Big Red Friday:
Get ready for another Cardinals football weekend by checking out the previews and scouting reports for Sunday’s game against the Eagles in Philadelphia. Four weeks into the season, the Cardinals are 2-2, one game behind the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West.
Fixing the Cardinals' offensive problems this season has been like making repairs around the house. As soon the leaky roof is patched, the water heater starts leaking.
The team had a full complement of receivers last Sunday for the first time since the first game, but had a secondteamer starting at left tackle and a thirdteamer at left guard.
Every receiver who played — Larry Fitzgerald, Jaron Brown, John Brown and J.J. Nelson — was a deep threat. And quarterback Carson Palmer has the arm strength to deliver the ball. But he usually didn’t have time. He was sacked six times and hit on a total of 16 occasions.
“It is frustrating because we were behind them three times wide open the other day,” coach Bruce Arians said, “and we dumped two to the backs and made 10 yards, but those were 40-yard downfield chunks with a little more time.”
If the Cardinals (2-2) could protect Palmer, those opportunities likely will be there on Sunday against the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Eagles (3-1) are yielding 285 passing yards per game (30th) in the NFL, and their young cornerbacks have been victimized by the deep ball.
At receiver, the Cardinals are built to take advantage of that. John Brown is returning to health after a nagging quadriceps injury. Nelson should be better after being limited the past two weeks by a hamstring injury. Fitzgerald and Jaron Brown have consistently produced through the first month of the season.
“Yeah, I mean Jaron (Brown) has looked great,” Palmer said. “Smoke (John Brown) has looked great, and Larry has had some little things he has dealt
with but played through them.
“Getting J.J. back to 100 percent would be huge. I don’t know where he is at specifically, but getting him back would give us a chance to be at full strength at that spot.”
Fitzgerald has scored a touchdown in each of the past two games. Jaron Brown had career highs in receptions (eight) and receiving yards (101) against the 49ers. John Brown made an impact after missing two games, and Nelson gained 120 yards and scored a touchdown in the victory over the Colts three weeks ago. The challenge is giving Palmer the time to throw.
A competent running game would relieve some of that pressure and make play-action more than an empty threat. At this point, defenses welcome the Cardinals handing the ball to a back.
The Cardinals are last in NFL in rushing (57 yards per game) and have just one rushing touchdown.
A large part of that is attributable to injuries. Running back David Johnson suffered a dislocated wrist in the first game and has been on injured reserve since. Left tackle D.J. Humphries (knee) hasn’t played since Week 1. Left guard Mike Iupati (triceps) is on injured reserve, and his backup, Alex Boone, is questionable with a pectoral injury.
As the play-caller, Arians blames himself, too. There have been times, he said, where he’s grown reluctant to call runs after first-quarter struggles.
“We’re running it pretty well in the first quarter of games,” Arians said. “Once we start having negative runs, I have a tendency to get away from it, and I have to fight that as a play-caller. It is hard to fight when you have all those guys out there that can catch, but yeah, you’ve got to maintain balance.”
It’s also hard to fight when the playcaller is also the head coach. Arians listens to assistants and his quarterback during games, but the final call is his. There is no head coach in his headset ordering him to call runs.
“No, Goody (Harold Goodwin) every once in a while will say, ‘Can we pound it?’” Arians said. “And I say, ‘We will try.’”