The defense is supposed to be bad, both because of a lack of investment and years of poor roster decisions. But for the Cardinals to open their window of contention in the coming years, they need evidence that their offense — led by Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. — can be the foundation of a playoff team.

Throughout it all, the Cardinals coaching staff began its postmortem, discussing the previous three disastrous hours over their headsets. The final moments of a 42-14 loss to the Commanders were still unfolding in front of them,