Can Cardinals Offense Reach Full Potential vs. Chargers?
We're just one day removed from the Arizona Cardinals hosting the Los Angeles Chargers, and we've now approached must-win territory moving forward.
You could say that for both teams and their postseason hopes. Both squads, more particularly their offenses, have underperformed given the talent on the roster while defensive play has helped push Arizona/LA to wins at times this season.
That's needed, but you don't have young franchise quarterbacks with star receivers and notable running backs to hope the other team doesn't score. The Cardinals (in theory) have an offense that can enter a track meet at any time.
The problem? They've stumbled out of the blocks to begin the season.
With Arizona's bye week in store after Sunday, head coach Kliff Kingsbury believes now is the time to really get the ball rolling offensively.
"We'd love to achieve what we think we can and be the offense we think we can be. [We've] shown spurts of it but haven't been consistent throughout the season," Kingsbury said.
"This is as good of a time as any to do it. I think going in our bye, just to gain some momentum and feel good, having six/seven days of rest, recover, hopefully get a couple bodies back would be huge."
The Cardinals will be down a handful of weapons, as the likes of Rondale Moore and Zach Ertz have been ruled out with Greg Dortch questionable.
Yet the return of Kyler Murray and Marquise Brown should provide an obvious boost to a Cardinals offense that boasts players such as DeAndre Hopkins and James Conner already.
Brown has missed the last month with a foot injury that was once thought to be season-ending. He nearly played last Monday night but Arizona opted to give him another week of recovery. Now, Hollywood appears to be full go and his expected to be lifted to the active roster prior to game time.
The presence of Brown and Hopkins on the same field should have a play-caller such as Kingsbury drooling at the different dynamics they respectively bring.
“If they’re both on the field, it’s dangerous," said Murray. "The weapons are endless, it’s just about executing, and staying on schedule."
Hopkins is on the same page, too.
"I've seen what we do at practice together with him and I on the field, so hopefully it's the same thing that translates to the game," he said.
To say the Cardinals have underachieved offensively would be stating the obvious. Their 21.8 points and 331.9 yards per game are about as middle of the road as you can get in the league.
Arizona hasn't spent significant money and draft capital to assemble that offense just to fail. But that's the problem: They've dropped 30 points just once this season.
Murray could have possibly played in either of the last two games he's missed, but with a hamstring injury, the Cardinals wanted him to be 100%.
"We had talked about it [holding Murray out until the bye week]. But obviously he was anxious to get back and he feels great. He feels 100%. If there was anything less than that we would have maybe waited, but he feels full go so we're gonna get him going," Kingsbury said.
If Dortch is able to go, the trio of receivers have each produced in their own split time on the field. Should A.J. Green or Robbie Anderson join the party, all systems could be clicking for the Cardinals on Sunday through the air.
Arizona's rushing attack can best be described as middle of the road, especially now with Eno Benjamin out of the picture now.
As a lead back, James Conner (3.7 YPC) has been underwhelming to say the least. To this point, Murray paces the Cardinals in rushing yards with 359 despite only playing in nine game.
However, Conner seems to have rediscovered his nose for the end zone, scoring three rushing touchdowns in the last two weeks. Almost equally as important is Arizona's ability to not cough the ball up on the ground. The Cardinals are just one of seven teams in the league to have fumbled the ball five or less times on the ground.
The Cardinals are also confident enough in the abilities of rookie running back Keaontay Ingram as a pass-catcher as well, and for good reason.
The presence of Ertz would have put the cherry on top of Arizona's arsenal of weapons, but the team hopes rookie Trey McBride can flash some of the talent he possessed at Colorado State as a receiver.
Whether it be through the air or on the ground, Arizona is nearly as close to locked and loaded as possible given their circumstances.
The chess pieces are on the board, Kliff. Go make something happen.
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