TAMPA, Fla. -- Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett started his news conference after Sunday's three-point loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and said 18 words that encapsulated Arizona's season.
"I know I get up here and I sound like a broken record, but it's just execution, man," Brissett said.
In a lot of ways, he wasn't wrong. He's been the saying the same thing for weeks playing in place of Kyler Murray, but that's because it's accurate. The Cardinals' offense has been good but not good enough.
For weeks, as the Cardinals keep getting close to winning but not actually winning, the response has been essentially the same: They need to execute better and improve the details.
Sunday was no different. For the fifth time in their nine losses, the Cardinals outgained their opponent but couldn't find a way to win. Of those nine, seven have been by four points or fewer. And Sunday's 20-17 loss to the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium embodied both: The Cardinals lost by three despite outgaining the Bucs by 107 yards.
"We got into kind of the red zone a couple of times and instead of settling for field goals, you got to find a way to get seven, can't turn the ball over in the red zone," veteran right tackle Kelvin Beachum said. "That's offensively. That's all of us. And much like weeks past, we've been able to go up and down the field on people, but you got to find a way to put the ball in the end zone. We just haven't done that consistently enough to put ourselves in the winning column."
Four Arizona drives ended in Bucs territory without a touchdown. Brissett threw an interception from the Tampa Bay 20 in the first quarter, kicker Chad Ryland hit a 52-yard field goal in the second quarter, running back Bam Knight fumbled on a run from Tampa Bay's 45, and Ryland missed a 42-yard field goal in the third quarter.
Those plays, coach Jonathan Gannon estimated, left nine points on the board -- which would've been the difference.
"You let up nine points off the board and then the game is played different," Gannon said. "You can get stressed out when you're down like that with decision-making and what you [have] to do, what they're doing.
"I think we just have to capitalize when we get the ball in scoring position."
When given the opportunity -- and not just on Sunday -- Arizona has struggled to do just that. That has prevented the Cardinals from taking control of games this season, even when they've won. Their wins in the first two weeks were closer than they wanted. In Week 1 against New Orleans, Arizona was up 10 but had to make a game-saving stop late in the fourth quarter to secure the win. A week later, a 27-3 lead disintegrated to a five-point lead that Arizona held onto after another defensive stop in the final 30 seconds.
The only game of the season that Arizona truly controlled was the win over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football.
"When you think about it, I think we haven't truly been in control of a game in those five games [in which we outgained our opponent but lost], like truly in control where we're dictating what's going on," Beachum said. "We're not playing with the lead. I think everything has been pretty neck and neck for the most part. We've been playing from behind. There's no excuses. It's just factual."
Despite saying he sounds like a broken record, Brissett didn't waver in his belief of what the Cardinals are doing.
"I think [offensive coordinator Drew Petzing] has been doing a good job of putting us in the right situations and giving us opportunities to go out there and make plays," Brissett said. "I think the guys are doing a lot of good things, making those plays when they come, when they're there but just coming down to execution and details and me helping the guys out."
After 12 games -- seven of which have been with Brissett behind center -- the Cardinals have looked like football's version of Groundhog Day to a point. They're 3-9 and have lost seven one-score games this season and are 0-8 against teams that have entered their matchup with a winning record.
Frustration permeated everywhere throughout the locker room Sunday with every week seemingly being a repeat of the last regardless of how hard the Cardinals try to fix the issues that plagued them the week before.
"This just hasn't been the year that we've been able to cash in on those opportunities and it's unfortunate, it sucks," Beachum said. "I've been on both sides of this. I had an old ball coach that would tell me, 'Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you.'
"The bear's been getting us a lot this year. That's just the nature of this game and the nature of this business."