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Five things the Arizona Cardinals must change to reach playoffs

By Aarron Van Buren

Jan 3, 2021; Inglewood, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake (41) reacts in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. The Rams defeated the Cardinals 18-7. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 3, 2021; Inglewood, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake (41) reacts in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. The Rams defeated the Cardinals 18-7. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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September 13, 2020; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury (left) signals for a timeout during the fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
September 13, 2020; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury (left) signals for a timeout during the fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Next up on one of the five things the Arizona Cardinals must change is timeout usage and game management skills.  Starting with the timeouts, there were way too many called early in the first half or third quarter- with the Patriots game possibly being the worst. Two timeouts called on the second drive alone sure hurt them later in the first half.

There will most likely be an article analyzing how bad this was (thanks to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune for the inspiration, but I can’t find the article after hearing about it on local radio).  Spending two timeouts in the first quarter because of being unable to get a play in just doesn’t make any sense.

The other discipline issue were the penalties this year. You may as well given the Cardinals that once-rumored yellow color rush uniform as the team just piled them up through the year. Can you believe that this team had a league high 113 penalties, that included 32 false starts? 32!  This just shows the team needs a traditional cadence, and no clap/ hand motion be involved, as the league just basically loves to call penalties for just trying to snap the ball. The Cardinals were also third in the league for DPI (defensive pass interference) with 14.

Take the team out and make them practice counts on 2, or even 3. This is day one stuff that should be nailed down after the first week of practice. I remember doing drills in college where we would just hold our stance for minutes at a time and have to stay still the entire time. It seems they would benefit from doing the same, and simultaneously getting new members of the secondary.

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