Why are Cardinals losing home games?
The Arizona Cardinals are perfect on the road; They’re perfectly imperfect at home.
They’ve got to get it figured out in a hurry or it could ruin one of the best chances to reach a Super Bowl in franchise history.
So what gives with the home struggles?
“I get asked this every week,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said after his team was shoved aside by the Rams 30-23 on Monday night at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. The loss dropped Arizona to 3-3 at home, standing in sharp contrast to the team’s 7-0 record on the road.
“I don’t have a new answer,” Kingsbury said. “If I did, we’d figure it out, and get it right. We obviously have to play better in this stadium. I thought the crowd was incredible tonight. Great energy. I thought our guys played with great energy, but we didn’t play a clean enough game.”
It’s not hard to guess at the differences between playing at home and playing on the road.
At home, players have more distractions than a cactus has needles. Video games. Ticket requests. Crying kids. Ringing phones. Fancy restaurants. Fancier nightclubs. “Honey do” lists. Home repairs. Fast cars. Comfy beds. Traffic. Plans. Parents. Agents. Agendas.
You name it.
Travelling eliminates most all of that.
But another key distinction is the quality of the competition and the glare of the spotlight.
Two of Arizona’s home losses have come to Green Bay (10-3) and Los Angeles (9-4).
Those teams are a good deal better than Jacksonville, Cleveland or Chicago, three clubs that have combined for just 13 wins.
The loss to the Packers came Thursday night, with the entire pro football world watching. Similarly, the loss to the Rams came on Monday night, when no other teams were playing.
“Losses suck,” defensive end Zach Allen said. “But obviously, when you do it on a big stage like that, there’s going to be more questions that get asked. You kind of expose yourself more, but a loss is a loss.”
The Cardinals are now in a three-way tie with Green Bay and Tampa Bay for the league’s best record. It’s setting up as a fight to the finish for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Not that the Cardinals would want that.
“As of now, I probably want to lose every game … it’s not that important, I don’t think,” Kingsbury deadpanned. “We just want to improve as a team to make sure, if we can make it in, that we’re playing our best football when we do.”
They didn’t play their best Monday. Quarterback Kyler Murray threw a pair of interceptions.
The offensive line, a sturdy group that has been a strength all season, was only able to spring running back James Conner for 31 yards.
And the pass defense allowed receivers Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. to go for a combined 200 yards.
“It’s disappointing to lose a division game on a stage like that,” Allen said.
Still, it’s worth putting into some perspective.
“The sky isn’t falling,” Allen said. “We’re 10-3. But we just can’t hide behind what we’ve done in the past. It’s December football. We’ve got to step up to the challenge. … We’ve lost games before. We pride ourselves on not losing back-to-back games. We’ll attack it and be ready for Sunday.”
That’s a good attitude, but they’ll be in Detroit on Sunday.
The Cardinals are perfect on the road. They’re perfectly imperfect at home. They really need to get this figured out before the Indianapolis Colts clipclop into Arizona on Christmas Day.