Colt McCoy Takes Ownership of Cardinals' Offensive Struggles
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Colt McCoy has seen this movie before.
McCoy has replaced Kyler Murray on a handful of occasions, helping guide Arizona to wins in the last two seasons with the team in relief of the No. 1 pick.
McCoy is viewed as one of the top backups in the league thanks to his experience and ability to command an offense. After Murray went down with what was later revealed to be an ACL tear on just the third play from scrimmage, McCoy was again expected to tighten his cape and rescue the Cardinals like he's done many times before.
Yet that wasn't the case, as Arizona dropped their third consecutive game in 27-13 fashion to the New England Patriots.
McCoy finished going 27-of-40 for 246 yards and one interception. It was just the second time since 2015 he's thrown 40 or more passing attempts.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury is confident in McCoy's abilities moving forward.
"He's ready. There's no doubt. He's got a great feel for the system. I thought he did some good stuff tonight," Kingsbury said following the game.
"It's always tough when you haven't had the reps during the week, but I thought he gave us a chance. Some of those plays that got called back, a couple tough drops, and then obviously the turnovers just put us behind the eight ball."
McCoy was a tad more critical of himself:
"We hurt ourselves tonight just situationally. The shifting penalties that took away two explosive passes, I missed ‘Hollywood’ (WR Marquise Brown) down in the red zone (on a) kind of a scramble almost creating a play. I really wish I could have that one back. We had our opportunities," McCoy said.
"We had an opportunity in plus territory right before the half to kick a field goal or get points and we didn’t do it. They finished the half with a field goal and started the second half with a field goal— all of a sudden you’re tied up. They’re a good football team, and they’re very well-coached. We had our opportunities tonight and unfortunately we just let it slip away.
"That starts with me. There’s some things I definitely would like back. We get into situations to drop back and pass the ball down the field and we’re just not built like that right now.”
At 36-years-old, McCoy has seen plenty during his tenure in the league. Currently playing on his eighth contract, he doesn't feel like he has anything to prove in these last four weeks.
“I don’t think I have anything to prove. I think I’ve just got to go out there and play good football," he said.
"Distribute the ball, keep us in third and manageable situations, and score touchdowns in the red zone. It’d be good to get a week of practice in with some of these guys, Trey (McBride) and ‘Hollywood’ (WR Marquise Brown). I thought (WR) Robbie (Anderson) had a really nice game today. I haven’t really thrown to him much, so there are some positives but I think as a quarterback we’ve got to be more detailed. We can’t have the previous snap penalties. We can’t have the shifting penalties. They took away two of our explosive passes. Especially against these teams we’re going to play down the stretch— top defenses.
"We can’t hurt ourselves. It’s not an issue of guys not playing harder or am I ready to play. It’s just as a group we’ve got to buckle down, play well together, practice well together and finish these last four games out one at a time. I think that will be my focus. It sucks for (QB) Kyler (Murray). We’ve been together for two years. We work together everyday. I don’t ever want to see anything like that happen. I know how much he cares about the game. I know how hard he works. It’s just unfortunate and I think I’ll be able to put an arm around him through this because I’ve dealt with many in my career.”
Now, McCoy has the keys to an offense that features weapons such as Marquise Brown, DeAndre Hopkins and James Conner among others. He'll be the undisputed starter moving forward for the final stretch of games in 2022.
“I’ve played for a long time and you’ve always got to be ready. You never want to see the guy in front of you go down. You just don’t," said McCoy.
"I’ve had a lot of opportunities in my career, I’ve gotten injured, so I’m thankful to be on this team and on this squad. I love the guys that we have. We’ve battled injuries all year long and the guys that are going to go in there, they’re going to fight until the very end. I don’t think there’s anymore you can ask for and I’d be proud to go lead them.”
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