Troy Aikman ripped the Cardinals’ ‘embarrassing’ effort on defense after George Kittle scored an almost unimpeded TD

Heading into Monday night’s matchup in Mexico City with the rival San Francisco 49ers, the Arizona Cardinals were hoping to start a season turnaround. After a thorough 38-10 drubbing at the hands of San Francisco, the hapless Cardinals seemingly only created even more questions for themselves than answers.

The climax of the Cardinals’ latest mess might have been on a late 38-yard touchdown by the 49ers’ George Kittle. After the star tight end caught a dump-off in the flat, multiple Arizona defenders appeared to have the opportunity to tackle him and stop him well short of the end zone. They did not, as Kittle coasted in largely unimpeded.

This poor defensive effort did not sit well with ESPN’s color commentator in the booth and Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman:

"This is embarrassing for the Arizona Cardinals … 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."- Troy Aikman #MNF pic.twitter.com/ahpDHvcPRv

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 22, 2022

"They're a losing football team and they're playing like one on that play." — Troy Aikman on the MNF broadcast after that Kittle touchdown.

— Josh Weinfuss (@joshweinfuss) November 22, 2022

I mean … is Aikman wrong? The Cardinals are 4-7! What business do they have not finishing every possible play through the whistle at this point in their disappointing season? It’s simply unacceptable for a professional squad to give up like that, and it appears Aikman was clearly fed up seeing it play out in live action.

With efforts on defense like this — where it’s clear the Cardinals are starting to throw in the towel — it’s hard to imagine Kliff Kingsbury returning to the Arizona sideline in the 2023 season. Changes are probably inevitable.