Here’s what the Jonathan Gannon-coached Arizona Cardinals have in common with the Dan Campbell-coached Detroit Lions.
Gannon, hired before the 2023 season, had a 5-16 record through his first 21 games. He has a 5-1 record since then, beating the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins (with Tua Tagovailoa), Chicago Bears and New York Jets. The last two victories, over the Bears and Jets, were by a 60-15 combined mark. Arizona could be turning a corner.
Campbell started 4-16-1 in his first 21 games with the Lions and has gone 28-11 since then.
The similarities do not stop there:
- Campbell was mocked early in his tenure for saying he wanted his team, after getting knocked down, to “bite a kneecap off” on the way back up. Gannon was mocked early in his tenure for a “
cringe” pep talk in which he asked players if they had taken the bus to work, then informed them he was “looking for f—— killers.”
- Both coaches’ starting quarterbacks had played well enough previously to earn top-of-market contracts, before faltering enough to see their reputations bottom out.
- Both coaches work with general managers poached from Super Bowl teams.
- Both coaches trusted first-time coordinators on both sides of the ball. We’ve heard lots about Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and more lately about his defensive counterpart, Aaron Glenn. If Arizona keeps winning, we’ll hear more about offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, 37, and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, 31.
- Both coaches took over historically losing franchises and started poorly enough to hear “same old Lions” and “same old Cardinals” without having anything substantive to say in rebuttal until well into their second seasons. Gannon’s 5-16 mark was tied for the eighth-worst through 21 games for any coach hired since 2000. Campbell was 4-19-1 with Detroit before turning things around.
Murray’s mobility differentiates Arizona from Detroit, opening different ways to win games. Think Seattle during the Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson years a decade ago, or even the Steelers with Wilson now, to an extent.
“They are a physical team,” an exec said of Arizona. “They are not the prettiest team, but they run the ball, they hit on defense and they have a quarterback who is going to run around and make something happen. You can win a lot of games that way.”