The Arizona Cardinals (1-4) have hit their ceiling with Jacoby Brissett as their starting quarterback in 2026. Since defeating the now 0-5 Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1, Arizona has lost four in a row, including a damning couple of losses the last two weeks. The Cardinals had a chance to beat the New York Giants in Week 4 with a play at the 4-yard line, trailing by six with 11 seconds remaining.
After using their final timeout, Brissett threw a pick-six, the third of his single-game career-high three interceptions that day. Equally — or perhaps more — damning is what happened on Sunday in Arizona's 45-21 defeat against the Detroit Lions. The Lions entered Week 5 with the league's 31st-ranked scoring defense (31.8 points per game) and the NFL's worst total defense (423.8 total yards per game) and third down defense (52.8% third down conversion rate allowed).
After an opening drive touchdown pass from Brissett to tight end Teagan Quitoriano, the Cardinals' next five drives were three-and-outs. Arizona had five consecutive three-and-outs against the league's worst total and third-down defense. Their next drive ended with an interception.
It wasn't until the game was essentially over that Brissett found the end zone again. That leaves the question: Is it time for Carson Beck to take over in Arizona? Every quarterback who had played the Lions entering Week 5 stuffed the stat sheet and either beat Detroit or lost to them by one possession.
The Brissett-led Cardinals losing to the 2026 Lions defense, which is missing both All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph and Pro Bowl safety Brian Branch, by 24 points is unacceptable. Brissett's production this season — 66.3% completion percentage, 1,110 yards passing, nine passing touchdowns and five interceptions for an 85.2 passer rating — isn't terrible, but it's all empty calories in that it mostly happens with the game's outcome no longer up in the air. The 2026 season isn't an outlier for Brissett either.
In 2025, he threw for 3,366 passing yards, the second most in the NFL since becoming a starter in Week 6, but they weren't impactful. Arizona won just one of Brissett's 11 starts in 2025, and it was against the Dallas Cowboys, who owned that season's worst scoring defense (30.1 points allowed per game). Brissett is what he is: a 33-year-old journeyman on his sixth NFL team in 11 seasons who is limited as a full-time starting quarterback.
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