CARDINALS’ REPORT CRAD
Cardinals insider Bob McManaman hands out his position-by-position grades for the Cardinals following their game Sunday against the Texans:
Passing offense: B
Kyler Murray completed 20 of 28 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns, but he absorbed too many hits and near misses for coach Kliff Kingsbury to feel comfortable. Murray was sacked four times and had to go to the medical tent twice. He checked out OK afterward, but still, that’s a very big potential cause for concern moving forward. Murray also threw his first interception in four games and there was another bad exchange with center Max Garcia. Tight end Zach Ertz had an impressive Cardinals’ debut with three catches for 66 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown.
Rushing offense: A
Anytime a team rushes for nearly 200 yards in an NFL game, no matter the opponent, you’re doing something right. The Cardinals ran for 172 total yards against the Texans with Chase Edmonds and James Conner doing a nice job sharing the load. Edmonds rushed for a game-high 81 yards on 15 carries (5.4 average) and Conner chipped in with 64 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries (6.4 average). The run blocking was solid, especially when the Cardinals ran it up the gut.
Passing defense: A
Rookie quarterback Davis Mills was held to 135 passing yards without a touchdown. The Cardinals only got to him twice for sacks — both of them by Markus Golden — but he was hit and harassed countless other times and clearly got knocked off his mark. For the most part, Arizona’s defense stayed clear of the big splash play and shut out the Texans during the second half. J.J. Watt couldn’t get a sack against his former club, but he did get a couple quarterback hits and a tackle for loss.
Rushing defense: A+
The Texans like to run the ball, even though they’re not very good at it, and the Cardinals held them in complete check with just 42 total rushing yards. Former Cardinals running back David Johnson led the way with 25 yards on seven carries. Mark Ingram was held to nine yards on six carries. The Texans were never a threat on the ground and the Cardinals never let them think that they could be, which is the sign of a contender.
Special teams: A
Outside of a holding penalty during a punt return, the Cardinals didn’t make any noticeable mistakes at all on special teams. Punter Andy Lee averaged 50 net yards on his four kicks, Matt Prater made his only field goal attempt (31 yards) and you get the feeling rookie Rondale Moore is going to break a punt return before too long. Running back Eno Benjamin, meanwhile, returned one kickoff for 22 yards in addition to getting two carries on offense.
Coaching: B
Kingsbury said he felt disjointed and uncomfortable from the start and it showed early on after he was cleared from the COVID-19 protocol at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday. Things started coming together for the offense later in the first half, however, and Kingsbury got a huge assist from Vance Joseph’s defense, which held the Texans to 160 total yards, no touchdowns and no points in the second half.
Best bet
The Cardinals covered the spread, which rose as high as 20.5, but the teams’ combined point total of 36 didn’t reach the over/under line (47.5).
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