Cardinals come up short again in their latest frustrating chapter, a 31-27 loss to Colts

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride was frustrated. Same for quarterback Jacoby Brissett and coach Jonathan Gannon.

For four excruciating weeks, the Cardinals had a chance, and they dropped each one. Three losses came on late field goals. In this one, a 31-27 setback at Indianapolis on Sunday, the defense was unable to force a punt in the second half, and the offense came up empty after it drove to the Colts 9-yard line with about one minute left.

Now, they are going home with plenty of questions.

“They’ve all been close,” McBride said. “They all hurt, but especially ones like this. It’s just not good enough right now to get the wins.”

The Cardinals (2-4) certainly did enough in Indy to give themselves an opportunity, despite playing without quarterback Kyler Murray. Receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and running back Emari Demercado departed in the first half with their own injuries, and backup tight end Travis Vokolek was placed on a backboard and carted off in the first quarter with a neck injury.

It’s unclear when Murray will return or how long Harrison might be in the concussion protocol. And Gannon had no postgame update on Vokolek other than to say he had been taken to a hospital. Vokolek did give a thumbs-up as he was going through a tunnel, and Fox Sports reported Vokolek was alert and had feeling in all of his extremities.

The banged-up Cardinals got a lift from McBride and Brissett.

Facing one of his former teams, Brissett went 27 of 44 for 320 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. McBride had a season-high eight catches for 79 yards and one touchdown.

Greg Dortch also caught a 12-yard TD pass and, after taking a 17-14 lead on the opening possession of the second half, the Cardinals didn’t trail again – until Jonathan Taylor’s 1-yard TD run with 4:32 to play.

They never led again.

“We did some good things, but not enough to win the game,” Gannon said. “We’ve got to do more to put our best foot forward to be able to win games like this. It’s hard, it’s tough to swallow, a loss is a loss. It doesn’t matter if its close or a blowout, but we’re in a tough spot right now.”

Brissett gave away one scoring chance with a red-zone interception early in the second quarter. Indy (5-1) capitalized with a 3-yard TD run to take a 14-7 lead.

The second half featured no punts, and when Indy needed the late stop, it dialed up the pressure on Brissett. McBride even thought Arizona should have gotten another chance when he argued for a penalty on the Cardinals’ final offensive play.

“The hunger is there, the enthusiasm is still there. There’s a lot of football left, and I think the guys understand that,” Brissett said. “We’re not as far off as it seems.”