Five things the Arizona Cardinals must change to reach playoffs

The first of the five things the Cardinals must change is the offensive play calling. There were many times this year when the play selection didn’t make sense at all. In the Miami game, this was the first of very many times Kliff Kingsbury would give the ball to someone else than his franchise QB with the game on the line. He had went for it earlier in the game, but opted to let Zane Gonzalez try for the tie.

We know how that ended up, and it cost the Cardinals a critical game in the standings down the road. I would have been okay if Murray had the ball in his hands and didn’t get it. Kyler is a #1 overall draft pick, so give him the opportunity to have the ball in his hands to do so.  Especially in the Patriots game where Kenyan Drake couldn’t get the ball across the plane. Handing off to a running back 5-7 yards behind the line takes too much time, as Mason Cole has shown he isn’t the answer at center.

The offense would have benefitted from deeper routes ran by all it’s receivers, especially Hopkins (check out this tweet to see how bad it got). There were only two long touchdowns by DHop, the hail mary and against the Jets. All of the lateral offense must go. 

It’s unfathomable to me that a zero-yard route is going to be a safety blanket for a quarterback in the NFL. Attempting more aggressive plays when games are on the line would be a welcome sight, especially after the speed option debacle from this weeks’ game on a 3rd and 18.