Arizona Cardinals early mistakes dig them in hole again

The Arizona Cardinals did not come out fast on defense against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon

Well, some things apparently are never going to change.  The Arizona Cardinals had several chances to stop the Atlanta Falcons on their first offensive drive of the game but it didn’t happen.

Penalties, wide open tight ends, its the same story.  Two of the most aware veteran defenders in the game were caught not being aware.

First it was linebacker Terrell Suggs, then it was linebacker Chandler Jones.  Each of them cost the Cardinals 5-yards on consecutive third down plays and kept the drive alive for the Falcons.

The Falcons were on the verge of being stopped after a nice drive, which included a wide-open Falcons tight end Austin Hooper on a 19-yard catch and run.  He couldn’t have been any more open on the play even if the Falcons offense told the Cardinals defense what they were going to do on the play.

Those three plays led to the eventual 9-yard pass from quarterbacks Matt Ryan to receiver Calvin Ridley for a touchdown and an early 7-0 lead. However, it wasn’t just the defense with its early issues.

The offense, well not sure what the play calling was there on their first drive?  Quarterback Kyler Murray took a sack when he just decided to sit on the ground indian style instead of taking on any kind of hit.

He did get lucky on a third down pass to Trent Sherfield that somehow managed to catch a 38-yard pass on the sidelines.  However the Cardinals as predicted, sputtered and had to settle for a field goal, again.  Zane Gonzalez made it 7-3 but the problem of not scoring touchdowns instead of field goals reared their ugly head again.

The Cardinals did get a stop on the Falcons second drive, despite another dumb penalty.  We’ll see what happens from here.