Cardinals can’t afford to fire McCoy
Not many Cardinals fans believe anything good happens inside offensive coordinator Mike McCoy’s ever-present visor.
That’s understandable. The Cardinals are 0-4, have scored a total of 37 points and gained an average of 208.5 yards, the lowest of any NFL team in the first month of a season in 16 years.
When an offense is bad, the torch and pitchfork crowd wants everyone fired, including the head coach, the quarterback and the offensive coordinator.
The Cardinals changed quarterbacks a week ago, promoting rookie Josh Rosen to starter over Sam Bradford. It was a wise deci-
sion that came a week late.
And as for the coaching staff, I would be surprised if any changes are made this season. That, too, is smart because the Cardinals would hinder Rosen’s development by firing the people who have been teaching him the last five months.
Progress was made last week against the Seahawks. Rosen passed for a touchdown and 180 yards and easily could have had another 100 yards if his receivers hadn’t dropped five passes.
Even with the drops, the Cardinals could have won the game had coach Steve Wilks not turned conservative in the final two minutes, helping the Seahawks to take possession one last time.
I’m not saying McCoy shouldn’t be absolved of blame. At a time when the best NFL offenses are spreading defenses across every yard of the field, McCoy’s too often look like they are playing in a box.
But there were signs last week that was changing, too. Receiver Christian Kirk took a handoff on a fly sweep. Rosen appeared to audible once to a quick screen to Kirk. The Cardinals took deep shots, something that was missing in the first three games with Bradford starting.
So firing McCoy now, a move some fans are clamoring for, would be unwise.
“I think we definitely took a step in the right direction last week,” receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. “I think (McCoy) has done a great job. It doesn’t matter what the call is, honestly. Players execute it. Like last week, the first passing play we called I got an ‘over’ route and Josh put the ball right where it needed to be, and I didn’t make the play. That had nothing to do with Mike McCoy or anyone else on the coaching staff.
“Myself and everybody else have to do a better job of executing what’s called. That’s how we’re going to have success.”
McCoy’s accustomed to his job security being in question. He was fired as the Chargers’ head coach in 2016 after two losing seasons. Last year, he was fired as Denver’s offensive coordinator when the Broncos lost six consecutive games after a 3-1 start.
“Since 2000 I’ve been doing this in all different roles,” McCoy said. “You learn it’s part of the business. If I couldn’t handle that, I shouldn’t be doing my job. I love what I do. You’re going to get beat from time to time. I tell the players, ‘There are going to be plays where you physically get beat. Move on.’
“We’re all going to make mistakes. Not every call is going to be perfect, not every route, not every protection, not every throw. You’ve got to have thick skin. It’s a humbling business.”
The idea is not to be humbled weekly, which has been the case so far this season for the Cardinals and their offense. Rosen’s performance last week provided hope that something can be salvaged from this season, but he needs help.
The offensive line needs to drastically reduce its mental errors. The tight ends must block better. It would be nice if receivers caught balls that hit them in the hands.
McCoy must prove he can adapt his system to accommodate Rosen’s skills. There need to be more rollouts by Rosen, jet sweeps by Kirk and J.J. Nelson and play-action passes to Fitzgerald and tight end Ricky Seals-Jones. Creative ways to get David Johnson the ball must be conceived.
Some of that happened last week in the loss to the Seahawks, and Wilks said last week the offense is “getting ready to flourish.”
There’s a lot of distance between flourishing and what the Cardinals offense looked like in the first month. But at least the Cardinals flipped on the blinker last week. Sunday against the 49ers, we’ll see if they can actually turn a corner.