The Bad
Penalties
Once again, if there is something to pick at it’s the penalties. The Cardinals had a lot of them on Sunday.
There were some questionable calls, including a couple of roughing the passer calls. For the day the Cardinals ended with 10 penalties for a total of 98-yards.
Fumbles
The Cardinals put the ball on the ground a couple of times officially. They were lucky enough to be called down a couple of other times.
Hanging on the ball is important for both the quarterback and running backs. if they expect to win they need to protect the ball better.
Abandoning the run
Despite the fumbles, the Cardinals ran the ball well on Sunday for the most part. Which made it puzzling they started to throw the ball more in the fourth, especially after falling behind 17-16.
Granted, there needed to be some spark from the passing game and they got it with the long touchdown pass from Gabbert to Jaron Brown. However the Cardinals threw the ball 38 times to 31 runs. Six of those runs were designed pass plays that broke down.