Cardinals Defensive Holes Exposed by Chiefs Explosive Offense
Despite coming off a solid performance where first-year defensive coordinator Nick Rallis and the Arizona Cardinals' defensive unit held Denver to just 17 points on under 200 passing yards, Arizona looked lost on the field against a well-coached Kansas City Chiefs squad in their 38-10 loss on Saturday night.
The Cardinals defense allowed an incredible 504 yards of offense with nearly 400 coming through the air. The Chiefs' QBs combined for an unbelievable 31/38 for 393 yards and 3 TDs vs. the heavily struggling Arizona secondary.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon was less than satisfied with the team's defensive performance. "We got to get cleaned up or that's what's gonna happen against a good football team - you're gonna get beat pretty good." Gannon said.
Defending against a Mahomes-led offense is a nearly impossible task, even for the most polished defenses. The Cardinals did manage to force a punt on both of Mahomes' first two drives, but were helped along by multiple offensive penalties negating large gains.
Once the Chiefs got rolling, there was very little to appreciate defensively. Mahomes was able to escape pressure and lob an 18-yard TD pass to Justin Watson, capping off a brutal 92-yard Kansas City drive.
Isaiah Simmons was beaten on the route, an unfortunately ominous sign of what was to come from the newly-transitioned safety. So far, the former LB has looked somewhat lost at his new position, allowing a big TD and contributing to the entire defensive unit being on their heels for 60 minutes.
Simmons, after picking up a borderline unnecessary roughness penalty, had a tough time both in coverage and making tackles.
While part of this could be growing pains due to being in a brand new position, Arizona's defense needs him to live up to his potential and freak athletic ability. Coach Gannon said he needs to watch the tape on Simmons' performance.
"A couple times in coverage he might have lost leverage," said Gannon, "but we'll go back to the tape and get him cleaned up."
The pass-rush was also weak, with zero hits on any Kansas City QB. However, the Chiefs were able to continuously find open men deep downfield. The Cardinals not only allowed a large number of yards, they also allowed six passes of 20 yards or more on the night, a bad look for a team that dominated defensively a week ago.
Gannon said that those big plays were a major issue with the defense tonight.
"I think they had eight or nine [explosive plays], you're not going to beat anybody like that. That's one of our core principles of defense. So truthfully, that's what I'm most displeased about."
The offense didn't do the defense many favors, scoring only 10 points on under 300 total yards. And although it's hard to judge a defense based solely on how they perform against one of the best offensive systems--and QBs--in NFL history, Gannon and Cardinals DC Nick Rallis certainly have their work cut out for them.
The Cardinals ranked 21st in the NFL in yards allowed per game in 2022, giving up 348.9 yards per game to opponents. That number needs to improve in 2023 if a backup QB-led offense has a shot to compete.
Gannon's team showed that it can get the gritty wins it needs last week. This game's performance was a wake-up call for the first-year head coach and clearly highlighted the shortcomings of a young and inexperienced unit.
"It'll be very black and white to our guys what we need to improve in a hurry," said Gannon, "and we have to improve that going to Minnesota for those practices and the game so we can be a little more competitive."
The Cardinals are on the road against the Minnesota Vikings next week for their preseason finale.
