Arizona Cardinals create turnovers for first win

It wasn’t pretty but the Arizona Cardinals got their first win of the season on Sunday

First of all, congratulations to head coach Steve Wilks, quarterback Josh Rosen, and the Arizona Cardinals.  They got their first win of the season on Sunday despite giving up almost 500 yards to the San Francisco 49ers.

The difference on Sunday was the defense creating turnovers.  They got five of them, two interceptions and three fumbles.  They returned one of the fumbles for a touchdown.

Rosen also started the offense on the first play with a 75-yard strike, a touchdown pass to receiver Christian Kirk.  It was Kirk’s first career touchdown reception.

They couldn’t get a running game going, however running back David Johnson still got two touchdowns on Sunday.  He had 18 carries for 55-yards.

It was hard sledding for the Cardinals on offense again though overall.  They ran just 49 plays to the 49ers 92 plays.  Two of the Cardinals plays were kneel downs at the end of the game.

The defense was tired because the offense couldn’t convert on third downs, again.  They had a number of three and outs.  If that continues, it will be a very long season.

The Cardinals though got those turnovers, scoring 21 points off of them.  It was nice to see them not settle for field goals.

Rosen wasn’t as sharp as last week in his debut against the Seattle Seahawks.  He was great on the first play and the Cardinals never trailed after that.

Like it’s been said, he will have good days, bad days, and mediocre days.  Today was mediocre but the one statistic that stood out was no turnovers.  Rosen’s only interception so far still remains in the mop up duty against the Chicago Bears two weeks ago.

Things won’t get easier for the Cardinals.  They are off for a visit to the Minnesota Vikings next Sunday in Minneapolis.

To win next week though, the Cardinals will need to do what they did today.  They will need to create turnovers and will not get away with giving up a lot of yards and still win.

This is why they play the games though.  Stats don’t always tell the story.  All you need to do in this league is have at least one more point than the opponent at the end.