Trey McBride’s great season is one of the few bright spots for the struggling Cardinals

TEMPE Ariz AP Trey McBride is having the kind of season that preponderance NFL tight ends can only dream about Individually at least The Arizona Cardinals star had another huge match on Sunday catching passes for yards and two touchdowns against the Houston Texans providing one of the sparse bright spots in a - loss that was not particularly competitive McBride is having the best season of his four-year career catching passes for yards and touchdowns He has caught at least five passes in straight games dating to last season which is an NFL record for a tight end developing the mark of set by Kansas City s Travis Kelce The matter for McBride is there s not much happiness in those accomplishments because the Cardinals keep losing Honestly it s whatever McBride explained It s cool It s great but it doesn t really matter Sixteen games and for what We ve got to win more games The Cardinals - haven t done that much this season They ve lost six games in a row and of their past after starting the season - Arizona s latest loss was brutal from the start The Texans jumped to a - lead on the second play of the competition after C J Stroud hit Nico Collins for a -yard touchdown The Cardinals fumbled the ensuing kickoff which the Texans recovered setting up a -yard field goal and a - advantage You don t get your first offensive snap until you re down - it s hard to start the tournament like that McBride announced But I m proud of the way we fought I thought we didn t give up but we ve just got to start the match faster We can t spot them points like that The Cardinals briefly made the championship absorbing cutting the deficit to - early in the fourth quarter but they couldn t get any closer That s a good football group coach Jonathan Gannon announced of the Texans We didn t do enough all three phases We ve got to play a little better complementary football Any time we had chosen chances to get momentum back one of the three phases kind of let us down We can t dig a hole like that What s working The Jacoby Brissett-to-McBride connection just keeps getting more potent Brissett has started nine games at quarterback since Kyler Murray went down with a foot injury and McBride has caught nine TDs over that span What requirements help The Cardinals spent a lot of money on their revamped defense during the offseason but it s getting worse as the season has progressed Arizona is giving up points per challenge this season which ranks th in the league Over the current six-game losing streak it s giving up more than points per contest Stock up Walter Nolen III The rookie defensive lineman has been limited to five games this season because of injuries but when he s played the No overall pick out of Mississippi has looked good He had his second sack of the season against the Texans and could be a difference maker for a Cardinals defense that is searching for playmakers Stock down Gannon s job safety is an open question as the end of his third season nears The coach announced he expected the Cardinals to compete despite being eliminated from playoff contention two weeks ago but two straight blowout losses have followed Gannon noted he talks daily to unit owner Michael Bidwill and the sole concern is how to improve I believe in myself and I believe in our club Gannon commented We are at a dip right now and we re going through particular adversity but I do believe in us that we ll get out of the dip Injuries WR Andre Baccellia neck RB Bam Knight ankle and LB Cody Simon knee all left Sunday s challenge with injuries CB Max Melton heel WR Marvin Harrison Jr heel S Jalen Thompson hamstring and LT Paris Johnson Jr knee were among seven inactives but could return against the Falcons Key number The Cardinals have given up at least points in four of their past six losses Next approaches The Cardinals host the Falcons on Sunday AP NFL https apnews com hub NFL Source