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Emari Demercado generated the most rushing yards Sunday in a Cardinals backfield spreading the work around after losing both James Conner and Trey Benson to knee injuries. But Demercado overshadowed the work split and his performance and effectively lost his team the game by voluntarily dropping the ball before he crossed the goal line on what should have been a long fourth-quarter TD run.
Trigger warning: Do not watch this video if you started Demercado in your Week 5 fantasy lineup ...
AGAIN. #Cardinals RB Emari Demercado just had a 76-yard TD — but he let go of the ball before crossing the goal line, and it’s a touchback.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 5, 2025
HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!
pic.twitter.com/EstLI9R4jW
How in the world has this happened any more than the first time?
Every single player who has ever even heard of a guy voluntarily fumbling before crossing the goal line should make sure he secures that TD.
Blaming Demercado for losing the game might be a little excessive, but that would have put his team up by at least 21 with about 12 minutes left against a Titans squad that hadn't scored more than 20 in a game yet.
Instead, Demercado won a race to the goal line and then dribbled a touchback through the end zone. His 71 yards on the play did propel a team-leading 81 yards for the game on just three carries. And the Cardinals -- improbably -- let him carry one more time after this play.
That play -- up until the end -- was about the only positive for Demercado in the game.
He trailed Michael Carter by 20 snaps, ran just 10 pass routes to Carter's 18, and trailed Carter and Zonovan "Bam" Knight in both carries and targets.
It's nice that coaches decided not to lose Demercado's number after the fumble, but he's not particularly close to fantasy relevance.
We'll see if anything changes after Carter managed just 2.8 yards per rush against a Titans D allowing 5.0 per carry for the season.
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