Kliff Kingsbury has the Cardinals Throwing A LOT
When the Arizona Cardinals decided to hire coach Kliff Kingsbury this offseason, the NFL began to imagine. What is this “Air Raid” offense going to look like? After the first two weeks of the season, there looks to be an answer.
Entering week 3, the Cardinals rank first in the league in pass attempts at 94. Number one overall pick Kyler Murray has been slinging it around to Larry Fitzgerald, Christian Kirk, David Johnson and more. Kingsbury has Murray and the offense playing very uptempo, spacing the field with their wide receivers more often that not.
NFL leaders in pass routes:
1. Larry Fitzgerald 96
2. Curtis Samuel 93
3. Damiere Byrd 92
4. DJ Moore 91
4. Christian Kirk 91#Cardinals #Panthers— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) September 18, 2019
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It is easy to just say the reasoning behind it is because the Cardinals have been trailing in both games they have played this season, but against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday they only lost by 6. Even though the Ravens have a very tough front seven, the Cardinals still could have tried to establish the run instead of running the ball just 11(!) times. Kingsbury’s play-calling has already been criticized through two weeks (rightfully so), but one has to wonder if the offense translates well to the league.
The Cardinals are 0-1-1 and have not looked special in these first two opening weeks. Usually when someone brings a unique system to the league (example Chip Kelly or Sean McVay) the offense gets off to a roaring start. The Cardinals have not had the same result. There have been flashes from Murray, David Johnson, and some of the other skill players, but as a whole they still look like a bad team. Better offense than last year? It looks like it, but there is still a long way to go.
-Jarrod Ribaudo (@Jribs53)