Red Rain Podcast preview
There were a number of big plays in during the Cardinals’ 34-28 loss to the Bills. From a Cardinals’ fan’s perspective, here were 3 of the best plays and 3 of the worst:
Best Play #1
KYLER COLE MURRAY IS HERE FOLKS pic.twitter.com/kMIAZ04clz
— Nico (@elitetakes_) September 8, 2024
Kyler Murray did a great job feeling pressure and floating his feet into a clear passing lane to Michael Wilson for the Cardinals’ first TD of the season, and a 7-0 lead.
Best Play #2:
SEE BALL. GET BALL.
: #AZvsBUF | CBS pic.twitter.com/srguJAEDlH
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 8, 2024
Super hustle strip-sack by DT Roy Lopez which in which Justin Jones nicely covers up the loose football. This key turnover helped the Cardinals build an impressive 17-3 first half lead.
Best Play #3:
CARDINALS WITH THE FIRST DYNAMIC KICKOFF RETURN
96-YARD TD FOR DEEJAY DALLAS
(via @NFL)
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 8, 2024
Kudos to DeeJay Dallas for setting the NFL record for first kickoff return TD in the league’s new kickoff format. The game was getting away from the Cardinals at this point, thus it swung some much-needed momentum back to the Cardinals. We can see now why DeeJay Dallas was a key pick-up UFA this off-season. He hit this one big-time.
Worst Play #1:
QB keeper!
#AZvsBUF on: @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/PAuuZKHi3w
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) September 8, 2024
Giving up contain continues to be a perennial problem for the Cardinals since Todd Bowles left town. The Cardinals have a tremendous athlete on the edge here in Xavier Thomas and yet he was properly prepared to defend the play. Had he kept his outside shoulder ahead of the runner and turned Josh Allen to the inside where the help is, this play could have been a key red zone stop at a time when the Cardinals still had the momentum in the game. This was way too easy for Josh Allen.
Worst Play #2:
RETURN OF THE MACK.
: @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/W0BhFIqPds
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) September 8, 2024
This play epitomizes the Cardinals’ inexperience on the defensive coaching staff. Josh Allen sees on the pre-snap that the only player in position to cover Mack Hollins is safety Jalen Thompson who is giving up way too much cushion, with no FS in the middle. Given the absence of help over the middle, Jalen Thompson should have shaded Hollins to the inside and to induce Hollins to run an out or corner route that Thompson could try to recover on in time, instead, Thomspon allowed Hollins to cross his face right to the spot where Josh Allen was expecting his WR to be when he saw the cardinals’ defensive alignment on the pre-snap.
Worst Play #3:
THIS can NEVER happen again. pic.twitter.com/FKQadUZROX
— Tony Hite (@TonyHiteNFL) September 9, 2024
When defenses make a mistake of this magnitude, especially with the game on the line, the offense has to make them pay. QB coach Israel Woolfork was just saying to the Arizona media a couple of days ago how prolific Kyler Murray is at seeing the whole field. And at times, particularly when Kyler is on the move or floating around pressure effectively that’s true, but in this case, it seems that Kyler simply missed the blown coverage. Drew Petzing’s and Kyler’s limited game planning for Marvin Harrison Jr, in this game was mind-boggling. Jonathan Gannon excused this because “they (Bills’ secondary) were clouding MHJ.” Yeah, the Bills put a high safety to MHJ’s side in order to for a CB/FS bracket on the WR, but that’s normal for any WR1. There should have been a plan to run MHJ on short motions and long motions. There was nothing of the like. The plan for MHJ was hugely unimaginable.
Red Rain Podcast: BUF 34 ARI 28, how poor team management decisions cost the Cardinals this game.
I will discuss everything I tried to warn the fans here on this site —- despite being the daily recipient of gang-mentality harassment every step of the way —- to try to silence me, —-became a reality in this game.
- MHJ’s transition to NFL may not be automatic based on his 2023 college tapes.
- The Cardinals should not go into Week 1 without working Kyler Murray and MHJ (and the entire offense) through the kinks in pre-season games.
- The daily videos of easy TD throws in practice from Kyler Murray versus the softest of coverage were pure hype —- just as announcing to Cardinals’ fans that he would be playing in pre-season game #1.
- Gannon’s decision to sit the starters out of all pre-season games would not have the team in the best football kind of game shape, mentally and physically.
- Gannon’s decision to skip the last two days of on the field work during mandatory mini-camp was not the actions of a head coach who is teaching a team how to do what it takes “to finish” games and seasons.
- The Cardinals’ CBs are not being coached to be physical, nor do they exhibit proper understanding of leverage or cover fundamentals, as evidenced by last year’s and this pre-season’s woeful lack of pass breakups and interceptions.
- Gannon spending more time with the offense, especially at Indy during the joint practice scrimmages is yet another irresponsible decision on his part.
- Monti Ossenfort’s mishandling of building a pass rush in the draft, through free agency and possible trade avenues is costing the team, big-time and is putting added pressure on the youngest coaching staff in the NFL.
- Ossenfort’s and Gannon’s decision to shun the hiring of veteran advisors was unacceptable.
Jonathan Gannon framed the first four games of this season as a “feeling out” phase. That’s what pre-season games are for. Will he and the coaching staff and the players be able to make the proper corrections in time to make this team a contender?
What can we expect from the Cardinals in Week #2 at home versus the Rams?