Have the Cardinals finally figured it out?
There are two ways of looking at Arizona’s 18-15 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers: Either the Cardinals have figured it out, or at least we still have baseball.
The team has to feel good about finding a way to win on a day when they made more mistakes than a first-grader trying to fix dinner, but it’s clear that after four games, the Arizona offense isn’t championship caliber, particularly in the red zone.
Larry Fitzgerald acknowledged as much after making the game-winning catch with 32 seconds left in OT, saying “we have to be able to fix that, and we’ve got to fix it fast.”
He’s right. This team has to do a better job of putting points on the board, or it will doom a season that started with championship aspirations.
Against a 49ers team that came in with one of the more inept pass rushes in the league, having generated just three sacks against their previous three opponents, Arizona’s Raggedy Andy O-line did everything except provide shuttle service for San Francisco’s defenders on their way to Carson Palmer.
Palmer, who had taken 27 hits going into Sunday, was decked 16 more times against the Niners. He ended up taking six sacks for 40 yards. And all the pressure got to him, causing quick throws and an interception.
That was against a bad rush. Teams like the Rams, Texans and Jaguars must be looking forward to the Cardinals the way candy companies look forward to Halloween.
It’s clear the offensive line needs to get better and that the team is still struggling to mask the loss of David Johnson.
Take the first series of the game, for example. Against a 49ers defense that gave up five red-zone touchdowns in a 41-39 loss to the Los Angeles Rams a week ago, the Cardinals marched straight down into scoring position.
Then, with the ball at the San Francisco 8, Carson Palmer handed it to Elijhaa Penny for a 1-yard gain. Then he threw a short pass to Larry Fitzgerald for a 3yard gain. Then he took a shotgun snap and was promptly greeted by several Niners who seemed intent on making sure he found a nice place to lie down.
Under duress, Palmer threw a pass that was so bad it was nearly intercepted twice — once by Rashard Robinson, who had both hands on it, and then by RayRay Armstrong, who scooped up the tipped ball up right before it hit the ground.
And just like that, a nearly seven-minute, 71-yard drive ended with nothing. (Just like that eight-minute drive against the Cowboys on Monday night.)
With adequate protection, Palmer doesn’t make that throw. And with Johnson, who scored 17 of his 20 touchdowns last season in the red zone, the offense might not have been in the gun and looking to pass from the 4.
Or how about the final play of the first quarter?
The stat sheet will forever show a 9yard completion to J.J. Nelson from the San Francisco 46.
What it won’t show is that Chris Johnson on the play was more open than a preacher’s mouth. Palmer didn’t throw it to him probably because the rap on CJ2K is that he couldn’t catch a fly with honey, let alone a football from more than a yard away.
But you’ve got to wonder: Would Palmer have gone to D.J. in that situation?
It could have resulted in a big-play touchdown, something this offense hasn’t been able to generate. It would have been David Johnson with the ball in space behind Nelson as a blocker and no one to beat but 49ers cornerback Dontae Johnson.
The offensive troubles sounds bad because they are. But it’s possible coach Bruce Arians’ gang has stumbled across a few things that can work with going forward.
On consecutive plays early in the fourth quarter, Chris Johnson caught the ball out of the backfield, gaining 15 yards on one and 10 on the other.
Maybe Palmer can trust him more and approximate some of what David Johnson brought to the team last year?
And the offensive line held up in the two-minute offense in overtime. They started with the ball on their 25 and went no-huddle. Palmer found Andre Ellington underneath. He found Jaron Brown down the field. And then, finally, he found Fitzgerald for the touchdown up the seam.
Maybe they incorporate a high-tempo offense more often and find more ways to get the ball to Fitzgerald?
Or maybe it was a fluke and the Niners are a bad team that found a way to lose, which their 0-4 record might indicate?
If that’s the case, we’ll know soon. Until then, the Diamondbacks are in the playoffs with a realistic shot to make a push for the World Series.
If that happens, we won’t need to worry about whether the Cardinals finally have their offensive problems solved.