👋 GOOD MORNING - Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend.

I want to lead off with the good sports news from the weekend, first: Sun Devils hockey won the Ice Breaker Tournament, the ASU women’s volleyball team continued its impressive winning streak, and Rising FC finally broke its string of winless games. Also, the Suns did emerge with a preseason win on Friday.

If you’re a football fan, though, the weekend was less than ideal.

The Sun Devils were obliterated in Salt Lake City, the Wildcats lost a heartbreaker at home to BYU, and the Cardinals dropped their fourth straight, though there was at least a little silver lining in that defeat. Plenty more on that below.

On to the show!

— Patrick Brown, PHNX Sports Daily Editor

Is there a quarterback controversy brewing in the desert?

OK, probably not. But Backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett at least gave Cardinals fans some semblance of optimism following Arizona’s 31-27 loss at Indianapolis yesterday. The veteran quarterback finished 27-for-44 for 320 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while adding three rushes for 19 yards.

The Cardinals (2-4) again lost the lead in the fourth quarter, as the Colts outscored Arizona 14-3 in the final frame. The Cards were in it until the very end, ultimately failing on fourth-and-7 from the Colts’ 9-yard-line with under a minute to play to ice the game.

In many ways, though, yesterday’s defeat was just another chapter in the same old story fans have witnessed this season.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways from Sunday’s loss:

Kyler Murray’s absence grabbed all the headlines heading into the Week 6 matchup, but the veteran Brissett was one of the main reasons the Cardinals were even in a position to win yesterday. His performance was even more impressive considering receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. left in the second quarter with a concussion.

The 32-year-old quarterback connected with tight end Trey McBride the most, finding him eight times for 72 yards and one touchdown. Zay Jones led all Cardinals with 79 reception yards, but Brissett ultimately connected with eight players through the air. His other touchdown was a 12-yard connection with Greg Dortch.

Whether or not Murray is ready to go next week against the Packers (and make no mistake, coach Jonathan Gannon confirmed there is no QB controversy whatsoever), Brissett is well-equipped to handle the duties under center.

Emari Demercado hurt his ankle in the second quarter, opening the door for Bam Knight to receive an increased workload in tandem with Michael Carter. Knight saw the most carries of any Cardinals player (11) and picked up 34 yards with a touchdown on those touches.

Carter matched Knight’s output of 34 yards on nine carries, while Demercardo managed just one yard on his sole carry of the game.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the losing streak has come with the defense’s inability to get a critical stop when it’s needed most. Even at the very end of the game the D was unable to stop a second-down run, allowing a 16-yard scamper to allow the Colts to ice the game and run out the clock.

The toughest pill to swallow here may be the margin of defeat, though. Four losses. Nine points. NINE. If Arizona had even won two of those close defeats, they’re looking at 4-2 instead of 2-4, and the tone of this morning’s email is much different.

Instead, the Cardinals head into Week 7 with the season on the line against one of the top teams in the NFC, the Packers.

Season Over: The Mercury dropped Game 4 of the WNBA Finals 97-86 on Friday, as the Las Vegas Aces completed the sweep to win their third championship in the last four years. This will be an interesting offseason for the league as commissioner Cathy Engelbert navigates through a tumultuous relationship with the players, but the Mercury should be incredibly proud of a season in which they exceeded all expectations by making it all the way to the finals.

Salty Loss: The Sun Devils plummeted out of the Top 25 following a 42-10 trouncing against Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday night. Backup Jeff Sims was just 18-for-38 for 124 yards and 0 touchdowns as ASU was out-gained 415-259 in the loss.

Arizona State’s only touchdown came from a three-yard rush by Jordyn Tyson, and road doesn’t get any easier for the Sun Devils, who host No. 7 Texas Tech on Saturday.

Tucson Trouble: The Wildcats suffered a heartbreaking defeat of their own at home on Saturday, falling to No. 18 BYU 33-27 in double overtime after blowing a 10-point fourth quarter lead. The Cougars tied the game after scoring a touchdown with 19 seconds left, and both teams kicked a field goal in the first overtime before BYU prevailed in the second.

The 4-2 Wildcats still have plenty to play for, and visit 5-1 Houston on Saturday with another chance to make a statement in the league.

Split the Difference: The Suns split their preseason games against the Nets in China over the weekend, winning 132-127 in overtime on Friday before falling 111-109 yesterday. Phoenix closes out its exhibition season against the Lakers at Mortgage Matchup Center tomorrow before opening the regular season against Sacramento at home next Wednesday, Oct. 22.

Big Dub: Rising FC broke out of a six-game winless streak with a 2-0 triumph over North Carolina FC, a critical win on their quest for a postseason berth. Phoenix has created a little separation in the playoff standings, as it ranks sixth in the West with 36 points — four ahead of ninth place Orange County.

Rising FC is back in action on Saturday at home against fifth place San Antonio FC.

I choose to focus on the good, and this was, in fact, good.

How I choose to remember this sports weekend: