Arizona Cardinals must further simplify offense for Joshua Dobbs in Week 6
By Sion Fawkes
Joshua Dobbs had one rough outing vs. the Cincinnati Bengals, but the Arizona Cardinals offense gave him little to no help. Therefore, in Week 6, the Redbirds need to make things simpler for Dobbs and the rest of the unit, and that challenge will rest with offensive coordinator Drew Petzing.
This means they need to further emphasize the run, and if Emari Demercado’s performance foreshadowed anything last week, it’s that he’s capable of stepping in and filling the role James Conner just left behind while on injured reserve. It’s also a “homecoming game” for Demercado, so expect him to be ready to go for this one.
Unfortunately, the injury report still has Keaontay Ingram listed, and he was once again limited in practice this week. Therefore, the newly acquired Tony Jones Jr. could get the nod as the RB2 if Ingram is once again unable to go.
Running game, short passes should fuel Arizona Cardinals offense in Week 6
When the Cards aren’t running the ball with presumably Demercado, they need to keep things simple for Dobbs. Despite his shortcomings last week, Dobbs has, through the first five games, had several hotspots across the field when throwing the ball, and the Cardinals must emphasize them this week.
Per PFF, Dobbs excels when he’s throwing the ball anywhere on the field between the line of scrimmage and 10 yards. Statistically, he’s racked up 49 completions on 66 attempts for 344 yards, 4 touchdowns, an interception, and a quarterback rating of 93.0.
Okay, that’s great, you may be thinking, but what happens when the running game and the short passes become predictable? That’s when you go over the top, and fortunately for Dobbs, he has two spots on the field beyond 10 yards where he is accurate. The first is to the left of the hash marks between 11 and 20 yards, where he is completing 8 of 11 passing attempts for 115 yards, and a 106.3 quarterback rating.
The other is to the right of the hashes, and over 20 yards downfield. While he is only 4 for 10, Dobbs also has 158 yards, and a touchdown pass, giving him a 120.8 quarterback rating when throwing in that direction. The Cards shouldn’t target these areas often, but if the Rams defense starts creeping up, then Petzing needs to tell Dobbs to air it out.
This simple formula should result in a bounceback game for Dobbs, and if the Cards are good enough, it should also translate to a far more competitive game.
Update: Arizona Sports reported that Keaontay Ingram practiced fully on Friday, indicating he will be ready to roll this Sunday.
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(Statistics provided by PFF [subscription])