Arizona Cardinals: Offensive Line Will Be X-Factor in Week 2

The Arizona Cardinals are facing the legendary Chandler Jones and Maxx Crosby in Week 2 of a pivotal matchup. Can their offensive line redeem itself?

Last week, the Chiefs dominated the Arizona Cardinals in the trenches, with quarterback Kyler Murray facing pressure between 65% and 70% of the time. Earlier in the week, Pro-Football-Reference had the number closer to 70% before it dropped to 65% on Thursday, as all statistics can change moderately throughout the week.

That’s beside the point; Murray faced relentless pressure all game, facing 18 hurries and was hit four times as he threw – down from 19 and five, respectively, from earlier in the week. You may look at Murray’s 2.7 seconds in the pocket as justification that the line was not as bad as it otherwise looked.

But remember, he also played some garbage time while the Chiefs went into prevent, which undoubtedly helped pad that particular statistic, plus the overall blitz percentage. When things still mattered, it wouldn’t surprise me if Murray faced the blitz between 75% and 80% of the time, and faced an average pocket time closer to two seconds.

Arizona Cardinals offensive line has a major challenge in Week 2

Some fans have bought into the notion Chandler Jones “disappeared” in Week 1, and therefore isn’t as strong of a factor. While Jones did not have a great game, this doesn’t take away from the possibility the Los Angeles Chargers keyed on him while Maxx Crosby spent most of the day in the backfield, earning a 92.3 grade on Pro Football Focus. 

Crosby did score a moderate 72.0 pass rush grade, which ranked 20th in the NFL. Despite his average pass rush grade and Jones’ 37th ranking of all eligible edge rushers, left tackle D.J. Humphries scored just a 69.7 grade, 25th among 64 eligible offensive tackles.

This puts his overall offensive grade in the same neighborhood as both edge rushers, telling me the two are standing on a near-equal platform. Further, we also know Jones can breakout at any time, evidenced at the fact seven of his 10.5 sacks occurred over just two games last season.

Ditto for Crosby, who logged seven of his eight sacks over three games. That said, Humphries and right tackle Kelvin Beachum will have their hands full.

The Cardinals should hope to see Justin Pugh return and provide much-needed help. His replacement, Sean Harlow, ranked 67th out of 68 eligible guards with just a 27.3 PFF rating. Harlow and center Rodney Hudson need to shake off poor performances from last week and do a better job at picking up the blitz. Hudson scored just a 50.6, ranking 27th out of 33 centers.

Beachum enjoyed the highest grade of 72.1, ranking 20th at his position. Overall, this tells me the offensive line played a massive role in last week’s debilitating loss to the Chiefs. And if the Arizona Cardinals want to upset the Raiders this week, the line needs to figure out how to keep Murray’s uniform clean, especially the two tackles.

(Statistics and data provided by Pro-Football-Reference and Pro Football Focus)