The Arizona Cardinals ended the preseason 0-3 after falling 38-12 to the Denver Broncos, who finished undefeated, in an injury-riddled preseason finale. For the third-straight game, the Cardinals could not put together any consistency on offense, as they went with Clayton Tune at quarterback in the first half and Desmond Ridder under center for the second. Tune had to come back in late in the fourth quarter after Ridder suffered a head injury.
Zach Wilson played all but the first drive (Jarret Stidham) at quarterback for the Broncos and was in a groove most of the game. Wilson finished completing 16-of-25 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns. Both teams rested the majority of their starters.
Key Stats for the Cardinals Tune finished with 119 passing yards while completing 12-of-18 passes, but threw the first interception for the Cardinals all preseason on the very first play he subbed in for Ridder. Ridder had arguably his best game of the preseason, going 10-of-16 on his pass attempts for 111 yards. Hassan Hall got the majority of the Cardinals reps at running back after Tony Jones Jr.
went down with a shoulder injury early in the game. Hall had 19 carries for 59 yards and a touchdown, and also reeled in four catches for 28 yards. Jones carried the ball seven times for 29 yards and had two catches for 14 yards, but fumbled one reception in the red zone after a big hit that also injured his shoulder.
Xavier Weaver led the team with 56 receiving yards on two catches, as the undrafted Colorado wide receiver looks to make the team after wide receiver Zay Jones was suspended for the first five games of the season. Cameron Thomas continued to excel for the Cardinals on defense, finishing with three tackles, a sack and two quarterback hits. The Cardinals defense recorded four sacks, six tackles for loss, five pass deflections and eight quarterback hits.
Injuries The Cardinals suffered a lot of injuries during this game. Here is the full list of the reported and observed ones (in order of when they happened): CB Elijah Jones (ankle) CB Divaad Wilson (wrist) – returned RB Tony Jones Jr. (shoulder) TE Sage Surratt (leg) S Darren Hall (hip) QB Desmond Ridder (head) OT Christian Jones (leg) Game Flow Matt Prater missed a 55-yard field goal left on the opening drive of the game for the Cardinals, which was highlighted by 21 rushing yards by Jones.
The Broncos responded with a 55-yard drive capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by Audric Estime with 6:44 left in the first quarter. The Broncos then forced a Cardinals punt on their next offensive possession after Tune was sacked on a third and 11. On Wilson’s first drive of the game, Cardinals cornerback Kei’Trel Clark had a couple nice plays on the drive, and cornerback Elijah Jones recorded a tackle for loss on a third and one to force a Denver punt.
Tune and the Arizona offense once again could not get anything going on the next drive, and they trailed 7-0 after the first quarter, punting the ball away after a three-and-out to begin the next quarter. Tune completed 5-of-7 passes for 30 yards and was sacked twice in the first period. Despite an offensive pass interference penalty to begin the next Denver drive, a Wilson 21-yard scramble set up a 10-play, 76-yard drive that ended with Wilson finding Nate Adkins for a three-yard touchdown to give Denver a 14-0 lead with 8:35 to go in the second quarter.
Jones (ankle) and Wilson (wrist) went down with injuries for the Cardinals on the drive, but Wilson later returned. After Arizona got the ball back, Tune had his best play of the day, finding Weaver for a 43-yard gain while rolling right to avoid pressure on the second play of the possession. The Cardinals advanced the ball all the way to a goal-to-go situation after Tune connected with Weaver again for a 13-yard completion, but Jones was blown up after a third-down catch and fumbled the ball away and Denver took over at its 11-yard line.
Jones suffered a shoulder injury on the play and did not return ( per Arizona Cardinals reporter Darren Urban ). deeeeeeep ball for @thtkidzayy ! : #AZvsDEN on CBS pic.twitter.
com/RvhOeyxtlu — Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 25, 2024 The Broncos could not capitalize on the turnover and were forced to punt it away to the Cardinals with 1:43 remaining in the half. Cardinals linebacker Chris Garrett had a nice six-yard tackle for loss on the drive, stuffing a pitch play right away. Tune looked composed and orchestrated a 45-yard drive to set up a 50-yard field goal for Matt Prater as time expired, giving the Cardinals their first points of the game.
