The Arizona Cardinals are now 2-5 after falling to the Denver Broncos 16-30 in Week 7. While there are multiple glaring holes to address with a team that has struggled to win for multiple years now, unfortunately, red zone execution has been the glaring issue for multiple weeks now.
Offensively, the Cardinals are overly reliant on an inconsistent year-to-year kicker in Chad Ryland. However, this season has already proved that Ryland isn't the problem. Not only is he far more accurate and reliable compared to last season, but the Cardinals also don't have a consistent enough defense to win when this team is stealing for field goals.
They've now invested multiple top five picks on offense, between Kyler Murray, Marvin Harrison Jr., and most recently, No. 3 overall pick Jeremiyah Love. Unfortunately, simply by the process of elimination, Love is the new face of this Cardinals offense.
Not to say he's not capable going forward from a talent standpoint, but if your best offensive player is a running back, it's a losing recipe more often than not.
Okay, the Cardinals do have Madden 99 tight end, Trey McBride. But even then, the point remains: Arizona must upgrade at more valuable positions of need.
Cardinals should turn to Jeremiyah Love to fix red zone woes
As their 2-5 record shows, having an elite tight end and running back means little when quarterback, offensive line, and defense in general all remain glaring red flags.
But if there's one player on this roster who should provide Arizona with a glimmer of hope, it should absolutely be Love.
Through five games, he's yet to return value on the pick, totaling just 245 yards rushing, 36 yards receiving, and two total touchdowns. But those who have seen Love throughout college at Notre Dame now know that the problem is much more likely to be on the Cardinals' infrastructure rather than the pick itself.
That's good in a sense, as it means Love isn't a bust, but it also raises a much more significant concern in the bigger picture. There's a reason Kyler Murray struggled relative to expectations as a former No. 1 overall pick, only to go on to lead the Minnesota Vikings to the only remaining undefeated team this season.
That should at least be encouraging when it comes to Love's future, as his underwhelming rookie campaign up until this point doesn't equate to a lack of talent or skill set. Rather, it has everything to do with injuries and the position head coach Mike LaFleur has placed him in up until this point.
It's certainly a fine line, as the rebuilding Cardinals are right to preserve their steep draft investment. That's even more the case after seeing the trades that took place Tuesday, with NFC West teams like the 49ers and Seahawks bolstering their roster by taking advantage of the Indianapolis Colts' fire sale.
But for the Cardinals, that's even more reason to embrace what by all indications will be yet another long losing season. They're 2-5 on the surface, but fans that watch closely know this team actually competes. More often than not, the losses have come from a combination of their lack of red zone execution on offense and the big plays surrendered on defense.
Defensively, that remains a work in progress, whether that means moving on from defensive coordinator Nick Rallis or actually addressing that side of the ball more in the draft. But from an offensive standpoint, the Cardinals should at least be encouraged by the fact that Love is struggling because they still have things to clean up outside of him.
Given the polarizing committee approach with Love and other Cardinals running backs, the offensive line injuries, and even injuries suffered by Love himself, this steep draft investment by Arizona has yet to return value. Once that finally comes to fruition, the Cardinals' red zone struggles should become less of a concern than they have been at the start of the season.
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