Arizona Cardinals: Head coach’s performance raises red flags

Kliff Kingsbury‘s second season as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals has left the team with more questions than answers

It’s been almost two years now since the general manager of the Arizona Cardinals took a major gamble. Steve Keim, fresh off of the Steve Wilks debacle, needed to find another on-field leader for the organization. The Cards top executive decided to go with Kliff Kingsbury, an offensive “guru” who had compiled an unimpressive 35-40 record as the head coach at Texas Tech University.

We’re now two seasons into Kingsbury’s stint with Arizona, and the future does not look promising for the 41-year old. Sure, optimistic fans will point out that the squad won three more games this fall than they did last year. More intuitive followers of the Cardinals, however, may be examining Kingsbury’s tenure in a much more critical fashion.

Let’s take Big Red’s last two matchups of the 2020 campaign, for example. A simple victory over either the San Francisco 49ers or Los Angeles Rams, a pair of severely-undermanned teams, would’ve put Kingsbury’s Cards in the playoffs. Those two clubs were led by C.J. Beathard and John Wolford, two quarterbacks who are barely existing in the NFL.

Instead, Kingsbury somehow managed to lose both of those meetings. When the pressure was on, Arizona’s “guru” was responsible for scoring attacks that put up just 19 total points versus the 49ers and the Rams. Even more disheartening about those defeats is the fact that Kingsbury was thoroughly outcoached by Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay, two football-savvy individuals who the Cardinals have to face twice every season.

Kingsbury’s playcalling during the last two matchups, the Rams loss in particular, was absolutely atrocious. Granted, having to roll with a totally overmatched signal-caller named Chris Streveler presented quite a challenge. Nevertheless, McVay managed to get much more out of Wolford, a passer who was just as inexperienced as the frighteningly-inept Streveler.

Despite the collapse at the end of the campaign, it appears that the Cards will be moving forward with Kingsbury in 2021. One would have to think a postseason appearance will be the only thing that will keep the Texas native employed in the desert beyond next season. From the looks of things at the moment, that goal could prove to be an unattainable one for Arizona’s suddenly-beleaguered head coach.