CARDS REPORT CARD
Cardinals insider Bob McManaman hands out his position-by-position grades for the Cardinals following their game Monday night against the Rams:
Passing offense: C
Kyler Murray threw the ball 49 times and put up 383 yards, but he didn’t throw a touchdown and he was intercepted twice. Had he not been picked off the first time near the Rams’ goal line, which started with a tipped ball by Aaron Donald, the Cardinals likely would have scored a touchdown and had a 10-0 lead. As it was, the Rams converted both of Murray’s picks into touchdowns and that was a back breaker. Murray spread the ball around well enough in the absence of the Rams being without star cornerback Jalen Ramsey and the passing game had its moments, but the Cardinals couldn’t finish enough drives with touchdowns. Murray was also sacked four times, three by Donald. The offensive line also had too many penalties in passing situations.
Rushing offense: C+
The Cardinals ran for 1,103 yards with Murray leading the way with a season-high 61 yards on 7 carries – an 8.7-yard average per run. James Conner ran hard all night, but he only gained 31 yards on 13 carries – a 2.4 average – and that hurt. On the positive side, Conner did run for two touchdowns and now has rushed for a career-high 14 with four games left to play. That ties John David Crow for the second-most in franchise history in a single season. Conner has a chance to surpass David Johnson’s record of 16 set in 2016. Getting Chase Edmonds back this Sunday from an ankle sprain will help ease the load for Conner and bring a change of pace to the backfield.
Pass defense: D
The Cardinals’ secondary once again played a lot of zone coverage and Matthew Stafford picked it apart by completing 23 of 30 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns. Sure, some of the Rams’ wide receivers just plain beat their primary defender and that happened too many times. But the pass defense never tightened enough to make a viable difference. The Cardinals allowed three passing plays of 40 yards or longer after allowing just three such plays all season long. Corners Robert Alford and Marco Wilson each had one of their worst performances of the year. Cooper Kupp had his way with whoever was covering him, including Byron Murphy Jr., and he finished with 13 receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown. Odell Beckham Jr. also shined with six catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. Van Jefferson caught a 52-yard pass for a TD.
Rush defense: B
Like Ramsey, Rams running back Darrell Henderson Jr. missed Monday game’s after being placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Backup Sony Michel did a decent job in relief, running for 79 yards on 20 carries. The Cardinals didn’t allow a rushing touchdown, however, and they made their fair share of stops against Michel. He broke one run for 19 yards, but otherwise, Arizona did a much better job tackling in the run defense.
Special Teams: A
Matt Prater made all three of his field goals, connecting from 53, 53 and 49 yards and he put an excellent move on his on-sides kick late in the fourth quarter that linebacker Zaven Collins was able to pounce on and give the Cardinals one last chance at a comeback. Andy Lee only punted once and there weren’t any glaring mistakes in any other phase of special teams. This unit did what it could to give Arizona a chance.
Coaching: B
Kliff Kingsbury was 2-for-4 when going for it on fourth down. Although he could have elected to kick a field goal when it became apparent points were needed, it’s difficult to fault him for being aggressive. Especially when the analytics back him up. Calling for a deep pass play on third and 1 well into Rams’ territory was a mistake. Instead of letting Conner or Murray get 1 yard with their legs, Murray’s pass to Christin Kirk was way off the mark and Conner got stuffed for no gain on fourth and 1. Vance Joseph needed his secondary to play sharper overall. Rams receivers had too much room to operate and get open. The pass rush was so-so.
Best bet
The Cardinals were 21⁄2-point favorites and lost by 7. The teams’ combined point total of 53 exceeded the over/under (51.5).