Halftime thoughts as Arizona Cardinals are dominating the Cincinnati Bengals

The Arizona Cardinals’ first half was spectacular for the most part.

Trace McSorley led two scoring drives in the first quarter to get the Arizona Cardinals out to a 9-0 lead (Matt Prater missed his first extra point attempt of the preseason). Eno Benjamin and Jonathan Ward looked fresh and explosive.

The offensive line did a solid job, and Andy Isabella made a few plays and also drew penalties (one was picked up) to help extend the first drive at least.

For Isabella, who hasn’t had a lot to hang his hat on since his rookie season, this is all positive momentum. Greg Dortch also continued his hot streak with a great catch and run.

As for the defense, it could have been a bit better. The Arizona Cardinals’ rushing defense looked even worse when Cincinnati running back Chris Evans took the Bengals’ first offensive snap and ran 60-70 yards downfield before a holding penalty wiped that gain out.

There was another big rushing play by Cincinnati that was wiped off the board by another holding penalty, but this time, it was an actual touchdown by Evans.

The entire Cardinals defense getting washed down is just downright bad. How can there be no one with an outside containment assignment?

The Arizona Cardinals’ first half went as good as it possibly could have gone.

Besides the rushing defense looking suspect, WR Andre Baccelia went down with an ankle injury. There were some bad calls, including an absolutely silly one against Jesse Luketa. But this is so refreshing to see after having to spend the last seven months reminiscing over the loss to the Rams.

The offense was out there so much that there wasn’t much else to write about. We’ll see how the rest of the game goes, but this is a great start for the Arizona Cardinals.