NFL defenses have caught up to Arizona Cardinals offense
By Jim Koch
After an extremely impressive start in 2020, the Arizona Cardinals offense has been held in check during the past three weeks
Up until three weeks ago, the Arizona Cardinals offense appeared to be an almost unstoppable force. During the first nine games, quarterback Kyler Murray and company were putting up points and yards in bunches. Unfortunately, since a November 19th loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Cards scoring attack has been looking a lot less potent.
Arizona’s latest disappointment on the offensive side of the ball came this past Sunday, during a 38-28 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams. Sure, registering four touchdowns versus an impressive Rams defense certainly looks like a solid performance by Murray and the crew. However, any Cardinals fan who watched that matchup with Los Angeles could not have felt good about what they witnessed.
Despite the 28 points, the Cards managed just 232 yards of total offense on the afternoon. Even more alarming was the fact that the unit possessed the ball for just 21:07 of the 60-minute contest. Arizona also turned the ball over twice, and converted just 4 out of their 12 third down attempts.
Murray completed 21 of his 39 throws for a measly 173 yards. Tight end Dan Arnold led the Cardinals with 61 receiving yards, while wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins led the squad with eight receptions. But besides Arnold’s outstanding 30.5 yards per catch, no other Cards pass-catcher averaged more than 7.5 yards per reception against the Rams.
Through the first nine matchups of the current campaign, Arizona averaged an extremely-healthy 29.5 points per outing. During their current three-game losing streak, the group’s average has dropped to a mere 22 points per contest.
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The Cardinals now have just four weeks to get back to where they were during their solid 6-3 start to the season. It wasn’t long ago that moving the football and putting points on the scoreboard seemed like second nature for head coach Kliff Kingsbury‘s scoring machine. Cards fans can only hope that Murray, Hopkins and the rest of the offensive weapons can recapture the magic they possessed earlier this fall.