Cardinals come up short again in their latest frustrating chapter, a 31-27 loss to Colts

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride was frustrated. Same for quarterback Jacoby Brissett and coach Jonathan Gannon.

For four excruciating weeks, the Cardinals had a chance, and they dropped each one. Three losses came on late field goals. In this one, a 31-27 setback at Indianapolis on Sunday, the defense was unable to force a punt in the second half, and the offense came up empty after it drove to the Colts 9-yard line with about one minute left.

Now, they are going home with plenty of questions.

“They've all been close,” McBride said. “They all hurt, but especially ones like this. It's just not good enough right now to get the wins.”

The Cardinals (2-4) certainly did enough in Indy to give themselves an opportunity, despite playing without quarterback Kyler Murray. Receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and running back Emari Demercado departed in the first half with their own injuries, and backup tight end Travis Vokolek was placed on a backboard and carted off in the first quarter with a neck injury.

It's unclear when Murray will return or how long Harrison might be in the concussion protocol. And Gannon had no postgame update on Vokolek other than to say he had been taken to a hospital. Vokolek did give a thumbs-up as he was going through a tunnel, and Fox Sports reported Vokolek was alert and had feeling in all of his extremities.

The banged-up Cardinals got a lift from McBride and Brissett.

Facing one of his former teams, Brissett went 27 of 44 for 320 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. McBride had a season-high eight catches for 79 yards and one touchdown.

Greg Dortch also caught a 12-yard TD pass and, after taking a 17-14 lead on the opening possession of the second half, the Cardinals didn't trail again — until Jonathan Taylor's 1-yard TD run with 4:32 to play.

They never led again.

“We did some good things, but not enough to win the game,” Gannon said. “We've got to do more to put our best foot forward to be able to win games like this. It's hard, it's tough to swallow, a loss is a loss. It doesn't matter if its close or a blowout, but we're in a tough spot right now.”

Brissett gave away one scoring chance with a red-zone interception early in the second quarter. Indy (5-1) capitalized with a 3-yard TD run to take a 14-7 lead.

The second half featured no punts, and when Indy needed the late stop, it dialed up the pressure on Brissett. McBride even thought Arizona should have gotten another chance when he argued for a penalty on the Cardinals' final offensive play.

“The hunger is there, the enthusiasm is still there. There’s a lot of football left, and I think the guys understand that,” Brissett said. "We’re not as far off as it seems.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs (1) runs against Arizona Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson (34) in the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in Indianapolis, Ind. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Indianapolis Colts' Chris Lammons tackles Arizona Cardinals' Greg Dortch during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Indianapolis Colts Chris Lammons stops Arizona Cardinals' Michael Wilson during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Arizona Cardinals' Trey McBride reacts after catcing a touchdown pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Arizona Cardinals' Greg Dortch runs after a catch for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

MADRID (AP) — Venezuelans living in Spain are watching the events unfold back home with a mix of awe, joy and fear.

Some 600,000 Venezuelans live in Spain, home to the largest population anywhere outside the Americas. Many fled political persecution and violence but also the country’s collapsing economy.

A majority live in the capital, Madrid, working in hospitals, restaurants, cafes, nursing homes and elsewhere. While some Venezuelan migrants have established deep roots and lives in the Iberian nation, others have just arrived.

Here is what three of them had to say about the future of Venezuela since U.S. forces deposed Nicolás Maduro.

David Vallenilla woke up to text messages from a cousin on Jan. 3 informing him “that they invaded Venezuela.” The 65-year-old from Caracas lives alone in a tidy apartment in the south of Madrid with two Daschunds and a handful of birds. He was in disbelief.

“In that moment, I wanted certainty,” Vallenilla said, “certainty about what they were telling me.”

In June 2017, Vallenilla’s son, a 22-year-old nursing student in Caracas named David José, was shot point-blank by a Venezuelan soldier after taking part in a protest near a military air base in the capital. He later died from his injuries. Video footage of the incident was widely publicized, turning his son’s death into an emblematic case of the Maduro government’s repression against protesters that year.

After demanding answers for his son’s death, Vallenilla, too, started receiving threats and decided two years later to move to Spain with the help of a nongovernmental organization.

On the day of Maduro’s capture, Vallenilla said his phone was flooded with messages about his son.

“Many told me, ‘Now David will be resting in peace. David must be happy in heaven,’” he said. “But don't think it was easy: I spent the whole day crying.”

Vallenilla is watching the events in Venezuela unfold with skepticism but also hope. He fears more violence, but says he has hope the Trump administration can effect the change that Venezuelans like his son tried to obtain through elections, popular protests and international institutions.

“Nothing will bring back my son. But the fact that some justice has begun to be served for those responsible helps me see a light at the end of the tunnel. Besides, I also hope for a free Venezuela.”

Journalist Carleth Morales first came to Madrid a quarter-century ago when Hugo Chávez was reelected as Venezuela's president in 2000 under a new constitution.

The 54-year-old wanted to study and return home, taking a break of sorts in Madrid as she sensed a political and economic environment that was growing more and more challenging.

“I left with the intention of getting more qualified, of studying, and of returning because I understood that the country was going through a process of adaptation between what we had known before and, well, Chávez and his new policies," Morales said. "But I had no idea that we were going to reach the point we did.”

In 2015, Morales founded an organization of Venezuelan journalists in Spain, which today has hundreds of members.

The morning U.S. forces captured Maduro, Morales said she woke up to a barrage of missed calls from friends and family in Venezuela.

“Of course, we hope to recover a democratic country, a free country, a country where human rights are respected,” Morales said. “But it’s difficult to think that as a Venezuelan when we’ve lived through so many things and suffered so much.”

Morales sees it as unlikely that she would return home, having spent more than two decades in Spain, but she said she hopes her daughters can one day view Venezuela as a viable option.

“I once heard a colleague say, ‘I work for Venezuela so that my children will see it as a life opportunity.’ And I adopted that phrase as my own. So perhaps in a few years it won’t be me who enjoys a democratic Venezuela, but my daughters.”

For two weeks, Verónica Noya has waited for her phone to ring with the news that her husband and brother have been freed.

Noya’s husband, Venezuelan army Capt. Antonio Sequea, was imprisoned in 2020 after having taken part in a military incursion to oust Maduro. She said he remains in solitary confinement in the El Rodeo prison in Caracas. For 20 months, Noya has been unable to communicate with him or her brother, who was also arrested for taking part in the same plot.

“That’s when my nightmare began,” Noya said.

Venezuelan authorities have said hundreds of political prisoners have been released since Maduro's capture, while rights groups have said the real number is a fraction of that. Noya has waited in agony to hear anything about her four relatives, including her husband's mother, who remain imprisoned.

Meanwhile, she has struggled with what to tell her children when they ask about their father's whereabouts. They left Venezuela scrambling and decided to come to Spain because family roots in the country meant that Noya already had a Spanish passport.

Still, she hopes to return to her country.

“I’m Venezuelan above all else,” Noya said. “And I dream of seeing a newly democratic country."

Venezuelan journalist Caleth Morales works in her apartment's kitchen in Madrid, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

David Vallenilla, father of the late David José Vallenilla Luis, sits in his apartment's kitchen in Madrid, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Veronica Noya holds a picture of her husband Antonio Sequea in Madrid, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

David Vallenilla holds a picture of deposed President Nicolas Maduro, blindfolded and handcuffed, during an interview with The Associated Press at his home in Madrid, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Pictures of the late David José Vallenilla Luis are placed in the living room of his father, David José Vallenilla, in Madrid, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)