Key strength and improvement areas for Cardinals on offense and defense

Cardinals’ 2025 season may very well hinge on the team making key improvements

Cardinals’ 2024 Key Strength Areas of Offense

• 1st Downs Rushing Percentage: 38.2% —- #8 in NFL
• Yards Rushing Per game —- 144.2 —- #7
• Average Yards Per Rush —- 5.3 —- #2

2024 Team Rankings in 1st Down Rushing %, Yards Rushing Per Game, Average Yards Per Rush Stats 2004 —- NFC West:

1. ARI —— #1, #1, #1.
2. SFO —- #2, #2, #2
3. LAR —- #3, #3, #4
4. SEA —- #4, #4, #3

How to sustain it: keep loading up the OL with run maulers and keep the strong, hard-charging RB stable of James Conner, Trey Benson and Emari Demercado fresh and relentless.

Cardinals’ 2025 Key Improvement Areas on Offense:

2024 Rankings:

• TD% passing percentage —- 3.9% —- #16 in NFL
• Interception percentage —- 2.0% —- #18
• Passing for 1st downs —- 53.7% —- #24

How to fix it: whenever possible try stop throwing so often underneath the chains and the end zone —- and try to stop the quick-winging it out of bounds passes on conversion and red zone plays, by always have second options, preferably downfield.

Cardinals’ 2024 Key Strengths on Defense:

• Plays of 20+ yards allowed —- 45 —- #8 in NFL
• Plays of 40+ yards allowed —- 6 —- #11
• Red Zone TDs allowed % —- 52.63% —- #7

How to sustain it —- start Dadrion Taylor-Demerson at FS as an every-down player because of his uncanny range and playmaking instincts. Play linebackers who are faster, quicker to the ball and more aggressive in pass coverage.

Cardinals 2025 Key Improvement Areas on Defense:

2024 Rankings:

• QB-RTG Passing —- 95.1 —- #20
• 1st Down % —- 37.1% —- #29
• Completion % —- 68.6% —- #29

Team Interceptions + Pass Breakups —- 2024 NFC West

1. SF: 11 + 46 = 57
2. LAR: 14 + 40 = 54
3. SEA: 13= 39 = 52
4. ARI: 9 + 26 = 35

How to fix it —- the “bend but don’t break defense” is at best passive/aggressive and so often is an opposing QB’s dream —- try to play much tighter, synchronized zones, when you call and play zones, make every effort cover the WRs, TEs and RBs in each defender’s area — try to stop the defenders from standing around like a bunch of cardboard figures —- try to play a much higher percentage of man-to-man or combo coverages —- on key 3rd down conversions, assign Garrett Williams to play the best WR like white on rice —- get faster, stickier coverage from the linebackers —- be aggressive in coverages all game long, like Vic Fangio and his defenders were in Super Bowl LIX in tight zones, pesky man-to-man and clever combos.

Those are my observations and suggestions. What are yours?