Raising Zona
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5 things the Cardinals need to clean up going forward

By Scott Allen

CINCINNATI, OHIO - OCTOBER 06: Andy Dalton #14 of the Cincinnati Bengals stands at the line of scrimmage during the NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals at Paul Brown Stadium on October 06, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Bryan Woolston/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OHIO - OCTOBER 06: Andy Dalton #14 of the Cincinnati Bengals stands at the line of scrimmage during the NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals at Paul Brown Stadium on October 06, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Bryan Woolston/Getty Images) /
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CINCINNATI, OH – OCTOBER 6: Zane Gonzalez #5 of the Arizona Cardinals is congratulated by Andy Lee #4 after kicking the game-winning field goal during the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on October 6, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Arizona defeated Cincinnati 26-23. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH – OCTOBER 6: Zane Gonzalez #5 of the Arizona Cardinals is congratulated by Andy Lee #4 after kicking the game-winning field goal during the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on October 6, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Arizona defeated Cincinnati 26-23. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

They got their first win on Sunday but the Arizona Cardinals still have plenty of work to be even an average team

For awhile on Sunday, it looked like the Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals would play it close until the end.  Then it looked like the Cardinals wanted to take over but couldn’t pull away.

Then in the 4th quarter, it looked like the Cardinals were going to pull away but then they came back down to Earth thanks to an awful defense.  The Cincinnati Bengals started fighting back down 14 and the Cardinals thought they had it wrapped up with 7 minutes left in the game.

There are good things to takeaway from the first win of the season.  However there are some other things they need to continue to work on.

These five things should be at the top of the list this week for the Arizona Cardinals.  They host the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at State Farm Stadium.

Special Teams

For the first few weeks of the young 2019 season, it seemed the Arizona Cardinals were light years away from years past of special teams blunders.  On Sunday in Cincinnati, those feelings came back.

The Cardinals had a missed field goal, third in two weeks from Zane Gonzalez.  They also missed some tackles on kickoff returns that gave the Bengals good field position at times.

It felt like Amos Jones was back in the fold.  The Bengals returned 3 kicks for 97-yards.  That’s an average of 32.3-yards per return for those of you doing the math at home.  That must get shored up if they want to continue to win games.

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