The Arizona Cardinals have faced a lot of criticism heading into the season, but it might appear they are right after all.
Arizona finished 3-13 last season. Steve Wilks was the head coach and Josh Rosen was the quarterback.
The Cardinals decided to fire Wilks after just one season and they also decided to trade Rosen during the three-day NFL Draft to the Miami Dolphins.
Arizona hired Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury from Texas Tech in the offseason. A lot of people thought he wouldn’t adjust to the NFL game.
He has not been perfect so far this season, but Kingsbury is starting to adjust to the game.
He showed his rookie mistakes in a 28-25 loss at home on Thursday night football against the San Francisco 49ers.
Kliff Kingsbury decided to call a timeout on a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line with four seconds remaining in the first-half. Arizona was down 14-7 at the time and they would have stopped them if the timeout wasn’t called.
San Francisco made them pay with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo to Emmanuel Sanders.
The defense for the Cardinals has a ton of holes and they are going to need to fix it in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Arizona has their quarterback of the future in Kyler Murray. He did complete 17-of-24 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Murray also rushed for 34 yards on five carries in the game as well.
So far this season, he has completed 203-of-316 of his passes for 2,229 yards nine touchdowns and four interceptions.
Kyler Murray has also rushed for 313 yards on 56 carries and two touchdowns.
He is learning how to throw in the pocket more rather than being a run first quarterback.
Quarterbacks like that don’t last long in the NFL. Ask Robert Griffin III, how long he lasted for as a starter in this league. It is amazing how he is still in the NFL as a backup compared to Andrew Luck who is already retired for the Indianapolis Colts.
Kyler Murray will get better as time goes on and I am surprised at how well he has been playing. Murray has been a very good leader inside the locker room.
It appears as if the Arizona Cardinals made the right move with both the head coach and the quarterback.
Josh Rosen can’t even start for the 0-7 Miami Dolphins and journeyman Ryan Fizpatrick is playing over him.
Steve Wilks is the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland’s defense has not been as good this season as they were last season.
Arizona is currently in last place in the NFC West with a 3-5-1 record, but the Cardinals have been playing hard.
They hanged around on the road against the New Orleans Saints, but they lost the game 31-9.
The Cardinals will have their bye week in Week 12. Arizona has a winnable game in Week 10 on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-5).
The Arizona Cardinals still have to play the Los Angeles Rams (5-3) twice, the Seattle Seahawks (6-2) one more time, and the San Francisco 49ers (8-0) one more time.
They probably won’t win any of those games and they will most likely be 0-6 in the NFC West. However, Arizona has two winnable games in December and both of those games are at home.
They will play the Pittsburgh Steelers (3-4) in Week 14 and the Cleveland Browns (2-5) in Week 15.
The Arizona Cardinals will probably have a Top 10 to 15 pick this offseason. They also need some help on the offensive line. Arizona will have anywhere between six to eight picks.
This team has a bright future ahead. The Cardinals are becoming more of a respectable opponent rather than being a pushover.
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