There’s no such thing as an easy win in the NFL, but the Arizona Cardinals just squandered a wonderful opportunity to score a win over the Tennessee Titans.

Leading 21-6 at halftime, mistakes proved costly as the Titans took advantage of multiple fumbles in the second half by the Cardinals for a 22-21 win.

It’s the third straight week the Cardinals lost on a game-winning field goal as time expired.

But the game should have never gotten to that point.

Here’s what our Arizona Sports hosts have to say about the loss:

Rapid Reactions: Cardinals lose to Titans

Kellan Olson, co-host of Arizona Sports at Night

When the Cardinals lost last week, head coach Jonathan Gannon said the team’s pass-heavy mindset was a result of not wanting to fight Seattle in a phone booth, the type of style we thought was Arizona’s to a T. This week, Arizona essentially chose to decline opportunities to win the game itself, putting that in the hands of the Titans, who would do so.

So that is a team with no identity and no belief.

That’s all there is to say. It’s now blame game season. Take your aim. Instead of focusing on those at fault for Sunday’s meltdown, I’ll zoom out for the big picture.

I’ll go with the front office for having absolutely zero foresight evaluating an offense with a paper-machete foundation, supported by a reeling offensive line and zero skill position players showing consistency besides tight end Trey McBride.

The all-out maneuver on defense was logical and supported at the time, but the front office is the group seeing this team every day behind the scenes that should know its potential limitations. In a crucial year of evaluating Kyler Murray, we are going to have to freaking shrug again because he should be nowhere close to the top of this list.

Look across the league at organizations like Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and others that routinely nail the NFL Draft. Despite a change in regimes, the Cardinals suck at it yet again. Yes, it is beyond unfair to criticize taking Walter Nolen in the first round when we haven’t seen him play yet and there’s plenty of time for members of the 2024 class to turn it around. But the lack of strong contributions from youth continue to handicap the Cardinals year after year. It’s exhausting.

Luke Lapinski, co-host of Wolf & Luke

You don’t want my reaction after that.

John Gambadoro, co-host of Burns & Gambo

Disappointing. Heartbreaking. Inexcusable. You just cannot have a three-score lead at home against the worst team in the NFL and lose that game. Can’t do it.

The Cardinals fell to 2-3 and this season has fallen way short of expectations so far. You have to wonder if this is a loss that they can recover from.

Drew Petzing’s offense, after a hot start with three touchdowns in four drives, stopped moving the ball and allowed Tennessee to hang around long enough to shock them.

As bad as it was with Emari Demercado’s unforgivable/atrocious gaff at the goal line for a touchback — a play that would have been a 72-yard TD and given Arizona a 28-6 lead — the Cardinals had a chance to run out the clock. But Mr. Vanilla (Petzing) did not want to throw the ball to Trey McBride or Marvin Harrison Jr.

Instead he ran the ball on five of six plays and punted the ball back to Tennessee and gave them two minutes to get into field goal range. Unacceptable.

Instead of winning the game, the Cardinals offense played to not lose. Let’s remember the Cardinals up 21-12 went three-and-out on the possession before that, with Murray getting sacked on that drive.

This is an unbearable loss.

Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, with what may have been a game-clinching INT with 4:39 left, fumbled the ball and Calvin Ridley recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown that brought the Titans within two, 21-19.

It was as fluke a play as you will ever see, I get it. But you can’t have that game be close in the fourth quarter. You can’t go punt, punt, punt, fumble, punt, fumble, punt, punt on your last eight drives. That loses people their jobs.

Vince Marotta, co-host of Bickley & Marotta:

To quote the late, great Jack Buck, “I can’t believe what I just saw.”

I’ve seen roughly 95% of the games the Arizona Cardinals have played since 1988 and this 22-21 debacle of a loss to the worst team in the NFL is easily the worst Cardinals loss I’ve witnessed.

There might not be anything more frustrating than a team that refuses to learn lessons.

In the first two weeks of the season, the Cardinals had to hold on for dear life in wins over the Saints and Panthers. Their opposition Sunday, the Tennessee Titans, were absolutely dead in the water and the Cardinals offered them multiple lifejackets.

Up 21-6 in the first half, the Cardinals got really conservative right before halftime. With 49 seconds left in the second quarter, the Cardinals got the ball back after a Tennessee turnover on downs at the Tennessee 49 with two timeouts. The Titans sacked Kyle Murray on first down for a loss of eight yards. The Cardinals didn’t use a timeout. Seventeen seconds ticked off the clock before the next snap, which was an incomplete pass intended to Marvin Harrison Jr. On third-and-long, the Cardinals ran with Emari Demercado, who gained 10 yards, and the Cardinals punted. They never used a timeout.

For a team that squawked about needing to score more points leading into this game, that lack of aggressiveness (even after a first-down loss) was an advertisement for the absolute BLEEP-show that was coming in the second half.

A 7:52 possession that ended in no points after Hjalte Froholdt snapped the ball into Murray’s facemask. Emari Demercado breaking off a 71-yard run, during which he coasted started at the 15-yard line and let the ball go before he crossed the goal line. Congrats on going viral, Emari. An interception by Rabbit Taylor-Demerson that somehow leads to a Pop Warner-quality touchdown for Tennessee. A run on third-and-8 with 2:12 to go after all the momentum had shifted to Tennessee’s side?

This team has nothing resembling killer instinct, and these are the results. Disgusting.