Cardinals Fire Offensive Coordinator Mike McCoy, Byron Leftwich Takes Over Play Calling
The Arizona Cardinals have fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, the team announced.
McCoy, the former offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos and head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, was in his first year leading the Cardinals' offense, which is ranked last in the NFL. The move comes one day after the team suffered a 45-10 defeat against the Denver Broncos and fell to 1–6 on the season.
The Cardinals have the NFL's 31st-ranked scoring offense by averaging just 13.1 points per game. Despite rookie quarterback Josh Rosen showing glimpses of promise, the team is still averaging a league-low 220.7 yards per game. All-Pro running back David Johnson has also seen his performance decline behind a run offense that is averaging a league-worst 64.6 yards rushing per game.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, there was frustration within the Cardinals organization that McCoy had a lack of creativity and inability to get Johnson the ball. There were also questions about how much he was relying on Rosen.
Thursday night's loss to the Broncos was the sixth consecutive contest in which the team finished with less than 300 yards (223). The Cardinals offense had just 83 yards at halftime.
Friday's firing was McCoy's third one over the last 22 months. He was fired by the Chargers in 2016 and lost his Broncos job in November 2017.
Quarterbacks coach Byron Leftwich will take over play-calling duties in McCoy's place.
The Cardinals will host the 49ers (1–5) on Oct. 28.
