Kliff KIngsbury is doing a fine enough job for the Arizona Cardinals

Any talk that the Arizona Cardinals organization should move on from head coach Kliff Kingsbury is both premature and unwarranted

Many fans of the Arizona Cardinals were completely puzzled back in March when head coach Kliff Kingsbury was handed a six-year contract extension. The club essentially rewarded a man who’s squad was completely humiliated during a playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams just six weeks earlier.

A closer look would reveal that the Redbirds have gotten progressively better during Kingsbury’s first three years in the “Valley of the Sun”. The Cards won five times in 2019-20, eight times in 2020-21 and were on the winning end of 11 matchups last season.

That’s a whole lot more successful than some of the other head coaches who have represented the Cardinals franchise since they moved to the desert back in 1988. The organization was pretty much unwatchable when individuals such as Joe Bugel, Buddy Ryan, Dave McGinnis, Dennis Green and Steve Wilks were leading the team. Suddenly, Kingsbury doesn’t seem as incompetent, does he?

The Arizona Cardinals are a respected NFL squad with Kliff Kingsbury at the helm

While Arizona’s 1-2 start to the current campaign is far from ideal, it’s also not totally unexpected. It surely would’ve been nice to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams, but losses to those two squads are also far from embarrassing.

Many seem to forget that Kingsbury led the Cards to an impressive 10-2 start last fall. Sure, the 1-5 finish (including the postseason loss to the Rams) was downright ugly. Nevertheless, a contingent of NFL analysts firmly believed that Kingsbury’s Cardinals were Super-Bowl bound before the unfortunate collapse.

The various reports that Kingsbury is on the hot seat are both premature and unwarranted. For one thing, Arizona owner Michael Bidwill wouldn’t give up on the 43-year old so soon after handing him that extension. Furthermore, Kingsbury deserves a chance to right a ship that still has 14 weeks left to sail.

A healthy roster would make Kingsbury’s job a lot easier. The Cards should be much-improved when some of their key contributors get back on the field. Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins’ return from his six-game suspension in week 7 will also provide a huge lift.

Arizona’s front office has employed some awful head coaches over the years, but Kingsbury certainly isn’t one of them. All of the detractors need to back off a bit, and get behind the Texas native in his attempts to lead the Cardinals to an NFL Championship.