Apparently, when Indianapolis Colts‘ wide receiver Adonai Mitchell committed a goal-line gaffe in a shocking loss to the Los Angeles Rams two weeks ago, the rest of the NFL wasn’t paying attention. They sure should have.
Every NFL head coach should have used Mitchell’s mistake as a teaching lesson. You might remember Mitchell running in for a 76-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter in Los Angeles…until he didn’t.
While he wasn’t the first NFL player ever to do it, he certainly won’t be the last either. Arizona Cardinals‘ running back Emari Demercado made sure of that in their terrible loss to the Tennessee Titans (aren’t all losses to the Titans terrible?) on Sunday.
Arizona Cardinals’ Emari Demercado blows it at the goal line
With a 21-6 lead with 12:50 to go in the fourth quarter, Demercado got a handoff up the right side. He took off for what looked like an easy 71-yard touchdown scamper.
Then, he decided to get cute at the goal line. He – along with every other NFL player – should have had the recent memory of Mitchell burned into their brains, but he didn’t. Instead, he did this:
“While it’s always inexcusable for a player to drop the ball before crossing the front of the goal line, it’s beyond inexcusable for any coach to not use the fresh example of a player on another team doing it to hammer the point home to every player on his own team,” writes Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.
The fact that the Cardinals opened Week 4 on a Thursday night makes it even worse. They were off on Sunday. They had extra time to digest anything/everything that happened on the fourth Sunday of the 2025 season and apply those lessons moving forward.”
Arizona Cardinals’ head coach downplays the turnover
It’s not just that Demercado didn’t score, he – like Mitchell – turned the ball over. It’s one of the dumber rules in professional football, but it’s still a rule. If you fumble the ball forward out of the end zone, you lose possession and give the other team the ball at the 20-yard line.
Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon was asked after the game if Demercado’s play cost the team the entire game.
“It’s never about one play,” Gannon told reporters.
For the record, Gannon absolutely went off on Demercado following this play, so he can say what he wants, but he was just as livid as every other Cardinals fan on the planet.
He was then asked how they coach players in moments like this.
“We have coaching points that I’m not gonna tell you guys now,” Gannon said.
After Mitchell and now Demercado, will all NFL coaches start off their Monday-morning meetings with phrases like, “hold on to the football until you cross the goal line at all times,” “try not to do stupid stuff when you’re running with the football,” and “did you watch the Cardinals game yesterday?
Maybe Gannon should call his ex-Eagles coach Shane Steichen to see how he handled it internally. But, one does have to wonder, is this something Nick Sirianni teaches?
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Arizona Cardinals’ Head Coach Should Have Called Steichen appeared first on Heavy Sports.