The Arizona Cardinals need to roll with a 50-50 split on offense until Kyler returns
By Sion Fawkes
Yesterday’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks was the third straight game with Joshua Dobbs posting a passer rating not under 90, not under 80, but under 70, so why is he still being trusted to throw the ball 30-plus times per game? At this point, Dobbs is only hurting the Arizona Cardinals, especially with the running game still going strong.
Yesterday afternoon, the Cardinals had Joshua Dobbs drop back to pass at least 37 times, where he completed 19 out of 33 passes, plus the four times he was sacked. Dobbs also ran seven times for 43 yards and a touchdown, once again showing he can make more plays on the ground than through the air.
In a game that was closer than what the final score indicated, you have to ask yourself why Dobbs is still being trusted to throw the ball so many times. Running back Emari Demercado and receiver Rondale Moore were having good games, rushing for a combined 17 times for 82 yards, good for 4.82 yards per carry, so again, why are the Cards throwing the ball so much?
Arizona Cardinals need to run the ball at least 50 percent of the time on offense
Compare Dobbs’ 37 dropbacks (33 passes and four sacks) to just 25 rushing plays (including Dobbs’ scrambles), which gave the Arizona Cardinals pass-to-run ratio of 57 to 43. Go back to last week’s 26 to 9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, and Dobbs had 43 dropbacks (including sacks). The Cards ran the ball 30 times (including Dobbs’ scrambles).
The ratio? 59 to 41 percent, and yeah, it’s easy to understand to an extent - the Cardinals lost big. However, Los Angeles also didn’t break the game open until the fourth quarter, and the contest was still a manageable 16-9 after three quarters.
In that game, the Cards averaged 4.3 yards on the ground, which is a solid number. Meanwhile, Dobbs averaged just 5.7 yards per pass, one of the worst performances of any quarterback that week. So at this point, there is no debate: The Cards have got to stop passing the ball so much with Dobbs under center, even if they’re playing from behind - if they’re not behind by too many points, obviously.
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(Statistics and data provided by Pro-Football-Reference and ESPN.com)