After nine weeks of football we have reached just beyond the halfway point of the season. The Arizona Cardinals have a record of 3-6 and are at the bottom of the NFC division. In this article I will go through the reasons as to why the Cardinals have the record they have.
Injuries
Since week 1 the Arizona Cardinals were dealing with injuries. I know, I know – every team has to deal with injuries, but to think that it doesn’t affect a team’s overall performance is just absurd. The most common statement that gets thrown in to debate injuries is the “next man up” mentality. To expect a second string or below player to just fill in for the injured starter and play at or close to the level of the starter is laughable. It is basic football knowledge that football players are divided by skill. First string are the starters (most skilled in their position), second string are the backups, and so on.
The Cardinals have been one of the most injured teams in the league. Their record is partially reflected by it. Key starter injuries include Marquise Brown, Rodney Hudson, Justin Pugh, D.J. Humphries, James Conner, Rashard Lawrence, Dennis Gardeck, (Will Hernandez and Budda Baker newly added) and Darrel Williams. The NFL BUS rankings (Banged Up Score) has the Arizona Cardinals ranked 31st just above the L.A. Chargers.
Injuries can be the determining factor that makes or breaks a team. There is no debating this. If quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen gets a season ending injury in the beginning of the season, do you really think the Chiefs or the Bills have the same shot at winning the Super Bowl with their second-string quarterbacks? Debate ended.
Penalties
Penalties for the Cardinals have been an ongoing problem for years now. The Cardinals ranked 3rd in 2020, 4th in 2021, and are currently ranked 3rd for the 2022 season. The lack of discipline is absurd. For this season alone, the Cardinals have totaled 64 penalties (7.11 penalties average per game) resulting in 512 yards lost. Of those 64 penalties 26 of them were pre-snap.
This is a tale of self-inflicted wounds. I lost count of how many of these penalties resulted in lost 1st downs and touchdown scenarios. This continues to be a major problem that has yet to be addressed. If they can somehow cut down the penalties to where the team ranks middle of the pack, that would be a significant upgrade and in turn could improve their record in the win column.
Offensive Line
In my honest opinion, the Cardinals struggling O-line has been the biggest key to the offense’s failure to produce. It is a combination of injuries, lack of depth, and the front office not addressing the O-line in the draft/free agency. The basics of building an offense begins with finding your franchise quarterback. Once that has been accomplished, the next step is to build an O-line to protect him as well as setting up lanes for the running back. One would think this is as simple as an elementary level math problem. Of course, one would think.
I researched some data when it comes to the Arizona Cardinals O-line and compared it to current top ranked O-lines. I have selected the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. First, let’s take a look at the Arizona Cardinals:
- LT Humphries, age 28, 2022 salary $12,645,594
- LG Pugh, age 32, 2022 salary $7,500,000 (injured, out for the season)
- C Hudson, age 33, 2022 salary $12,610,000 (injured)
- RG Hernandez, age 27, 2022 salary $1,047,500 (injured)
- RT Beachum, age 33, 2022 salary $2,425,000
Total: $36,228,094, average age: 30.6 (NOTE: $21,157,500 worth is injured)
Now let’s take a look at the Kansas City Chiefs
- LT Brown Jr. age 26, 2022 salary $16,662,000
- LG Thuney, age 19, 2022 salary $8,151,250
- C Humphrey, age 23, 2022 salary $1,264,820 (on rookie contract)
- RG Smith, age 23, 2022 salary $857,677 (on rookie contract)
- RT Wylie, age 28, 2022 salary $1,187,500
Total: $28,123,247, average age: 25.8 (NOTE: all heathy currently)
And finally, the Philadelphia Eagles
- LT Mailata, age 25, 2022 salary $4,372,000
- LG Dickerson, age 24, 2022 salary $1,967,426
- C Kelce, age 35, 2022 salary $8,045,000
- RG Seumalo, age 29, 2022 salary $9,976,000
- RT Johnson, age 32, 2022 salary $11,059,000
Total: $35,419,426, average age: 29 (NOTE: all healthy currently)
Currently the Cardinals have $21 million worth of value missing from their O-line due to injury and that is as big of a red flag as they come. Besides the dollar value, how much of an impact do these players make? ESPN ranks Will Hernandez 8th in the league for highest pass block win rate as a guard and Rodney Hudson 5th in the league for highest run block win rate as a center.
The two biggest red flags when comparing the Cardinals O-line to the other two is age and injury status. Those are two traits that intertwine. As NFL athletes age, injuries happen and it gets harder and longer to heal from them. Eventually as players get older, they begin to get injured more easily and are then labeled injury prone. The simple solution, the Cardinals need to go younger whether its through the draft or through free agency.
Failure to establish the run
Establishing the run game is an essential part to every team. If done successfully, it can account for the short yardage gains resulting in first downs and touchdowns. It also opens up the passing game for receivers. Some teams are a pass first run second team while others are reverse with a run first pass second design. What needs to be understood is that everything starts with the line.
The O-line determines how effective the run and the pass will be. When healthy, the Cardinals do well establishing the run. When Kyler has eight to twelve successful run attempts, the chances of the Cardinals winning go up quite substantially.
With the current injury issues the Cardinals O-line is having, it is no wonder why their run game is struggling. As I said earlier, the O-line determines the flow of the offense for both the run and the pass game. If the O-line is struggling, expect both the run and the pass game to struggle as well.
Kliff Kingsbury’s coaching ability
The causes of the offense’s failure to produce is a combination of injuries and O line’s productivity, and Kliff Kingsbury’s repetitive play calls (i.e. screen plays, Moore behind the line of scrimmage). I also believe Kingsbury’s route design is way too simple.
Teams watch film and can break down Kingsbury’s repetitive routes. I keep hearing that he has a great offensive mind and is very creative with his scheme. In my opinion I disagree, specifically with his route design. Great offensive minds utilize their weapons in many ways situationally. They can adapt to any given situation during a game. Through nine weeks of the season I stand by what I said. Kliff Kingsbury struggles with route design, adaptation, play calling, and game management.
Possible solutions
First and foremost, I consider this season a loss. I believe the Arizona Cardinals organization will put this season’s loss on injuries. The same thing happened with the Baltimore Ravens last year. All is not lost though. There are solutions to the Arizona Cardinals’ problems. It all starts with the O-line. They need to go younger through the draft/free agency. Kyler Murray and the running backs need the time so they can break free and make plays.
They need discipline. The amount of penalties has become very costly over the last two, soon to be, three years. There needs to be an improvement if they want to be considered a playoff caliber team. As I stated, if they can be middle of the pack in penalties, that is a major improvement.
Kliff Kingsbury really needs to look himself in the mirror. How many more screen plays will he need to do to realize that it isn’t working? How many times must he play Rondale Moore behind the line of scrimmage to realize he is better utilized beyond the line? His game management needs to be consistent every single game. There’s very little room for error at the NFL level.
These are all things Kliff Kingsbury is capable of accomplishing. He just needs to put his pride aside and just do it. If it comes down to giving up play calling then so be it. The ball is in his hands. The question is how much longer will he have the ball before it is given to someone else?
