The Cardinals suffered perhaps their worst loss of the season on Monday night in Mexico City, getting blown out by the 49ers in front of a national audience, 38–10. Though Arizona looked thoroughly outclassed from a talent standpoint for most of the night, the team’s effort also left something to be desired for Troy Aikman.
Aikman, who was on the call for ESPN alongside Joe Buck, took particular exception with one play in the fourth quarter on which San Francisco tight end George Kittle ran 32 yards up the sideline for a touchdown. As Kittle approached the goal line, Cardinals defensive back Antonio Hamilton appeared to have a chance to make the tackle, but seemed to ease up just enough to allow the Niners’ pass catcher to squeak by.
Once he saw the replay, Aikman was nearly at a loss for words before eventually calling out Hamilton’s lack of effort at the end of the run.
“This is embarrassing for the Arizona Cardinals,” Aikman began. “At the end of this play… Antonio Hamilton doesn't come up after all the tackles he made last week and even try to make an attempt on George Kittle. They’re a losing football team, and they’re playing like one on that play.”
Hamilton did seem to get marginally pushed in the back by 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk, but Aikman’s commentary is spot on. The pitch and catch extended San Francisco’s lead even further at a time when Arizona needed to put forth maximum effort to mount a comeback.
Monday’s loss dropped the Cardinals to 4–7 on the year and even further out of the playoff picture. With just a few weeks of the regular season remaining, Kliff Kingsbury’s team will need to show some sort of fight or change may be coming in the offseason.
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