Kliff Kingsbury may have a disconnect with defensive players

On the May 3rd podcast, Locked on Cardinals podcast hosts Bo Brack and Alex Clancy talked about how Kliff Kingsbury’s offense plays down to the level/ “competence” of Kingsbury. You can listen to this around the 17:30 mark of the podcast. This was an eye-opening moment for me, and when you take a listen to the whole conversation, it should do the same for you.

Brack and Clancy go on to talk about how a Kingsbury timeout in the Thursday Night Football matchup with the San Francisco 49ers this past year allowed the 49ers to score after previously being stopped on the goal line. As I began to think about this more and more, it made a lot of sense. Not saying that the reason is just isolated down to that one incident, but it could be a big reason.

Now Kingsbury’s playcalling and decision making itself was a hot topic last year, and if not one of the most painful things to sit through and watch. Not to mention the Air-Raid offense is very prone to producing some fast three-and-outs, something that can drive defenses crazy.

Is this the reason he and General Manager Steve Keim went with Zaven Collins in the first round? It could be an attempt to show the defensive side of the room some love and effort to amend any possible rift.

On the other hand, maybe there’s nothing wrong at all. Maybe it’s just the post-draft lull that we all have to endure until we inch closer to the start of the season. While the defense made huge strides last year, that was mostly due to Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph’s work from what I can infer. While Joseph invited Kingsbury to be in on defensive decisions, it doesn’t look or feel like Kingsbury has done much.

With the way his offense sputtered after the bye week, then maybe he is right in doing so. But how long can this go on until something negative happens? Let’s hope Collins is the right pick and ends this possible speedbump for the team.