The Good, Bad and Ugly From Cardinals' Preseason Thus Far

The Arizona Cardinals have played two games — here's what we think.

Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur walks the sidelines during training camp at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Aug. 3, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals are halfway through preseason play with a 1-1 record.

Wins and losses don't matter, however, as the Cardinals are hoping to evaluate play and install Mike LaFleur's first-year offense.

Evaluating the good, bad and ugly from Arizona's preseason thus far:

The Good: Mike LaFleur's Offense

All four quarterbacks have operated the Cardinals' offense at a high level. While that is encouraging from a quarterback perspective, that's more so an indictment on Mike LaFleur's offensive prowess.

LaFleur arrived to the desert with high expectations after spending time under Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. The results? Receivers are getting open, the running game is established and the play-action is marrying both the run and pass.

Perfect? Far from it, though this iteration of the Cardinals' offense looks far more exciting than past seasons. LaFleur insists the Cardinals have such a long way to go, and while that's true, LaFleur's offense so obviously holds incredible potential moving forward.

The Bad: Pre-Snap Mistakes

The one downside of Arizona's offense? Pre-snap penalties, which has been a problem in both training camp and now both of the Cardinals' preseason games.

Penalties during the play happen. That's natural. However, false starts are mental lapses and are non-negotiables for LaFleur:

"No, it felt like we had two false starts in the first drive, and kind of got bailed out a little bit on a third down with a PI. Again, we're always going to be process driven over results, and I know we got the results, but there's a lot to clean up," LaFleur said when asked if he felt the offense was in a good rhythm.

It's been an unfortunately constant problem for the Cardinals. And while it might not seem major now, it sure will during the regular season when a third-and-one turns into a third-and-six.

The Ugly: Arizona's Defense

It's truly tough to make judgements on any defensive units in preseason, though conversations are warranted on Nick Rallis' side of the ball.

It's becoming obvious what the Cardinals' story of 2026 will be: A fun offense that just needs their defense to show up. Thus far, that hasn't quite been the story.

Missed tackles and assignments have been the story of preseason so far. That was the case for the backups in Canton, and the starters in Las Vegas.

Depth? Coaching? Rust? Perhaps a mixture of all three?

Whatever it is, the Cardinals' defense clearly has a long way to go.