Cardinals’ swoon reflection of ‘soft’ Kliff Kingsbury, sources say, plus most-feared teams
Kliff Kingsbury’s Arizona Cardinals are in the midst of yet another second-half swoon, NFL insiders weigh in on why this is part of the Cards’ DNA, plus the playoff team playoff teams fear most, and much more Between The Hashmarks this week
The sun sets in the west, calling an end to a day’s work. Are Super Bowl aspirations beginning to set on the Arizona Cardinals as well?
In what has become a semi-annual event in the Valley of The Sun, the Cardinals continue to rise to the top of the rankings, then slowly crash back down to reality just before the holiday season. And no, this isn’t a one-year wonder-type connotation.
Does anyone else remember Week 8 of 2020 and the Hail Mary throw heard around the NFL? If DeAndre Hopkins doesn’t make the catch, Arizona loses five straight to finish below .500 … again.
“Kingsbury is overhyped and not a good coach,” an AFC scouting director tells FanSided, laying bare any optimism the Cardinals might turn things around. “[He’s] all hype and no substance.”
This is a trait Kingsbury posses. Last season, Arizona was 5-2 prior to losing six of nine to close out at .500. A win in Week 17 would have earned them the No. 7 seed. Instead, Mitchell Trubisky has more playoff starts than Kyler Murray.
This season? More of the same.
The Cardinals were the league’s last unbeaten roster, seemingly poised to lap the competition en route to clinching the No. 1 seed in the NFC before Thanksgiving.
That was before Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas intercepted Murray in the end zone, handing the 7-0 Cardinals their first loss of the season. Since falling to Aaron Rodgers at home, Arizona has lost four of seven and is riding a three-game losing streak into Sunday’s clash with the NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys.
FanSided spoke to executives, coaches, and sources around the league in an attempt to figure out what is driving the Cardinals’ late-season futility. A common thread that emerged from several conversations: Kliff Kingsbury’s style isn’t suitable for sustained success.
“Honestly, I think it’s that Kliff has such an easy-going atmosphere in that building,” a league source with ties to the Cardinals tells FanSided. “Hell, leading into Week 1, the first team never practiced or played together at full-speed. Veterans hardly ever practice. There isn’t any structure or discipline there.”
Under Kingsbury, racing off to fast starts but fading when the games matter most is an alarming trend.
Rock bottom for the Cardinals seemed to be an embarrassing 30-12 loss to the Lions on the road. Or was watching Carson Wentz and the Indianapolis Colts march into State Farm Area for an upset on Christmas Day?
“They have just relied on the fact that they have superior talent the past two years,” the source says. “But, when DeAndre Hopkins is out, and other guys start going down, that shit doesn’t fly in the NFL.”
In fairness to Kingsbury, the Cardinals have been bitten by the injury bug in recent weeks.
Losing Hopkins for at least the rest of the regular season due to a knee injury is catastrophic. Likewise, J.J. Watt suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 7 certainly didn’t help the Cardinals avoid another backslide defensively.
“With Kyler Murray, a little banged up, no DeAndre Hopkins, no Rondale Moore, it really lessens what defenses have to do to beat them,” the AFC Scouting Director says. “And defensively, losing Watt was just huge. He was really impactful before the injury.
Hopkins is the top priority for Arizona’s passing attack. He produced 572 receiving yards and eight touchdowns through 10 games. Combined, AJ Green and Christian Kirk have the same amount.
Taking Watt out of the Cardinals’ front-seven eased some pressure on opposing offensive lines, as Watt produced 28 quarterback pressures in addition to his one sack through seven weeks.
Kingsbury’s Cardinals clinched a playoff berth Sunday but would need to beat the Cowboys and Seahawks over the final two weeks to have any hope of winning the division.
For the better part of the past two seasons it seems as though once things come off the rails for the Cardinals, there’s no rebottling the early-season magic.
Will this year, and this postseason be different? How much longer with Steve Keim put up with hot starts and sluggish finishes?
“When you play the big boys, come playoff time,” an NFC personnel executive tells FanSided. “They’re going to look at you and basically say ‘this is how we’re going to beat you,’ and they do it. Arizona’s like an arena football team. If they lose their perimeter guys, they lose their identity, they lose what they have.
“Here’s the problem with Arizona; they’re a finesse team. They race out to 7-0, and they’re playing in good climates. Three of those games are at home, three are in the heat. You get December and January, it’s not good climates. You’re screwed bigger than life. You’re going to places like Green Bay, and it’s like ‘wow we’re not used to this.'”
