Greg Olsen has seen plenty of bad losses during his NFL career. Sunday’s Cardinals collapse might top them all.
Arizona blew a 15-point fourth quarter lead against the Titans, losing 22-21 after Emari Demercado dropped the ball before crossing the goal line on what should have been a 72-yard touchdown. The mistake sparked a complete meltdown that left Olsen struggling to find the words during an appearance on FS1’s Wake Up Barstool the following morning.
As Olsen said, the Cardinals were a quarter of an inch away from going up 28-6 in the fourth quarter against arguably the worst team in the league through the first four games. Instead, they couldn’t run through the goal line. Then they gave up a touchdown on an interception that turned into a fumble recovery in the end zone.
By the time Tennessee kicked a game-winning field goal with no time left, Olsen had seen enough.
“If you’re Arizona this morning, there’s a lot of disappointing losses in the league, I’ve been a part of a lot of them, you’re sick,” Olsen said. “You get over it. The could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. That might be the worst, as far as just a meaningless regular season game, just the manner in which they lost the fourth quarter lead, you can’t make that up.”
The fumble happened just one week after Colts receiver Adonai Mitchell made the identical mistake against the Rams. Mitchell’s 76-yard touchdown turned into a touchback when he dropped the ball before crossing the goal line.
Indianapolis coach Shane Steichen has hammered home the message all season after running back Jonathan Taylor committed the same blunder against Denver last year. Steichen even created a mantra for his players: run through the letters and logos.
That message clearly isn’t getting through league-wide.
“Like, if that happens in Madden, you’re like breaking your controller, you’re throwing it against the wall,” Olsen continued. “I don’t know why guys have the need to drop the ball. And if I was the head coach, I’d be like, ‘If you don’t run with the ball to the sideline and keep it tucked, I’m just gonna cut you. Then, you’re just not going to play for me.'”
ESPN’s Louis Riddick took it a step further, posting on X that players who purposely drop the ball before going across the goal line uncontested deserve to be fined or cut.
“It’s beyond stupid,” Riddick wrote.
Demercado took responsibility after the game, telling reporters there was no excuse and that he had never made that mistake at any level of football.
The apologies don’t change what happened. Arizona became the first team in NFL history to lose three straight games on a score in the final play of the fourth quarter. Instead of going 3-2 with momentum, the Cardinals are 2-3 and reeling after one of the most baffling losses in recent memory.
Olsen’s right. You can’t make this stuff up.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.