Arizona Cardinals: Need help from running game

The Arizona Cardinals running game needs to start taking shape against the San Francisco 49ers

We saw a glimpse of the new rushing attack for the Arizona Cardinals two weeks ago against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It disappeared against the Los Angeles Rams last week.

Now for any chance the Cardinals remain in the playoff hunt, a return to doing what they did with running back Adrian Peterson against the Bucs is necessary. The Cardinals will not win throwing the ball 30-45 times against the 49ers.

If Drew Stanton is having to throw the ball that much, it likely means the Cardinals have fallen behind, by a lot. If that happens, then the Cardinals have much bigger issues.

However we saw what Peterson provided a couple of weeks ago when he rushed 26 times for 134-yards and two touchdowns. Don’t forget he had another 41-yarder wiped away by penalty.

However he disappeared against the Rams. Even when he was given a chance to run, he did not look good. Some of that was on him, some on the offensive line.

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Then the Cardinals fell so far behind in the second half, it was all passing at that point. Even at that, they only ran 47 plays from scrimmage.

If Peterson needs help, there is Kerwynn Williams. Give him 10 carries if need be. He can handle that and Williams has proven he can be successful in that role as the backup.

It does come down to help though from the offensive line. A successful passing game will also help. Don’t abandon the pass alltogether just because Stanton is playing.

We’ve talked about having balance. You can only have that though if a running game can be established. The Cardinals made their big trade splash. We can only hope it continues to pay off, at least until David Johnson returns later on this season.

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