Arizona was down 14-3 at the half. Tune had 12 completions on 17 attempts for 120 yards at halftime. Jones rushed seven times for 29 yards and Weaver hauled in two receptions for 56 yards.
Wilson put together a good drive to start the third quarter for the Broncos, but Jesse Luketa was able to get home with a sack on third-and-goal to force the Denver into a field goal. Will Lutz hit a 30-yard field goal to put Denver up 17-3 with 10:12 to go in the period. Got him @OttawasVeryOwn : #AZvsDEN on CBS pic.
twitter.com/hcBwUZUhIk — Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 25, 2024 Ridder and the Arizona offense moved the ball very quickly on his first drive of the game all the way to the Denver 5-yard line, but they were unable to get the ball in the end zone. Prater connected on a 24-yard field goal to cut the Denver lead down 17-6 with 7:44 left in the third quarter.
Ridder completed 3-of-4 passes for 38 yards on the drive. Surratt went down with a leg injury on the drive after getting rolled up on. Cameron Thomas continued his big preseason with a third-down sack on the next Broncos drive to force a three-and-out.
3rd sack of the preseason for No. 97 : #AZvsDEN on CBS | @CameronThomas44 pic.twitter.
com/CwnDC34X6o — Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 25, 2024 Ridder did not find the same success as he did on his first drive, as the Cardinals went three-and-out. Wilson then led the Broncos to their third touchdown of the game on a 10-play, 88-yard drive with Wilson running it in on a QB sneak with 13 seconds to go in the quarter to give Denver a 24-6 lead. Cardinals safety Hall went out for the rest of the game after suffering a hip injury ( per Urban ) on the drive.
The Cardinals responded with a good drive of their own, finally getting the ball in the end zone with a three-yard run by Hall on their third trip within the Broncos 10-yard line. They went for two, but were unable convert on a pass, as Denver still led 24-12 with 10:46 to go. Ridder was up to 8-of-12 passing for 90 yards after this 11-play, 70-yard touchdown drive.
Powered his way into the end zone for that one! : #AZvsDEN on CBS pic.twitter.com/3Ah7KF8pPy — Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 25, 2024 Rookie wide receiver Tejhaun Palmer had a beautiful sideline grab on the possession.
Beautiful adjustment by Tejhaun Palmer. @AZCardinals : #AZvsDEN on CBS/Paramount+ : Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.
com/3IbqxROAUh — NFL (@NFL) August 25, 2024 Cardinals second-year defensive lineman Phil Hoskins got a big 12-yard sack on the second play of the next Broncos drive, and then undrafted rookie defensive lineman Myles Murphy batted the ball down right after on third down to force a Denver three-and-out. That's a grown man rush right there : #AZvsDEN on CBS pic.twitter.
com/mWOAswZmu9 — Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 25, 2024 Arizona was unable to make anything of getting the ball back right away, as it had its own three-and-out. Wilson put the game away on the next drive with a 49-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Johnson to put the Broncos ahead 31-12 with 6:22 remaining. Arizona safety Jaden Davis had a bad whiff while trying to contest the pass.
Zach Wilson @_bj7_ for SIX! : CBS pic.twitter.com/rV9VJaJwSz — Denver Broncos (@Broncos) August 25, 2024 Ridder had a nice scramble for 27 yards on the ensuing Cardinals drive, but later had to be taken off the field after getting hit in the head without his helmet.
Fifth-round offensive tackle Christian Jones was also injured on the play when Ridder rolled up on his leg and had to be carted off the field. On the first play Tune was in, he threw an interception to undrafted rookie Levelle Bailey on a very inaccurate pass, and Bailey took it all the way back for a pick-6 to extend the Broncos lead to 38-12. 94-yard call for @LevelleBailey6 : CBS | #AZvsDEN pic.
twitter.com/OkZIkfDHdf — Denver Broncos (@Broncos) August 25, 2024 With the injuries and mistakes continuing to stack up, the Cardinals just ran out the clock when they got the ball back. Next Up The Cardinals will now gear up for the regular season, which begins on Sept.
8 on the road against the Buffalo Bills. Before then, they will have to trim their roster down to 53 players, so stay tuned for all of the news surrounding roster moves on burncitysports.com.
* This article first appeared on Burn City Sports and was syndicated with permission..
