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Arizona Cardinals: Grading Kliff Kingsbury in first year

By Scott Allen

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 29: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Arizona Cardinals on the sidelines in the first half of the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 29: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Arizona Cardinals on the sidelines in the first half of the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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The Arizona Cardinals improved their wins by 2 games in 2019

Oh what could have been.  We could play that game all day with the Arizona Cardinals.  However we have a few months to ponder it while we wait to see what will transpire in building the 2020 version of the team.

The Cardinals took a chance in the offseason in hiring Kliff Kingsbury as their head coach.  The “Air Raid” wasn’t as much air as fans expected.  However with the right personnel it can become more of a passing offense.

We saw on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams just how successful the Cardinals can be when throwing down the field.  It also means quarterback Kyler Murray taking risks.  He threw a couple of interceptions on Sunday but it would seem they were trying to force the issue since the run game was stagnant.

Overall, Kingsbury probably deserves somewhere between a C and B grade.  He tried to be too cute with play calling early on and it cost him point.

He also showed though he is willing to take chances.  The Cardinals ran a fake punt to perfection.  The Cardinals also were successful on 4th downs this season.

The Cardinals traded for running back Kenyan Drake.  Kingsbury did not take a running back by committee approach though.  He stuck with Drake after he arrived and guys like David Johnson and Chase Edmonds saw very little of the field when healthy.

He got the Cardinals to a 5-10-1 record, better than the 3-13 in 2018.  Last year you couldn’t point to many of those 13 losses as games they should have won.  Maybe 3 games arguably.

This season the Cardinals could make cases for 7 losses and the tie as games they could have won.  Baltimore, San Francisco twice, Rams on Sunday, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, and Carolina are all games the Cardinals either lead or were within one score of tying or taking a lead in the second half.  The overtime period against Detroit, the Cardinals had their chances to win as well.

Next. Cardinals come up short to end 2019. dark

Now we wait to see what season 2 will bring us.  Let’s just hope Kingsbury and the front office push the right buttons this offseason.

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