The Arizona offense was held out of the end zone by the Seattle defense, which is ranked 32nd in the country. Kyler Murray threw for less than 300 yards for the third week in a row. Murray's contract extension has been the subject of mockery and scrutiny in the off-season, but Klumsy Kingsbury's mistakes have been piling up and swept under the rug.
In order for Murray to succeed, Kingsbury was hired. He was thought to be that guy. When he was hired, he wasundeserving of an extension and more so when he was given one this summer. Through the first three months of his fourth season, he has shown nothing that would suggest he is worth the money.
Murray made plays with his feet, but the passing attack that was responsible for jumpstarting, has been duller than a butter knife. The defense has allowed less than 20 points in four of their last five games. The Cards missed an extra point and elected to go for it on three fourth downs. The lack of trust the coaching staff has in Matt Ammendola is one of the reasons for the 10 points left on the board.
It shouldn't have happened in a game between the worst defense in the league and the best. Chris Banjo returned a fumbled punt for a touchdown, giving the Cards their only touchdown. When the kicker missed the extra point, the Cards punched themselves in the mouth.
One of the most innovative offenses in the National Football League has a new head coach. He was depicted as an offensive thinker. He was shown to be inflexible and stubborn. Why would he want to? After another Kingsbury-coached unit collapsed in the second half of the season, Steve Keim gave the coach a new contract.
After awarding Murray with $230 million, they shouldn't hesitate to protect their investment by taking the loss on Kingsbury's contract and looking for new opportunities.
Following Sunday's loss, Kingsbury promised to move things around personnel-wise and scheme-wise, but the reality is that Kingbury's offensive mastermind license has expired. The rate at which the team has been cutting it has been almost twice the rate of the other teams.
Murray was the fifth lowest average in intended air yards. Watching the Falcons, Giants, and even the Seahawks do more with less than the Texans is clarifying.
The grass on the field is green for Murray. Smith has less talent than Murray, but PeteCarroll has been in perfect sync with the rejuvenated Geno Smith. One guy is a great coach while the other is a terrible one.
There is a system that can be used to make Kyler Murray's bebop jazz quarterbacking work. Murray has enough blame to go around but his football brain is still developing. If the instructor's message isn't working then it's time to look for a new one. Murray isn't a passer Pocket. The Eagles play-action heavy offense gave Arizona the blueprints for how to get a quarterback like Murray throwing on the run.
It's just the beginning. It should have made Arizona more difficult to plan against. They seem more vexed by the opposing defense. Pre-snap motions are used to remove the best players from the action. Instead of using pre-snap motion to keep defenses on their toes and maximize Murray's mobility, Kingsbury's offense is virtually non-existent.
Despite being a more efficient offense when they use pre-snap motion, the Cards finished 29th out of 30 teams. Arizona ranked fifth in the positive play rate metric when they used motion, 11th in 2020, and third in 2019.
The pre-snap motion concept is one of the main themes when it comes to offensive football in the NFL. The great offenses like the Ravens, the 49ers, the Chiefs, and the Rams have great play designers and play-callers.
The teams that excel at pre-snap motion change fast.
The play callers understand that I will present my formation to the defense and that they have to match it. They know what the defense will look like.
The only way that can happen in Arizona is with new leadership.
Eric Bieniemy has a knack for creating motion plays in the Chiefs offense. The Kansas City Chiefs could have easily ripped off the Texas Tech system and allowed Patrick Mahomes to throw out of the backfields every time he touched the ball. Kingsbury was wrongly proclaimed to be the innovator. Sean Payton knows how to point out the strengths of a short quarterback.
After Thursday Night Football, the Cards are off for 10 days and will be the focus of Hard Knocks in November. The nerves of the team will be exposed if they don't go on a winning streak soon.
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