The Arizona Cardinals had a complete meltdown in the second half of their Week 5 game against the Tennessee Titans, and it all started at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Emari Demercado ran the ball to the house for 76 yards, but unfortunately, he let go of the ball before crossing the goal line, which resulted in a touchback. Not only did that suck the energy out of the stadium, but it gave the Titans the needed momentum to come back, and they did.

After the play, head coach Jonathan Gannon was seen on the sidelines giving Demercado an earful, and it didn't look very pleasant from the video.

This is not the first time a player has let the ball go before getting past the goal line, and it just happened last week during the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Rams game. Wide receiver Adonai Mitchell fumbled at the goal line for the Colts, and it would have been a game-tying touchdown. Instead, the Rams ended up winning that game down the stretch.

As for the Cardinals, they did not score at all in the fourth quarter, while the Titans scored 16 unanswered points, and they went on to win their first game of the season.

Emari Demercado speaks about costly fumble

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After the game, Demercado spoke to reporters about the fumble and took responsibility for what happened.

“I just made a mistake. There’s really no excuse,” Demercado said via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “Just let the ball go through. I’ve just got to be smarter. It’s as simple as that.

“I’ve just got to keep pushing. It’s the same thing. No matter which way you word it, it’s the same answer, I’ve just got to keep pushing. Holding onto it isn’t going to do anything for me.”

Demercado is right when he says holding on to it won't do anything for him, but it will remind him not to do it again. In all, that was a rough loss for the Cardinals, but he can't put the blame all on himself. The Cardinals had many chances to try and score, but they weren't able to, giving the Titans every opportunity to come back.

It will be interesting to see if anything happens to Demercado during the week, but the Cardinals do need him with James Conner out for the season and Trey Benson on injured reserve.