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Welcome to the first Zona Zone of 2024, where I'll be recapping the first six games of the Arizona Cardinals 2024 season. I'll be frank; it's going worse than expected. Did I expect the Cardinals to have a winning record after six matchups? Absolutely not, but winning one game against the battered Rams and another in an upset win against the 49ers doesn't make me feel good either.
So how do the Cardinals look through the next six games and the rest of the season? We'll go over all of that and more as I dive into a critical season for the Arizona Cardinals.
Photo: Darren Yamashita/Imagn Images
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Good
Kyler Murray has played solid football through the start of this season. Has he been mistake free and playing at an MVP level? Not at all, but he hasn't made the usual bonehead turnovers that we've seen in the past. He's processing well in the pocket, making plays with his legs when he has to, and is layering some beautiful passes all over the field. From an analytics standpoint, he has shined when his supporting cast has failed him. He currently has a 76.1 passing grade per PFF, a 6.1% big time throw rate to a lowly 1.9% turnover worthy play rate, 8.70 yards per carry, and 3.93 yards after contact per carry - all of which rank in the top 8 among all QBs. He's getting it done through the air and on the ground as he creeps his way back towards the MVP-caliber play we saw a few years back.
The offensive line has also been a pleasant surprise, as they rank 10th with a 71.9 pass blocking grade, and tied for 12th with a 67.6 run blocking grade. Kyler holds onto the ball longer than he ever has in his career, and the run game is averaging 5.10 yards a carry when removing non-designed QB runs. That's the best the Cardinals have performed since Kyler has been at the helm, which is a testament to the OL.
The Bad
Unfortunately, the good stops after Kyler and the OL. Can we talk about how atrocious the play-calling on both sides of the ball has been? When Kyler came back from his ACL tear last year, the offense found new life. Kyler was getting under center, running more play action, rolling out at a higher clip - all things that were missing in the Kliff regime. The offense was efficient and effective, and that gave Cardinals fans hope for 2024. Six games in, that hope has been tarnished. Drew Petzing struggles once he gets off script, and that's apparent with how much worse the offense plays after the first two drives. He fails to design plays for Marvin Harrison Jr, fails to fully utilize Kyler's athleticism, and the play calling on third and short has been putrid for the better part of three weeks. Is it all on Petzing? Absolutely not, but the bulk of the Cardinals' shortcomings can be tied back to him in some way.
The Ugly
You thought the Cardinals offense has been bad? The defense may be one of the worst I've seen in nearly a decade! Starting up front, the DL is as bad as it could possibly be. LJ Collier leads the team in pressures with 13, which currently ranks 65th in the entire NFL among all players. For reference, Azeez Al-Shaair - an off-ball linebacker, has the same amount of pressures on a fifth of the pass rushes. The Cardinals' top four rushers have combined for 39 total pressures, which comes out to 6.5 pressures a game. That's unacceptable, and ignoring the edge rusher position was a huge misstep by the front office this offseason. Yes, losing your promising young edge rusher for the season doesn't help, but the depth was already a concern at the end of 2023. To that point, the Cardinals have finished in the top 12 for blitz rate just twice on a week-to-week basis. Their best defensive performance came in Week 5 against the 49ers, where the Cardinals blitzed 39.0% of the time, and was a main factor in their upset against San Fran.
In the back end, the secondary is even worse. Sean Murphy-Bunting is a waste of cap space, as he's allowed a 78.9% reception rate, 12.1 yards per catch, and a 102.2 passer rating. Budda Baker is performing at an all-time low in terms of his coverage ability, and Jalen Thompson isn't a good fit playing in the box. Rookie Max Melton has fallen short of expectations as well, as he's allowed 6 catches on 6 targets and has played just 75 coverage snaps. The only DB worth his salt is Garrett Williams, and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson has been a menace when he's seen the field (he's played just 34 snaps).
Lastly, this rookie class hasn't shown up the way it was hyped up to do so. Yes, they're rookies, and we're only six games into the season, but with all of the draft capital that the Cardinals had, they had to find some studs in every round. MHJ is good when he's utilized, Tip Reiman has been a great blocker, and DTD has made impact plays on his limited time on the field. Outside of that, these rookies haven't done much. Darius Robinson, Elijah Jones, and Christian Jones have been injured, so they get a pass, but Max Melton has had the chance to challenge for starting reps and has yet to prove he should be on the field full time. Trey Benson has failed to step up as the lightning to Conner's thunder, Isaiah Adams has been subpar in the limited time he's seen the field, and Xavier Thomas has been one of the worst defenders in the league. As far as I'm concerned, none of these picks are hits up to this point, with MHJ being the biggest surprise to not dominate so far - which is mainly on the offensive play calling rather than his ability.
Looking Forward
The next third of this season is manageable, but not if some serious changes are made in terms of play calling and who is on the field. The Cards' next opponents are the Chargers, Dolphins (with Tua finally back in the lineup), Bears, Jets, Seahawks, and Vikings. I can see the Cardinals winning against the Chargers and Jets, but everything else will be a battle. If the Cardinals lose in Week 7, I fully expect Monti to clear house, starting with Budda Baker and Zaven Collins. The Cardinals could get some assets back for Budda, and Zaven has fallen short of his first-round pedigree, making these two relatively easy departures. In a season with high hopes, it seems more likely the Cardinals will fall by the wayside once again, and we'll be looking for a strong offseason from Monti (hooray).
Photo: Caitlyn Epes/Arizona Cardinals
Final Notes
I'll just list some players here who have been some nice offensive and defensive pieces that weren't mentioned above: Michael Wilson, Mack Wilson Sr, Paris Johnson Jr, Hjalte Froholdt, and Emari Demercado. All of them should get a second contract when theirs expire.
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