Arizona Cardinals: The Ultimate Disappointment

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Nov 22, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver John Brown (12) runs after making a catch against the Cincinnati Bengals during the second half at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals won 34-31. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

Smoke’s Sickle Cell Trait

John Brown had his “break out” year if you will in 2015. That season Brown had over a thousand receiving yards and 7 touchdowns. He was a huge part of our successful run to the conference championship that year. This past season Smoke finished with just over 500 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. His production was literally sliced in half, all because of that sickle cell trait.

This was so ridiculously detrimental to our offensive scheme because John Brown does so much for us offensively. Brown literally takes the entire top off a defense, which then opens up the playbook. When Brown runs over top it makes the defense loosen, giving opportunities to David Johnson in the running game and Fitz in the slot.

When Smoke went out last year and wasn’t able to perform, it sort of threw a wrench into our playbook and we had to start from scratch. That entailed A LOT of David Johnson and J.J. Nelson to step into the deep threat role.

J.J. did a really good job for the situation he was put in, I thought he stepped up to the plate well. But dont get me wrong.. Nelson is no John Brown.

Set a side from John Brown’s underwhelming season, the biggest cause arguably for the lackluster season was the special teams unit.

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