Which team do playoff teams fear most?
With two weeks remaining, the playoff picture is gaining clarity. At least on one side of the bracket.
Five of the seven playoff spots in the NFC have been secured, including hats and t-shirts being handed out to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys as the NFC South and NFC East Division champions.
Over on the AFC side of things, only the Chiefs have locked up a division crown.
Entering Sunday, seven AFC teams have at least seven wins and a very real opportunity to make the postseason.
Late-season dramatics are coming.
As the stretch run reaches a crescendo, FanSided surveyed coaches, scouts, and executives of teams currently in the postseason mix of the team they’d fear the most as January looms:
“We might not see them, but it’s the Indianapolis Colts. They have a great defense. They run the ball, and whatever you do, don’t sleep on Carson Wentz.” – NFC head coach
“I’d want no part of the Chiefs. They look like the Chiefs, again. But, they’re also so, so unpredictable from week to week” – AFC Scout
“Don’t sleep on the Raiders. Derek Carr is really good. If they jump out to an early lead, he can sling it with the best of them. It’s tough for them to play from behind, but if they jump out on someone, they have a good enough defense and the quarterback to ruin someone’s day.” – NFC Pro Personnel Director
“The way they’re playing, it’s Dallas. And it’s because of their defensive line.” – AFC Offensive coach”
“It’s the Colts. The quarterback’s playing well, they’re running the ball like crazy, and their defense is peaking … What do you look for in January? Exactly what they’re doing right now. And they’re winning without Darius Leonard, their best defender.” – NFC Personnel Executive
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Quotable
"“Yeah, I did, I think it was an unnecessary comment. I wouldn’t say I was offended by it. I’m in year two. Who knows what’s going to happen down the road? I didn’t think it was a necessary comment.”"
– Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, following Cincinnati’s win over the Ravens 41-21, days Baltimore defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said it wasn’t time to ‘buy a gold jacket’ for Burrow.
Martindale has been around long enough to know better.
Burrow, who is terrific by the way, is absolutely right.
It was an unnecessary unforced error by the Ravens’ veteran defensive coordinator, especially after Burrow has lit up Baltimore for 599 yards with three touchdowns to two interceptions in two matchups prior to Sunday’s 525-yard and four-touchdown outburst.
Whether Burrow’s bust ultimately winds up in Canton is a question that won’t be answered for at least a decade.
However, the former No. 1 overall pick sits sixth in the NFL in passing yards (4,165), eighth in passing touchdowns (30) this season, and has the infrastructure in place in terms of an offensive-minded head coach in Zac Taylor and a top-flight receiving corps for sustained success.
Burrow’s response Sunday, both on the field and from the podium, essentially rubbed Martindale’s nose in his own comments and perhaps vaulted the Bengals past the Ravens for the foreseeable future in terms of AFC North supremacy.
Final thought
If the Philadelphia Eagles make the playoffs, which they now have a very realistic path to do, Howie Roseman should win NFL Executive of The Year.
Roseman has amassed a bountiful NFL Draft war chest, with three first-round picks in the 2022 draft by acting deftly in trading Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts in February and maneuvering around the draft board last spring, still coming away with a dynamic playmaker in wide receiver DeVonta Smith with the No. 10 overall pick.
With games remaining against the hapless — and quarterback less — Washington Football Team and the Dallas Cowboys, who might have nothing to play for at Lincoln Financial Field in Week 18, the Eagles just might streak into an NFC Wild Card spot riding a five-game winning streak to close out the season.
Beyond trading Wentz, Roseman also mined a veteran backup quarterback this summer, Gardner Minshew, who shepherded what could prove to be a critical win over the Jets, with Jalen Hurts sidelined.
Roseman’s Eagles have the pieces in place; a top-five offensive line in the NFL, a burgeoning defense with playmakers at all three levels, approximately $15 million in cap space, and three first-round picks to continue building a roster capable of prolonged success.
If Hurts, who has completed 61.1 percent of his passes for 2,930 yards with 16 touchdowns to nine interceptions, solidifies his position as Philadelphia’s long-term solution at quarterback, the Eagles will have at least one more year of paying the most expensive position on the roster a second-round pick contract.
The Eagles have the chance to make a run this year, have the assets and pieces in place to build for the future, and in a lot of ways, Philadelphia’s success is a testament to Roseman’s roster-building and asset valuations. If they get in, Roseman should be commended.