which have impacted Arizona's offense in 2026, and sometimes you just need a change of pace to get things going.
Personally, I think LaFleur (who is in his first season running the show) is hesitant to pull any major plugs in hopes of avoiding any tragic fallout. We still have two-thirds of the season left after today, and perhaps LaFleur doesn't want to hit the panic button or kickstart any drastic measures after six weeks of football.
However, the Cardinals need some sort of change, and it's on LaFleur to spearhead those.
My question isn’t really about football Donnie, it’s more for you. How do you continue to cover this team despite its seemingly unwavering commitment to failure? Is this job demoralizing at times? - Far
This is actually a question I get somewhat frequently.
I do think it helps that I didn't grow up as a Cardinals fan. I don't have an emotional attachment to this team, and quite honestly as a member of the media who tries to look at things objectively, I do think that's helped me when covering this team.
With that being said, I do want this team to win and be successful. It's a win-win, right? Players and coaches are more friendly with reporters while fans are more willing to engage with articles, podcasts, etc.
And while I'm not rooting for the Cardinals to win every Sunday, I do have relationships with players and coaches, and I do want them to succeed.
My first year in the building was 2021. I started full-time in 2022. I don't know what covering a successful Cardinals team looks like, but I do know I want to cover the turnaround here in Arizona. There's so many die-hard Cardinals fans who deserve it, and I hope I'm able to stick around long enough to see it happen with my own two eyes.
Demoralizing might not be the best word to describe it, but sometimes it feels like it's close. It's not fun covering a team that loses far more matchups than they win, and this year it feels like Cardinals fans are a bit more angry on social media.
I very much understand the frustration from the Red Sea and I acknowledge that sometimes the messenger gets shot in my seat. 90% of the negative interactions with fans aren't personal. With that said, I think it's fair to say we're all hoping LaFleur can get this thing turned around sooner as opposed to later.
I have one of the best jobs in the world. I get to cover an NFL team. I know sometimes I come off as overly positive, but I do think it's important for somebody who is as blessed as I am to keep that perspective regardless if the team I cover is winning or losing.
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