Revenge of the Birds
After three weeks, the Arizona Cardinals are in trouble.
No, not because they are 2-1 and tied for second… or last, depending on your philosophical bent, in the NFC West, but because they cannot run the football.
Through three games the Arizona Cardinals offense is a let down. As the team allows a lot of yards on defense, they have been a strong bend but don’t break defense, being fifth in points against.
Yet, on offense, they are 19th in points for and while they are average a paltry 4.8 yards per play, it is their run game that has been the most dissapointing.
Why? Not because of the lack of production, but because of the lack of efficiency.
The Cardinals run game last year was efficient and could grind things out, as they were fifth in EPA/rush (expected points added per rush). They were 12th in EPA/pass.
This year, they are 12th in EPA/Pass yet again… But they have fallen to 12th in EPA/rush this season.
So, while we can lament the lack of growth in the passing game, and fairly by the way, the fact that the run game is worse, and if you take the Kyler Murray runs out it is really, really bad, is an issue when you want to be a team that runs the ball and controls the game.
Three games, three times the team has had a lead in the fourth quarter, and three times the team has been unable to close things out.
In the Saints game, the Cardinals ran the ball six times in their last two drives, dropped back for passes four times.
In the Panthers game, the Cardinals had the ball once under five minutes. They ran the ball twice and dropped back for one pass.
In the 49ers game, their final possession against the Niners, the Cardinals ran the ball four times, and threw the ball once.
The Cardinals could have closed out three games. In all three games they said, let’s go ahead and run this thing out. In all three it didn’t work.
