Run game in top form vs. Chargers
Cardinals insider Bob McManaman hands out his position-by-position grades for the Cardinals following their game Sunday against the Chargers:
PASSING OFFENSE C
Kyler Murray completed 18 of 29 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once – on a fourth-and-short situation in Arizona territory – underthrowing DeAndre Hopkins on a deep ball that Derwin James Jr. picked off. Other than that, Murray did enough in this game for the Cardinals to win. Better execution on their second-to-last possession might have helped seal a win, but it was not to be. Hopkins and Marquise Brown looked good together their first time on the field at the same time, combing for 10 catches and 133 yards and a touchdown. The patchwork offensive line held up, as Murray was only sacked once.
RUSHING OFFENSE A+
The Cardinals knew they had to establish a strong running game against a run defense that had allowed 157 or more rushing yards in each of their last four games. James Conner exploited it, running a career-high 25 times for 120 yards – the first time in his Cardinals’ career he’s rushed for at least 100 yards. Conner had 105 yards after three quarters and like he said after the game, “it was a long time coming.” Arizona ran for 188 yards overall, getting 56 rushing yards from Murray, who was back in the starting lineup after missing two games with a sore hamstring. It’s a pity Conner’s performance was ruined when the Chargers stormed back during the final 2 minutes of regulation to win it. He added a touchdown reception that gave Arizona a 24-17 lead early in the fourth quarter.
PASS DEFENSE D
The Cardinals sacked Justin Herbert four times, but he beat them with three touchdowns on 35 of 47 passing for 174 yards. It was his final drive that killed Arizona. Herbert completed five passes for 47 yards, connecting with running back Austin Ekeler on a 1-yard touchdown and then hitting Gerald Everett in the end zone for the two-point conversion for the deciding points with just 15 seconds remaining. Ekeler led the Chargers with 11 receptions (60 yards) and wide receiver DeAndre Carter added seven catches for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Herbert didn’t beat the Cardinals with any real splash plays, save for a 33yarder to Carter. As safety Budda Baker correctly assessed, Herbert dinked and dunked them into defeat.
RUSH DEFENSE A
The Cardinals held the Chargers to just 65 total rushing yards, clearly winning that part of the game. Ekeler ran only five times for 20 yards. Herbert led the team with 38 yards on four carries. That’s not where this game was lost, and the Cardinals made sure of it. They just couldn’t stop the pass when they needed to, especially late with the game still hanging in the balance. Unlike last Monday blowout loss in Mexico City to the 49ers, the Cardinals played hard the entire game. They just didn’t make enough stops when it mattered most.
SPECIAL TEAMS D
Matt Prater missed a 49-yard field goal that would have given the Cardinals a 20-14 edge midway through the third quarter. That’s not the worst of it, though.
After the Cardinals had taken a 24-17 lead on Conner’s 6-yard TD reception, the punt coverage team allowed a 20yard return by Carter and rookie Christian Matthew was also flagged for running out of bounds on the play for a 5yard penalty.
That gave the Chargers possession at the Arizona 38-yard line and they scored a touchdown and were successful on the ensuing two-point conversion to get the win.
COACHING D
Other than the perplexing bungle on a fourth-and-short, which resulted in a Murray interception, there wasn’t a whole of blame to lay at Kliff Kingsbury’s feet.
It’s more of an overall assessment of the entire season to date, which has left his team stranded at 4-8 with nothing positive to ponder. This grade is more of an indictment of how the Cardinals got to where they are, from constantly being off schedule, to failing to execute and having to deal with constant distractions.
Everybody on the team has to wear this grade, not just Kingsbury.