Everything That Went Right/Wrong in Cardinals' Loss to Falcons
It was nothing new at the office for the Arizona Cardinals in their 12th loss of the 2022 season, this time coming via the Atlanta Falcons.
The only good that came out of this loss was the likelihood of Arizona securing a better pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
As always, however, there were some good things that happened during this game for the Cardinals that need to be celebrated.
Obviously in a loss, there were several bad things as well. Let's once again take a look at everything that went right and everything that went wrong for the Cardinals in their close loss to the Falcons in Week 17.
What went right
David Blough looks solid
Call me crazy with a capital "C"... but is David Blough the best quarterback for the Cardinals not named "Kyler Murray"? It certainly seemed that way against the Falcons, at least.
Blough, who started a handful of games in 2019 for the Detroit Lions in relief for Matthew Stafford, had himself quite the day for the Cardinals. Blough went 24/40 (60.0%) for 222 yards and a touchdown pass to rookie tight end Trey McBride.
When we consider the performances that we've seen from other Cardinals' backup quarterbacks like Colt McCoy and Trace McSorley, this was one of the finer performances by a backup for the team in 2022.
Obviously we have to take this with a grain of salt, but if Blough can repeat this performance next week he will have a serious leg-up on his competition to be the team's backup quarterback for 2023. It's a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.
Some solid individual days
It wasn't a brilliant day for the Cardinals as a whole, but there were a handful of performances worth celebrating.
Rookie tight end Trey McBride caught his first career touchdown on a four-yard pass while also finishing with career bests in receptions (seven) and yards (78).
J.J. Watt recorded sack number 10.5 against the Falcons to obviously cross the double-digit margin for the 2022 season. It is now Watt's sixth season in which he has accomplished this feat. It was awesome to see considering the future Hall of Famer announced he is retiring at the conclusion of this season last week.
Other Cardinals' players had solid days for themselves like Marquise Brown hauling in six of his nine targets for 61-yards. He proved to be a steady contributor, although some more accurate passes on deep balls could've boosted those numbers. James Conner also crossed 110 scrimmage yards (79 rushing, 31 receiving) on 19 touches and had 4.9 yards per carry on the ground.
What went wrong
Same stuff, different week
Honestly, I am going to lump in everything together here, as this performance was the epitome of what we've seen from the Cardinals all season long.
While Blough did have a good day in the office, he was still struggling to connect on the deep ball and some big play opportunities were missed for the Cardinals. Nothing we haven't seen countless times this year.
The defense was also lacking in ability to get off the field or dig deep and get stops when needed. With the game on the line, Desmond Ridder and the Falcons went right down the field on 12 plays and won on a game-winning field goal by Younghoe Koo as the final seconds ticked off the clock. The Falcons converted 5-11 third down attempts, two of them on the game-winning drive.
Penalties also killed the Cardinals, as they were called eight different times for 50-yards. It's the same kind of undisciplined football that has become patented by Kliff Kingsbury at this point.
The one bright side from this game is that the Cardinals have secured a guaranteed top-six selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. With a loss next week, the Cardinals can climb up to as high as the sixth overall selection, which is certainly the outcome fans will be hoping for.
Bottom line: this season can't end quick enough.
