Your Arizona Cardinals pulled off the biggest upset of Week 1, going on the road to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers 26-14. It feels like nitpicking to point out concerns with this roster, considering the Cardinals pulled off the unimaginable in their first regular-season game to kickstart this Mike LaFleur era.
But even Arizona's newest head coach admitted this team was far from perfect on Sunday. Heading into the matchup, the biggest concern was how this flawed Cardinals defense would hold up against Justin Herbert and LA's new offensive guru, Mike McDaniel. Impressively holding them to just 14 points, it was the Cardinals' offense surprisingly came up short.
Again, plenty more positive than negative takeaways from a game few expected Arizona to have any business being in. But this encouraging season opener unfortunately hasn't changed their playoff chances in the scheme of things. To keep pulling off upsets this season, or more importantly build toward something special in Arizona long term, they can't afford to leave these points on the table.
Cardinals upset Chargers despite having to settle for FGs
LaFleur addressed the lack of red zone execution after the game: "You kick too many field goals in this league, more times than not, you're gonna get beat."
The Cardinals offense moved the ball effectively against the Chargers but stalled in the red zone. Kicker Chad Ryland connected on four of his five field goal attempts, totaling 14 of their 26 points when accounting for both PATs.
That may have worked Sunday against a Chargers team that largely looked unprepared for the regular season. But as LaFleur said, it's not a sustainable formula.
Even more concerning for the Cardinals is how bad Ryland is compared to the rest of the league's kickers. Fortunately, that wasn't an issue in this matchup. He made four from 27, 44, 34, and 49 yards, with the lone miss coming from 54.
However, last season, Ryland made just 25-of-33 of his field goal attempts. That's a larger, more concerning sample size that better indicates how the Cardinals stack up at the position.
Cardinals can't continue to rely on Chad Ryland
In fact, FanSided's proprietary Kick Value Added (KVA) metric has Ryland ranked as the worst starting kicker. As FanSided's "Resident NFL Kicking Enthusiast" Adam Fromal points out in that piece, Ryland's strong 2024 season now appears to be a fluke rather than a sign he's turned a corner.
Here is his historical KVA by year:
- 2023: -13.56 (41st)
- 2024: 4.66 (15th)
- 2025: -5.18 (37th)
LaFleur is right and the Cardinals do need to execute better in the red zone going forward. Ryland's lack of consistency and reliably makes that even more crucial for Arizona compared to other teams in the league. They don't have the luxury of a Dallas Cowboys team with Brandon Aubrey (ranked first in FanSided's KPA) who can add three points whenever they cross midfield.
Poor red-zone execution, paired with perhaps the league's worst starting kicker, is an offensive recipe for disaster. Luckily, the Cardinals' defense carried them to a huge Week 1 upset. But they need to find a more sustainable formula going forward. Not just in terms of turning those three points into seven, but also considering replacing Ryland entirely.
While Week 1 was a pleasant surprise, this is definitely a situation where the Cardinals should pursue a kicking upgrade -- whether they know it or not.
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