The Cincinnati Bengals got the best of the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5, and it came in part because of a few duds on the Redbirds part.
It’s tempting to place Arizona Cardinals quarterback Joshua Dobbs into the duds category for the week, as he threw for just 166 yards, two touchdowns, two picks, and averaged 5.2 yards per pass. Dobbs also garnered just a 57.6 quarterback rating, and he looked every bit like the journeyman backup we thought he was when general manager Monti Ossenfort traded for him.
But to be frank, it’s tough to blame Dobbs for the atrocity that was in yesterday’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Sure, he put up terrible numbers, but the offensive line was so bad in pass protection, they as a unit collectively struggled. So let’s dive deeper into how badly the line played in this one.
3 major duds in Arizona Cardinals loss to Bengals
1 - Offensive line
Overall, Joshua Dobbs was sacked just three times for 14 yards, but the line also let the Bengals get to him eight times. And it’s one major reason why I listed pass protection as one of three major improvements the Arizona Cardinals need to make starting this week.
D.J. Humphries in particular had a bad afternoon, as it seemed like defensive end Trey Hendrickson was in the backfield on every other play. Regardless, Joshua Dobbs played well enough this season for me to warrant that if the line held up better, the seventh-year signal-caller would have enjoyed at least another solid performance.
Dobbs isn’t the kind of quarterback capable of lifting a team and placing it onto his shoulders, something he’s proved several times throughout his career. However, he’s also given the Arizona Cardinals fans something to cheer about even if the line does a halfway decent job.
Therefore, this one is not on Dobbs, even if many in the NFL universe believe otherwise if they look at statistics alone. But Dobbs already threw a pair of touchdown passes before the line started to really break down, so go figure.
2 - Marco Wilson, CB
Once again, Marco Wilson struggled in pass coverage, and it’s becoming the norm these days that, regardless of who lines up against him, he’s in for a rough day. The guy couldn’t do anything to stop Ja’Marr Chase, who had 15 receptions and 192 yards on the day. And at this point, his numbers are probably worse than you could have imagined.
He’s averaging a 130.8 quarterback rating, his average depth when targeted is 11.4 yards, and Wilson is currently giving up 17.0 yards per completion. In five games this year, Wilson has also allowed 323 passing yards, which equals nearly 65 yards per game.
Do the math, and the third-year corner is on pace to allow 1,099 yards this season, making the 588 he surrendered during his rookie season look rather successful. At this point, it may be better to just bench Wilson and roll with the tandem of Kei’Trel Clark and Antonio Hamilton until Garrett Williams is ready.
3 - Michael Wilson, WR
We can’t totally blame Michael Wilson here because once again, Joshua Dobbs probably would have targeted him more than two times if he had time to throw the ball. Unfortunately for Wilson, he didn’t get a single target until the fourth quarter and was held to just one catch for 18 yards.
And while Wilson made a great play to bring in the ball, the Bengals were already in prevent mode, so his lone catch occurred when they were in soft coverage. What puts Wilson in this category is the fact that we saw him enjoy a breakout game last week against the 49ers, only for him to completely disappear just one week later for an encore.
I’m not putting too much heat on Wilson for this one, because of the circumstances involving the offensive line. But you would think he’d have at least found ways to get open more and generate more than two measly targets just one week after he caught seven passes for 76 yards and two touchdowns.
(Statistics provided by ESPN.com and Pro-Football-Reference)