Analyst Calls for Massive Change From Cardinals' Offense

The Arizona Cardinals need to turn things around - quickly.

Sep 21, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) rolls out against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals' offense needs to change.

After three weeks of football, nothing might be clearer to fans, local media - and now national media.

Truthfully, the Cardinals don't get much of the spotlight when compared to the rest of the league - though Arizona's offensive output has been bad enough to warrant some attention from SI's Gilberto Manzano - who says change is needed. Promptly.

Kyler Murray, Cardinals Offense Must Be Better

Sep 21, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) throws downfield against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

"Kyler Murray hasn’t played as poorly as Penix, Stroud and Smith have this season, but his special moments have become a distant memory," Manzano wrote.

"Murray is making too much money to produce subpar performances, and has had somewhat of an identity crisis playing under offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. There aren’t enough explosive plays for the Cardinals (2–1), which is not entirely Murray’s fault. 

"But Murray had the ball in his hands with a two-point lead in the final minutes against the 49ers on Sunday and failed to capitalize. San Francisco backup Mac Jones did what Murray hasn’t done in a long time: delivered in the clutch. 

"Every week, the Cardinals’ offense seems content with playing not to lose and hoping that the defense bails them out. Arizona’s defense tried its best to help with the late interception of Jones and a safety, but that still wasn’t enough."

Playing not to lose might perfectly describe the Cardinals' offense to this point of the year - which is odd given how many weapons they possess, even in the absence of James Conner.

Murray hasn't quite been the problem for Arizona's offense in totality of their production - though it's no secret the franchise passer can be a bit better.

Manzano concluded with, "It’s time for coach Jonathan Gannon to step in and force fundamental changes to ignite this offense, especially after the season-ending injury to running back James Conner."

Cardinals Address Offensive Woes

Sep 21, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon on the sidelines against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

When meeting with reporters yesterday - Gannon was peppered with questions about the team's offense.

"I went back and kind of looked and I think we called somewhere around 24 runs, and 17 of them were not efficient. We have to get that better because the hat that I wear, or that I did wear on defense, when you're not running the ball efficiently, you're making it a lot easier on the defense to defend you. That's what I would say.

"There's not a lot of good calls, run or pass, when you're behind the sticks. When I say behind the sticks on second down, you have to look at play types. What are they defending and what do you have to call? I think to answer your question, this team is significantly different than San Francisco, right? So, we're going to have a different plan for it and pull a different plan to attack Seattle than we did San Francisco.

"With saying that, our fundamentals and our techniques have to show up a little bit better. They have to improve from this last week (with) what we did, and we have to realize why runs aren't being efficient and how everybody fits into that. I think if we just control that, we'll put them in the right spots. That's our job but then let's control the technique part of it and make some hay.”

Sep 10, 2023; Landover, Maryland, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon (left) hugs Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing before the game against the Washington Commander at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Brent Skeen-Imagn Images | Brent Skeen-Imagn Images

What can the Cardinals do to turn things around?

It's a wildly complex answer that would require at least a few more articles of breakdowns - though simply put, everybody needs to be better.

That responsibility ultimately falls on figures such as Gannon and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing to organize the troops better - though it's no secret players aren't executing up to standard either.